by Laurie Rozakis, Ph.D.
Write to Evaluate Something
Life is full of choices, big as well as small. Writing can help us sift through the choices to make the best possible decisions. Below is an except from Mark Twain’s famous critical review of James Fenimore Cooper’s Deerslayer series, whose best-known novel is The Last of the Mohicans. See what Twain thinks of Fenimore Cooper’s novels and writing style.
There are nineteen rules governing literary art in the domain of romantic fiction — some say twenty-two. In Deerslayer, [James Fenimore] Cooper violated eighteen of them. These eighteen require:
1. That a tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere. But the Deerslayer tale accomplishes nothing and arrives in the air.
2. They require that the episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it. But as the Deerslayer tale is not a tale, and accomplished nothing and arrives nowhere, the episodes have no rightful place in the work, since there was nothing for them to develop.
3. They require that the personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the cases of corpses, and that the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others. But this detail has often been overlooked in the Deerslayer tale…
In addition to these large rules there are some little ones. These require that the author shall:
12. Say what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplus.
15. Not omit any necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple and straightforward style.
Even these seven are coldly and persistently violated in the Deerslayer tale. — from Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses by Mark Twain (1835-1910)
People in the first half of the nineteenth century loved James Fenimore Cooper’s novels. They thrilled to the adventures of his dashing hero, the Deerslayer. Mark Twain, however, clearly didn’t agree with the popular assessment of Cooper’s writing ability. Twain’s scathing evaluation of Cooper’s writing style also stands as great advice to writers: have something to say and say it in an interesting, precise, and grammatically correct way.
When you evaluate something, you judge it. You do this often when you write letters of recommendation or assess a product, for instance. Written evaluations not only help others make intelligent choices but also help you become a more precise thinker and writer. To write effective evaluations, you must…
- show that you are qualified to make judgments on the subject
- define your assumptions
- anticipate opposition
- draw conclusions
- adopt the right tone
Writing fair and balanced evaluations requires you to write precisely and creatively.
Write to Entertain Others
Imagine that it’s a cold winter night and you’re curled up in bed with a cup of hot cocoa and the following two poems. Get comfy and read the poems. Then decide what made them entertaining.
Example #1: One Perfect Rose
A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his message he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet –
One perfect rose.I knew the language of the floweret;
“My fragile leaves,” it said, “his heart enclose.”
Love has long taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.– Dorothy Parker
Example #2: Unnamed
I pray the Lord my soul to take
If the tax collector hasn’t got it before I wake.from “One from One Leaves Two” by Ogden Nash
“Laughter is the best medicine,” a wise person once said. Writing that entertains is fun to write as well as fun to read. If you find joy in writing to entertain others, it will come from knowing that you brought them pleasure. It is a rare and wonderful piece of writing that can make us laugh out loud, but even sparking a smile can make you say, “I did a good job with that essay!” Using words to bring a twinkle of recognition shows you have a good-humored, sympathetic nature.
In a larger sense, when you help readers laugh about their tragedies as well as their triumphs, you help them deal with difficult situations. By reminding people that we all have tough times, you help them feel part of a larger community. Humor thus helps people deal with human imperfection.
Write to Make a Difference
With his writing, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world. Do you remember these historic words?
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that one day my four little children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963
Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream ” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington Memorial. It was the hundredth anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
Since ancient times, people have written speeches, letters, books, and articles in an effort to change the world. When you write to make a difference, you use language to move people to action or belief. You appeal to their reason, emotion, or ethics, or any combination of these three factors.
You Must Remember This
Writing can change the world — and it can change your life. That’s because words themselves are power. More than two thousand years ago, the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes wrote, “Give me a lever long enough and a prop strong enough, and I can single-handedly move the world.” In our own day, the celebrated novelist Joseph Conrad realized that true power lies with language. “Do not talk to me of Archimedes’ lever,” Conrad said. “He was an absent-minded person with a mathematical imagination. Give me the right word and the right accent, and I will move the world.”
You have the power to use your words to change the world.
~ The End ~
Part I - What Is Creative Writing?
Part II - Write for Self-Discovery
Part III - Write for Knowledge
Part IV - Write to Evaluate Something
