Old vs. New

The ages old struggle between tradition and progress has manifested itself in the classroom once again. English teachers at all levels are now debating whether or not to continue assigning essays and term papers, or to start asking students to show their writing skills through blogs. Some advocate for keeping curriculum restricted to more formal types of writing. Others say the opposite. Naturally, it is nearly impossible to say with any certainty exactly what is best, as it is different for each person.

Before this year, much of the writing I have done for my English classes has been more traditional. While I have had to write in the occasional journal, almost everything has been an essay or essay-like, and none of it as been online. To be honest, I have not enjoyed writing that much. Blogging for English class is a new experience for me. From what I have learned in my limited experience, I think it is a positive addition to the variety of ways I have been asked to express my ideas in English classes, at least in some ways. Blogging  seems to be more personal and less formulaic. I can look at my peers' work and ideas to help me better understand my own.

Despite my dislike for the highly structured writings of my past, there are some important benefits of writing in  those forms both for the writer and the grader. The structure of the formal essay makes it (with practice) easier to write. If you are familiar with the structure of an essay, writing one seems natural. Once you have your ideas it is fairly easy to express them on paper, and you almost always know what to put in your next sentence. If you actually stick to the structure, this prevents some of the rambling that seems inevitable when you are not following it. This form also makes it easier for the person grading it, as they know exactly what to look for.

As you can almost certainly tell by now, I do not know too much about the subject. What I do know comes from other peoples opinions and my readings. I feel like I need more experience blogging to understand exactly what I think is best. At the moment, I believe that writing in both forms throughout the class is best for my education. Even though I do not know much, the little that I am aware of leads me to fear the extremes. While I believe it is safe to lean a bit to one side, only writing essays or solely posting in blogs could be harmful.

Being restricted to formal writing throughout my English career has pushed me away from the subject. Especially when I was younger I did not understand the value of formal writing, and did not take it seriously. Additionally, confining students to formulaic writing could stifle their creativity ability while writing. At the same time, blogging without any structured writing could lead to students' writing lacking in concentration or focus. Not only is it more difficult to write coherently without having a specific form to follow, it is also more difficult to formulate ideas and express them in ways that other people can understand. As with almost everything else, straying too far to the extremes is bad, they often don't make much sense...but they do make good memes.

ALIENS!!!!!

About Me

Hello! Before I start writing on this blog, I'm going to tell you all a little bit about myself. The first thing you generally find out about someone is their name, but for me that will not be the case. I am writing this blog, which shall surely be exciting and very readable, for my AP Composition class. I am currently a senior in high school, and am excited to be finishing up high school after three long years. School has been a huge part of my life, especially the last couple years. After being bored with my relatively easy schedule freshman year, I decided to take three honors and two AP classes. Since then I have been doing everything I can to challenge myself in school, trying to take the toughest schedule possible (or at least close to it) including classes at the city college, and hopefully some online this year.

Nothing too interesting has happened so far in my life, unfortunately. When I was four, my parents and I (yes I am an only child) moved to Texas to help advance my father's career. Thankfully, two years later we moved back to Napa (the weather is so much better here.) I haven't traveled much, and have never left the United States, the closest I got being the border with Mexico on a trip with the high school orchestra, which I have the honor of being a part of. I have been playing the violin since fourth grade, but have not put in as much time as I should have.

 My other main extracurricular is tennis. This spring will be my fourth season on the Napa High Tennis team, and I cant wait. We are going to do better this year (hopefully) and I am already excited even though it is months away. I enjoy watching professional tennis, and its stuff like this that keeps me entertained. Agnieszka Radwanska (the player from the video) is currently my favorite player, and is ranked number three in the world. I went to the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford over the summer and not only got to see her play, but got her to sign the back of my shirt!

You can almost read it!

 Besides watching tennis, I also enjoy reading in my spare time. I am currently reading The Travels of Marco Polo. While its legitimacy and accuracy are questionable, I am enjoying it because I love learning about history and other cultures. Saying I do not enjoy writing as much as reading would be quite the understatement. I hope that my blogging this year in AP Language and Composition will change that. So far all I can say is that I like this more than essays. Anyway, I hope to enjoy this year as  much as I have the past few, and will be posting again soon!

-Evan V