Ryan O’Hare

Communications

One Sentence

“Don’t pick a topic that may be right for the assignment and right for the audience but bad for you. Meet their needs with your passions.”

                   This sentence was important enough for me to consider it noteworthy because I know from experience to verify this as relevant. I can’t tell you how boring it could get in past assignments, chopping up the material and everything in it pretending that it genuinely applied to me in some meaningful way.

It always comes down to this, not only when I write up a paper for school but as a hobby as well. It can be extremely stressful when you have to write about some topic that you have no passion to write about. Especially when you are forced to write about a specific theme you can’t relate to. I believe that this should be one of the key premises described in the education process of learning how to write an essay (that goes for middle school students), should be reinforced through high school and college students’ academics (including but not limited to English), and situationally offered generously by the instructor when such a setting takes place. Ideally the question should be rather broad so that the student may apply metaphors that pertain with the question.

            An example, an English teacher assigns a Beowulf essay with the students requiring to answering trivial questions as to the chronological events of how Beowulf achieves glory. What s/he should assign instead is to empathize the perspective of Beowulf himself with your own life experiences. Perhaps “Student A” has been in a real fight, and can give his input on they can relate to Beowulf defeating Grendel by writing about finding their “inner strength” in order to stick up for themselves. Of course this has to do mainly with myself as a student, but teachers can benefit from this important sentence as well. In theory this teacher would have more kids giving their real thoughts on paper rather than modifying a spark notes summary and claiming it as their own.

            When students familiarize themselves with what they’re talking about, their involvement will increase. The students themselves are required to nurture self-motivation towards their academic goal. Yet, this too requires the right mindset as a prerequisite. There is no one-size-fits-all model to this, but ambition is what it must have.

As for me, putting effort in for a grade by itself doesn’t mean much to me. Viewing my homework as an intellectual workout that will strengthen my mind as dumbbells would for a body builder, on the other hand, turns this chore into something I want to conquer. There is profitability in passions we pursue. I plan to go after mental obstacles with the literal intent of becoming smarter. And looking at responsibilities as self-improvements in this manner meets my passions and makes this exciting to me.

References: page 34 chapter 2 of “Communication, A Critical/Cultural Introduction,” by john T. Warren & Deanna L. Fassett