The Essay Idea: An Essay

Today, I mentioned something in class that I though was interesting. No one else appeared to take much stock of it, but nevertheless, it interested me. It’s about a possible idea for an essay. The idea is this: Can a student who, not interested in any or most forms of academic achievement, be drawn towards such a thing through writing? More specifically, if he were taught to approach writing not as a dry subject with a predetermined set of rules but as a set of languages, would that student be encouraged to achieve more?
It’s a risky theory, I know, and truthfully, I’m neither certain how I could prove this or if there are even any precedents for it in scholarship. There was Jacques Lacan, who regarded the unconscious mind as being organized and dictated much along the lines of grammar. That, however, is a very dense area to get into, not at all appropriate for a short essay.
But I feel an urge to continue with this, however foolish as it seems. For a brief example, let’s take the subject of literary modernism. We won’t delve into its entire history, of course, but we can simply look at what it was. Modernism came into being as a result of industrialization, in Europe particularly, and meant, at least to its participant, a sort of challenge to what from their point of view were highly inhumane, monolithic societies that revolved around hectic cities. Modernist literature was eminent for mixing genres together: Miguel de Unamuno’s “Don Juan” in “Three Exemplary Novels” is a cross between a play and a short story; Francis Ponge’s poems in “Things” read like short essays. Modernist stories could have non-linear plots: Andre Gide’s “The Counterfeiters,” about a botched attempt at passing fake notes in 1920s France, features a frank portrayal of homosexuality; such writing was useful, time and again, for handling taboo subjects.
My point is, though, is that, by encouraging students of writing to compare the given specimens of writing, and to afford them opportunities to mix genres freely in their writing would, I firmly believe, be very helpful to them. Let me begin by saying, we wouldn’t do this sort of thing indefinitely; clearly, it’s an experiment, something reserved for certain times. But it’s creative; for one, they would learn the limitations of one genre and the advantages of another. I myself have improved my prose by learning the terseness and discipline required of poetry. Also, there are plenty of teachers who’d be more than willing to take part in this sort of experiment. Right this moment, I’m observing classrooms at Monterey high school, English classes whose fabric are torn at the seams, so bored are the students by the predictable readings. Why not add some flavor?
It’s a thought…