This
past week, I introduced my classes to their first major writing
assignment. In each of my classes, I
allow them to pick their topics as well as the attitudes (voice, tone, etc.)
that they may use to express themselves.
Usually, when I assign an essay I ask that they choose a topic that they
have an interest in learning more about.
This can be something that they know very little about or something that
they may have a lot of experience in, but would like to know more about said
topic.
On many occasions, I ask my students
if it is possible for one to disassociate one’s self from what they are
writing. “If you are writing on
something that you are not very interested in, can you separate yourself from
the topic to the point where you do not care at all?” On each occasion, I am met with an emphatic “no”. If this is the case, then one of the most
important questions that an author should answer is “Why is this topic
significant?”
Most of my journalism friends define
significance as answering questions such as who, what, where, when, why, and
how. In a lot of newspaper articles,
these types of questions are answered in the first few sentences of the article
(and the headline). This is a habit that
I want my students to get into. In the
early sentences of the essay, one should try to answer as many of these
questions that they are able to (or at least those questions pertinent to the
essay).
Essentially, in the beginning and
end of the writing, one should know what the overall point (or purpose) is of
the document. There should be no mystery
to the piece (unless, it is a mystery, of course J). Yet, there
should be an overall value to the piece of writing that one is composing. This value should not merely be intrinsic;
others should be able to see an obvious reason for its construction. This will keep your audience’s
attention. However, before a writer can
convince someone to read his or her work, the author has to convince himself
(or herself). This is why I ask the “So
What” question.
The So What question is my response
to when a student asks me if they are allowed to write on a particular topic
(of course, I give fair warning to the student that this may seem harsh. I do not want to offend). Take the scenario below:
Student: Mr. Browning, I think I
have a topic and I want to run it by you.
Me: Sure. What’s your topic?
Student: I would like to write about
stem cells.
Me: Okay…what about them?
Student: Well, I just want to write
about general, factual information about stem cells.
Me: So what?
Usually, at this point, the student
may be a little frustrated. What many
writers may initially respond with is a defense of the topic. That defense is what I feel like I need to hear. This is the significance. I suggest that writers think of establishing “significance”
as defending their right to write on this topic. For writers who are writing anything, there
needs to be a reason for this piece to be told.
Many of my students would suggest that this would be merely for essay;
yet, I would beg to differ. If someone
is writing fiction, the author should ask themselves the same question. Why write the story of the Twilight series? It was already done when Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, right?
Wrong.
There was something in that story that was
timeless and the author had a point (beyond what Shakespeare intended with Romeo and Juliet). One could argue the same with The Hunger Games. Golding did the same thing with Lord of the Flies. If one was to throw the characters into a
dystopian futuristic, neo-fascist society, then we have The Hunger Games and/or The Divergent series. These stories are viable pieces that
audiences love because there is significance in these particular tales. If one wants their story to be successful,
then one has to think about the value of their words. After all, if you don’t see significance in
your own piece of work, then who will?
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