Here in America we students have a little more freedom of expression, we can choose to write about many topics, even controversial ones. However I can also think of many ways in which the american school system forces certain rules and guidelines upon students.
I can remember writing papers in high school and struggling my way through MLA format, I was so stressed about getting every period and comma right that some of the joy of writing was turned into stress. I wanted to make sure I wasn't accused of plagiarism, which is important however I think we could give credit where credit is due without having so many stressful rules.
I can also remember having to write many different styles of papers with many different expectations in each kind. The universal expectation however was for students to use a more sophisticated flowery language. The "better" writers used many hard words and long sentences. Flowery writing was never my style, I felt that it sounded silly and unnecessary. And now I see that content is in many cases better than unnecessary fancy words. It would have been nice if a teacher had told me that a long time ago so I could have enjoyed writing without that unnecessary stress.
I like how you point out that there are also rigid guidelines pertaining to writing in American high schools. I also remember having teachers who said that if a comma or period was out of place, major points would be deducted, etc. In my opinion, this causes students to stress over minute things and to forget about larger issues such as content. I like to imagine the various concerns about writing in a hierarchy. At the top of the hierarchy are thesis, development/support, and organization, then word choice and style, and last come format (MLA) and grammar.
ReplyDeleteI am right on the same page with you and MLA formatting. I hated writing papers in high school and having to get every bit of MLA formatting just right. I love how you said that having to get every comma and period right turned the joy of writing into stress. I completely agree. I have never really had a joyful time writing papers and I believe it is for that exact reason. The fact that I had to be constrained to the format laid out and that I would lose points on minor grammar issues, frustrated me to no end. Although, I do disagree with word choice. Whenever I would look over a paper I would try to find areas where I could improve my diction. It made the experience of writing a little more enjoyable because I could find better words to get my point across and also make my paper sound and flow a lot better. But, that's just my opinion.
ReplyDelete