Class Notes—“Love is An Astonishing Word”
Last year I had six Hawaiian wrestlers in an 8:30am writing class. This year I have six basketball players, four wrestlers, and two track stars. EN 101 and 200 are required, which means a) the students have to be there, and b) they’d almost always rather be sleeping or watching Netflix.
I love this. I love inviting students to rediscover a relationship with words. I love the unexpected turns-of-phrase that come from students who don’t consider themselves “writers”. I tell them that writing isn’t about finishing an assignment and earning a grade, it’s about exploring. I tell them research means searching again and again, and that asking questions means embarking on a curiosity-and-love-driven quest. Maybe this is nerdy, but it’s true!
In the book Writing with Style, John R. Trimble writes, “Pick a subject that means something to you, emotionally as well as intellectually. As in romancing, so in writing; you’re most effective when your heart is in it. If you can’t honestly say, ‘Now this is something I really think is important, you’re a fool to mess with it.'”
I just graded a paper by a student whose writing proves Trimble is right: we are most effective when our hearts are in it. The student reflected on the materials we’ve been discussing in class lately (multiple essays, stories, and poems about conservation), as well as our viewing of the documentary 180 South. Here’s his first paragraph:
“Love is an astonishing word. In a relationship this word has the ability to sum up countless years cherished with another. With another person, with an animal, or even with god. Just four letters. Love drives us to do inconceivable things. To fight when you would normally flight. To defend something or someone till death. Almost sounds like wedding vows, right? What happens when we come into contact with these feelings towards not a person, but instead the environment?”
He described living along the Mackenzie River and how the documentary helped him remember how much he loves it there. “After the first class period we watched 180 South I raced home took out a piece of paper and began writing out different adventure ideas. I wrote six total and each with a full itinerary. I thought of people that would want to come and the first I thought of were people who had never experienced the Mackenzie. I wanted to show my friends the beauty of the river. We now have a three day rafting trip planned once the weather gets better and the water levels drop. In the past year living in Portland I started to disconnect with the love I have for the outdoors.”
Did his paper include all the necessary ingredients for an academic paper? Not really.
Do I care? No. His essay reflects what school should be about: learning, waking up, reconnecting with ourselves and the world, discovering new possibilities via our exposure to texts, ideas, and writers.
(by the way, I of course have his permission to share these excerpts with you. :))