This is a special post. It is a post that I will hopefully only have to write once, and it is a post that requires a little background information. So here goes…
At the beginning of the semester my English professor, Dr. Essid, introduced us to “The Brick.” It is something feared far and wide, specifically in Essid’s English 103 classes, and it is awarded to students who make unsupported claims or glittering generalizations in their blogs or on their wikis. These students who make such careless mistakes are then to carry around The Brick until they have supported their claim or “unpacked” their generalization. That being said, Dr. Essid recently collected all the journals of my classmates and me and graded all of our blog posts and wiki projects. After about a week’s worth of anticipation, I finally received an email from Dr. Essid, the final report on my projects. I got a pretty good grade for being in ruthless Essid’s class, but as I neared the end of the email I came upon a sentence that made my stomach drop. It read: “Your claim merits the Brick for an unsupported assertion.” Thus, I became the first member of my class to receive the dreaded Brick.
The claim that Dr. Essid was referring to was the last sentence in my Ansel Adams project. The sentence reads: “A picture is most definitely worth a thousand words, but hardly one emotion.” My explanation is simply this: I cared too much for the poetic, parallel structure of my concluding statement then I did for avoiding an unsupported assertion. I sincerely apologize that my conclusion came off in that way for I did not mean to muddy the pristine waters of my class’ wiki website. Even though I am sorry you feel that way, Dr. Essid, I know that it was my lack of specification that caused this problem. For example, “This picture is most definitely worth a thousand words, but hardly one emotion” would have been sufficient because it instantly removes the broad generalization. I also could have, no should have, chosen a conclusion that was just as poetic but not as general. The best way for me to have written this sentence I think is “It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture is most definitely worth a thousand words, but it hardly stirs up one emotion.”
Again, I am sorry. This will hopefully be the last time I have to explain myself, and I will most definitely be more careful with my prose in future projects.
I feel rotten and ruthless.
ReplyDeleteAnd you have done a wonderful job explaining yourself. In fact, using "this" would indeed have avoided The Brick.
It is sad that in academic prose based on analysis, at times poetry takes a back seat to precision.
Finally, Sarah and you both shared the "honor" of The Brick. She recently qualified her use of "flaws of society" and no longer has The Brick. No one does, for now...