By: Phillip Mattie
Gut instincts in classroom, the favourite phrase of sportscasters everywhere, are tricky beasts when it comes to where and when to apply them. The sports field? Sure. The casino? Probably not. High school English class? Well, it’s complicated. Gut instincts are all about feeling out a situation or a problem and reacting in the best, most appropriate, often awesome way; however, the only realistic way to do that in an English tutoring class is when you know your material inside and out. And to write an amazing essay without focusing on organization (which is what I mean when talking about gut instincts) takes guts and instincts.
So, my metaphor is this: An athlete, who has extreme physical training and hand-eye coordination, is able to pull off feats regular people can’t accomplish and make them look easy. Natural, even. But, these feats occur and are possible because of the extensive training and dedication of the athlete. So, too, for the English student. Therefore I have made a list of things you should consider before handing in what you think are well-worded and perfectly written essays from nothing but pure gut instincts.
Learn How Gut Instincts in Classroom Can Help
Talk to a Professional
That’s right — the very first thing you should do is talk to a professional writer or a professional editor. I know that you are probably in high school, and getting in touch with these people might be a little difficult. Instead, I would consult your English teacher. He/she is there to provide you with a compass of sorts and will be able to gauge where you are in terms of writing abilities, including what direction you need to go.
Gut instincts are great, but those instincts need to be honed. There is no one better than a teacher or professional editor to tell you what you need to improve on in order to write from the hip rather than focus on grammar and organization.
Don’t forget to take a professional piece of writing with you. Take one of the blog entries you wrote over the summer, polish it up, and remember to just write from the heart, the gut, or whatever it is in there that you get your inspiration from. “But Phillip,” you ask, “how do I accomplish this?” Well….
Rely on your Technical Knowledge
Believe it or not, it’s the technical knowledge of the language that makes writing from the gut so effective. If you already have a good grammatical foundation and are skilled at creating topics for essays, this type of writing will come more naturally. And I know for a fact that many students absolutely detest outlining essays beforehand (see my previous entry on Brainstorming and Its Importance), but there are times when, if you have the skills, you can write a great essay with nothing but a solid technical foundation.
And, yes, your instincts can take you far. For example, I went through my entire undergraduate experience not knowing a subject from a verb and managed to pull off a respectable GPA. This kind of result won’t be true for every English major, but I like to think that it was my instincts that pulled me through all those essays; to be honest, I didn’t plan a single one. No brainstorming, no nothing. Just pure gut instincts in classroom and knowing what looked right or wrong got me my degree.
I do regret what I could have accomplished in those essays had I known what I know now.
Understanding subject-verb agreement, knowing the difference between topic sentences and supporting details, and creating a great thesis weren’t part of any outline or editing phase. There were some things that I either didn’t want to know or didn’t care to know. And it hurt me.
However, my foundation was what held me together; that, and the fact that my instincts didn’t let me down. So, when paired together, I came out with a much-better-than-average GPA. I suppose my point here after this lengthy digression is that instincts alone won’t get you an A. You need to have some kind of foundation in order to really succeed. At the very least, know exactly what is expected of you on any essay. Next!
Know your Material
Another thing that you should absolutely not do is write an essay without knowing your source material. This one seems like a given. But you’d be amazed (or maybe not so amazed) at how many people try and write an essay. They do this without cracking the cover of the novel/play/short story they are to write on. Coles Notes or No Fear Shakespeare or whatever study tool you use to help you is a poor substitute for the actual source material. Trust me. Read books, plays, and short stories.
This topic harkens back to one of my old Study Tactics articles, where I mentioned various things you can do to help you remember details from your source material. Take a look back in the archives and find it; it’s very good, I promise you. But the gist is this: Read your material cover to cover, talk about it in class, do all the regular things you do. But when you are studying, be sure to look for details in the book that you can use in an essay.
Pick a theme from the book and find events that occurred in the book that relate to that theme. You are looking for details to use in your body paragraphs—aka examples from the text that go in the body paragraphs. If you know the themes from the book and have details to support a position on those themes, then you are much better prepared to write an essay without spending time organizing your information.
So, does a reactionary essay have a place in the classroom?
Given that it’s written with only gut instincts in classroom and no planned topics. Yes. But this feat can only be accomplished once you have met a very specific set of rules. These rules that include feedback from a professional (your teacher). It also includes a reliance on a strong foundation of writing skills, and a rock-solid knowledge of whatever it is you are writing on. But know this: Your writing will improve exponentially as you build on your technical foundation. And, gut instincts will only get you so far. You’ve been warned!