Response to Yancey Piece

The first thing that came to mind when I was reading the piece by Yancey is how important writing really is. One of the most important cases of writing in the history of the United States was in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was written declaring the thirteen colonies independent from Great Britain. I don’t write anything like that, nor do I know anyone who writes anything near that important, but I do know writing is an important thing to everyday life in the 21st century.

One of the more apparent forms of writing I can think of comes in the form of text messaging and e-mails. Long has passed the days when normal mail is sent on a regular basis and when people would actually call each other on the telephone. Now most communication is done by writing a “text message.” These types of writings are very informal, but they are used at an astonishing rate. Everyone I know seems to be constantly texting someone else. Granted most teachers may not consider texting a good form of writing, I still would consider it writing.

Teachers, or most teachers, want students to be formal, very proper writers. I agree with Yancey when she makes the point that a lot of people only know how to write to perform on tests. I consider “test writing” a completely different form of writing than writing something from the heart, as corny as that sounds, or simply writing to write. I believe that when people write simply to write they can express themselves a lot more than they are able to express themselves in a test setting where they are given thirty minutes or so to write everything on a topic they can think of. Writing should not be a rushed form of literature, rather it should be free flowing and stress-free. With everything out there to cause stress to students, why should teachers force one more thing on them to increase that stress anymore? Writing should be set more on the level of reading or other hobbies. It should be a pleasurable activity that we enjoy doing on a regular basis. There are millions of people that read for pleasure, but how often do you find someone who, instead of reading, writes for pleasure? Writing can be another form of getting away and immersing oneself in another world. Let your thoughts flow and see where your fingers take you (assuming you’re writing on a computer). Writing is a fun activity and when teachers put too much emphasis on being “perfect” and knowing the “exact” way of doing things, it detracts from the real goal of writing: write to express not to impress.