Feb 2020
Thinking about college writing
Learning to write a thesis is learning to form an opinion.
In the spring of freshman year, I distinctly remember one of my professors beginning the semester by declaring that her intent for the course was teaching us to form an opinion on the subject. I only later came to realize how clearly she had voiced the purpose of a liberal arts education.
Writing is just one way in which I have learned to develop a well-founded opinion, specifically learning to write a thesis. A thesis condenses and simplifies the bulk of an essay to stake a claim and provide context for the rest of the essay. While the fact that a thesis shapes an essay might suggest it should be written first, the illuminative process of writing pushes me to iteratively adapt, developing complexity through intentional editing; with each draft, I can analyze my own analysis and critically push an argument. Just like a thesis is fluid, so should an opinion be. Opinions derive strength from their supporting evidence and perspective considered — so as I continue to learn and expose myself to new experiences, my stances must appropriately respond. Moreover, I find clarity in my thoughts — my argumentation, my conclusions, and my biases — through constant reflection. Developing an opinion replicates the process of writing a thesis, so it is only natural that the strength of my opinions reflects the strength of my theses, leaving me passionate about both improving my writing and learning more about the process of writing.
An interdisciplinary liberal arts education has honed my preference for setting my analysis in comparison, including comparing lenses and context. In an attempt to persuasively argue that atrocious violence is waged under the rhetoric of ethnic conflict to achieve private political ends, I found success in comparatively analyzing two case studies of political leaders creating conditions for violence. While a focused look at the fact of a prompt might suggest that essays serve to resolve a question, a broader understanding of the function of college essays in the academic world suggests instead that they serve to respond to a question by presenting a new perspective. College students are confined by the length of a paper and course unlike academic scholars, leaving our capacity to respond to discussions in the academic world to be most powerful. Grasping the role of college essays is critical to crafting a compelling and relevant claim.