After reading On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt and The Kind Word for Bullshit by Phillip Eubanks and John D. Schaeffer, I thought this topic was overall a really interesting topic to think about. As these authors established bullshit in many student papers, it made me realized how writing has become somewhat bullshit. As a bilingual student majoring in Education, honestly, writing has always been one of my least favorite subject. Growing up I have struggled with writing for many years, and for the most part I know bullshit has taken up most part in my writings since I have found it difficult to learned the language properly a challenge. I have many times worked hard towards making good enough for a decent grade. For the majority, I believe the effort I put in it is truly what matters most.
I realized from The Kind Word for Bullshit, authors Eubanks and Schaeffer pointed out an interesting quote from Dave Barry:
Suppose you are studying Moby-Dick. Anybody with any common sense would say that Moby-Dick is a big white whale, since the characters in the book refer to it as a big white whale roughly eleven thousand times. So in your paper you say Moby-Dick is actually the Republic of Ireland....If you can regularly come up with lunatic interpretations of simple stories, you should major in English. (page 373)
From this quote, we are taught academically to also use big vocabulary words and be perspective in our state of mind towards writing. Sometimes a paper that sounds too academic to a certain level can be become nothing more but bullshit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really liked your personal reflection at the beginning of your blog. I feel very similar to you when I am writing or doing other assignments for school. I feel that I have a very difficult time writing for my English classes. Writing is not a strong point of mine. I agree with you a hundred percent when you made the claim that the effort one puts forth should be all that matters. I spend a lot of time on my school assignments, especially those for my English courses. I try my hardest to put my true feelings and thoughts into my writing but I often question if what I am writing is bullshit or not?
ReplyDeleteYoua,
ReplyDeleteI agree. Growing up I wasn't the best writer. When I got to college I thought that the way to write a good paper was to use scholarly vocabulary. When I would finish writing these particular papers I would have a sigh of relief.
My favorite pieces to write pertain to personal statements. The way you write a personal statment is suppose to let the reader understand who you really are and why your so unique. I think a lot of us would rather write the way the that signifies us.
Great Post!
Ken