John Fitz

Write Till You Drop --by Annie Dillard

(I love this piece.  So often we find writers that give voice to a part of ourselves we seem unable to express.  Annie Dillard does this for me.  For those of my students looking for a reason to write, please read on. 

Thanks

-fitz)

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all. Strange seizures beset us. Frank Conroy loves his yo-yo tricks, Emily Dickinson her slant of light; Richard Selzer loves the glistening peritoneum, Faulkner the muddy bottom of a little girl's drawers visible when she's up a pear tree. ''Each student of the ferns,'' I once read, ''will have his own list of plants that for some reason or another stir his emotions.''

Why do you never find anything written about… about your fascination with something no one else understands? Because it is up to you. There is something you find interesting, for a reason hard to explain. It is hard to explain because you have never read it on any page; there you begin. You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment.

Write as if you were dying...

Essay Prompt

"Show me the universe, and I'll give you a stone;
give me a stone, and I'll show you the universe.

Prompt: Using All Quiet on the Western Front, your packet of poems and songs, and your own attempts at poetry, prose, and songwriting, write an essay of no less than 750 words that highlights the importance of "writing" as a response to the reality of war.

Approaches to writing this essay:

The Universe Angle: A reflection on the overarching importance of literature to convey the emotional complexity of war. In this type of essay your theme needs to reflect the broad range of literature responses: poetry, song, novels, memoirs, that illustrate how literature effectively portrays the "effects" of war by "affecting" they way we think and feel when experiencing well crafted words. Your theme should lead in to several examples of literature and how specific pieces (or sections) of literature "affected" you personally. In this case one or two paragraphs per piece of literature should suffice to make your point. The rubric we used for our last essay would work well in this case.

The Stone Angle: Sometimes we are profoundly affected by a single poem, song, or story. In this scenario, you can use that single work and write about how "you" experienced that piece of literature. Use each paragraph to tell and show your readers the stages of your personal odyssey as you reach a fuller and more complete understanding of that single piece of literature.

The Socratic Debate: This is the hardest approach, as it forces you to question your own assumptions and prejudices. In this essay you must try and answer the question; Can literature adequately reflect an experience as emotionally and intellectually complex as war--especially if the reader has never actually been in a war of any kind? Here you must explore both sides of the problem and allow your readers to make the choice.

The Expository Essay: In this essay--always an impersonal essay--you take a stand and argue your points as fact: "Yes, the literature of war is an essential response to war", or: "No, we don't need literature to remind and inform us about the reality and experience of war."

Take your pick and go for it!

This I Believe PDF

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Huck Finn Literary Analysis Essay Checklist!

1.The Opening Paragraph•The Hook: Your opening line should be a clear and brief sentence that focuses on introducing the aspect of human nature you will be discussing in your essay. The sentence should be interesting to as many people as possible. It should not mention Huck Finn or Mark Twain. CHECK:_____
•Elaborate and Clarify: After the hook, write a couple of more sentences that build on whatever you said in your first sentence. Use these sentences to elaborate and/or clarify your thoughts on your “human nature” topic. CHECK:_____
•Shift Your Focus: Begin to make the shift towards writing specifically about Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. CHECK:_____
•Create Your Thesis Statement: Make sure this last line is clear and pinpoint. It should point your reader exactly in the direction your essay is going to take. The more narrow your thesis, the less your reader will expect—in a good way! CHECK:_____

2.The Body Paragraphs:
•Topic Sentence: Start each paragraph with a brief and memorable topic sentence. This sentence has to relate directly to your thesis in a clear and logical way. I always call these “steering sentences.” Imagine that your reader is in the car with you, and you are pointing out where you are taking them. If you are not talking about some aspect of Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, then you are off topic. CHECK:_____
•Proof sentences: Make your statement and then back it up with reference to the text. Remember to keep the energy and enthusiasm alive. If you are not confident and passionate and real, you will lose your reader! This is where a lot of writers lose their readers; the writer becomes obsessed with offering “proof,” and so their sentences become mere information bullets—dull as a dull, dull day! CHECK:_____
•Transition Sentences: Your last sentence should wrap up the point you are trying to make in your paragraph, and it should also set up the next paragraph. Imagine that your thoughts need to be connected by a bridge. Although you are going to a new place, you are still on the same road. CHECK:_____

3.The Conclusion:
•The conclusion looks like a triangle—pointy end up! Start with Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and work up to a cool new way of restating your opening hook (but this time it’s ok to include Mark Twain.) Don’t introduce any new ideas or examples! Don’t demean your reader’s intelligence by restating the points you have already made in your essay. Leave your reader thinking, wondering, wondrous at your passion and eloquence, but above all else, thankful they took the time to read your essay! CHECK:_____

Since You Don't Have Homework, Maybe You Will Listen To Me Ramble on About 500 Word Essays

Fitz’s Ramble on Writing 500 Word Essay’s

The main idea in writing an essay is to express your thoughts clearly and concisely in a voice that feels very natural to you; It is, in fact, you. You have something important to say and an essay is the pickup truck that will deliver the goods. Consciously, and unconsciously we use the essay form to convey the essential information of our lives. Here are a few things I keep in mind:

Holy cow! A thousand words! It’s easy to be intimidated by a mandatory minimum length for an essay. The length of an essay is an attempt by your teacher, editor, publisher or director to help you determine the scope of what you are writing about. Excess words in an essay are like boulders in a backpack—they aren’t much use; moreover, they make the essay harder to understand and less pleasurable to read.

There is often a stigma attached to writing an essay, as if the form is as strict as a haiku written in Japanese: Introduction, Body and Conclusion. An essay is simply a story well told. Stories take on many different shapes; but all good stories have a beginning that grabs your attention and draws you into the story, a middle that is enlightening and interesting and relates well to the beginning, and an ending that is satisfying—something that feels like an ending—something that doesn’t leave a lot of loose ends hanging.

Whenever we tell a good story or relate a memorable experience to a friend we are speaking in the form of an essay. How often have you told a friend after they make a comment out of nowhere: “That’s a random thought”? It is usually when they say something without an introductory statement—when they jump right into some story without telling you in some way shape or fashion where they are coming from.

We sometimes hear the introduction without the body or the conclusion, e.g.: “I had the most amazing game yesterday…” And the listener is left hanging, mouthing the exasperated words “well…what was so amazing?” We naturally want to hear the details (but maybe not all the details!) of an amazing story.

A conclusion without an introduction or a body is the worst. Not only do you sound like an opinionated fool, but, it’s as if you have to listen to somebody middle of watching The Simpsons shouting, “Yes, it’s very important to master the fundamental skills of the game.” What game? What skills? What planet are you on?

With that said, I’d like to add that there is no skill more important to master than the ability to write a good essay. It is literally a skill that will save you time and time again in this great adventure called life. It is a skill and a craft that can be learned and mastered by almost anybody. But you have to care, and you have to try to learn, the only way to learn is to do.

(This essay was exactly 500 words)