This is THE ANTI-ESSAY WRITER’s blog.
I have some things on my mind that I’d like to put out into the world, starting with the kind of writing that we ask our students to do in-and-out of the classroom. It’s oftentimes at odds with the marketplace: it bears little resemblance to the creative nonfiction published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Rolling Stone (among others).
Some startling facts to consider if you are an English teacher/professor or student. Less than 3% of all college and university students are currently an “English major.” And out of 335 million people living in the United States, less than 25,000 are English professors. Given these truths, what are we really preparing our students to become? If you’re writing essays in an English class, same question. Overwhelmingly, the answer to both questions is: NOT AN ENGLISH MAJOR.
And since we’re often STEM people, ECON-tracked, or averse to writing anything longer than 280 characters: When was the last time you “shared an essay?” [or wrote an essay that you enthusiastically wanted to share?] If you’re a HS English teacher or college prof, what percentage of your essays would you encourage your students to submit to writing contests, local or school publications, or proudly post on your Google Classroom with permission?
Conversely — we share music all the time. I just shared a Joe Sample composition called “Fly on the Wings of Love” with a former student - Sonia - who is a world-class pianist. She responded in a matter of minutes with a song she was recording with a jazz combo. But if I’d sent her my essay to read? A sophomore’s essay to look over? Would it be minutes, or days? Or - perhaps - never?
While we might recommend a gripping Malcolm Gladwell profile or self-effacing David Sedaris rant to a friend or family member, we don’t usually teach (or get assigned) the kind of essay writing that student writers want to enthusiastically share.
And that feels wasteful in three ways:
They’ve spent time plotting and executing the paper.
They’re rarely invested in the product, let alone the process.
It invariably becomes about “the grade,” and not the self-examination.
As a composition teacher of 30 years, I’ve often struggled with the limitations of a 5 paragraph essay or “thesis outline.” I’ve regularly chafed against the notion of “writing only about books my students have read.”
This blog will be a place to test out ideas for the classroom (which is just a microcosm of life, anyway), attempt different approaches to writing about culture, and to explore the tensions of being a writer and a comp instructor: someone who can teach, and who can do, but also someone who regularly questions both.
Thanks for reading. Thank you - even more so - for passing it on to someone else who might perk up when they see it in their inbox.
Wes Phillipson
Scarsdale, NY