Writing What You Know and Whom You’ve Known
Keywords
college writing, essay development, writing originality
Abstract
When I teach the essay to new college students, I usually put the kibosh on three subjects right away—the Big Disease, the Big Game, and the Big Break-Up. One reason for this blanket prohibition is as simple as it is selfish: I don’t want to read bad writing about tired subjects; and there are few subjects more exercised in the essays of new college students than dying family members, fleeting athletic glory, and the pains of first love.
I do have a more legitimate reason for this prohibition than my own desire to never read another internal monologue about teenage unrequited love. You see, I steer my students away from these subjects because, while the loss they represent is certainly real, it is a loss so common as to tax the ability of any writer—let alone a young writer—to say something worthwhile.
Original Publication Citation
Franklin JC. 2017. "Writing What You Know and Whom You've Known". New Ohio Review. 22:145-149.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Franklin, Joey, "Writing What You Know and Whom You’ve Known" (2017). Faculty Publications. 10153.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/10153
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2017
Publisher
New Ohio Review
Language
English
College
Humanities
Department
English
Copyright Use Information
http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/