Dear colleague,
Our colleague David T. Reese wrote in to me earlier this year with a pretty phenomenal example of a written mini-sermon. I wanted to share it here on the blog in case it helps or encourages someone like it has me! Best, DSJR
3 Part Writing Task: Letter, Annotated Writing Moves, Writing about Writing
Your first writing assignment is a three-headed monster, but don't sweat it. I provided models for each part of this beast. First we have the LETTER, which you already wrote. Second we have the annotations you did in red pen regarding various WRITING MOVES you made, or attempted to make. The third—and perhaps most challenging—is what you are about to do next: WRITING ABOUT TWO or THREE WRITING MOVES.
Once finished with the LETTER and the ANNOTATIONS, you should be ready for part three, which requires you to write about HOW you wrote. What? Writing about HOW I WROTE my letter? That's crazy! I know.
Like I said the other day, good writing isn't random. Good writing is intentional and it takes time, effort, and practice. (And if your work kinda stinks right now, that's okay. It's SEPTEMBER!!!!!)
Like my buddy Dave Stuart Jr. says, getting good at anything requires just two things: 1) Do the work, and 2) do it with care. Giving you this assignment might coerce many of you to “do the work” but I can't really coerce you to do it “with care.” That can only come from you. In fact, some of you will recall the other day a classmate BEAUTIFULLY and COURAGEOUSLY admitted that they couldn't really do the annotations because—I'm going to use my own words here—they didn't really care about the letter they wrote. They just “did it because it was an assignment” for class. That right there is a perfect example of doing the work, but not doing it with care.
All of this connects to what Dr. Cornel West (one of Mr. Reese's favorite thinkers) says is the difference between “cheap schooling” and “deep education.” Cheap schooling looks like students doing assignments because they were assigned them. Deep education looks like students doing work with care because they are discovering the intrinsic value of intellectual and spiritual flourishing. In a word, it comes down to motivation. And I will tell you right now, the greatest way to go through school and life is enjoy the process of getting better.
Holy cow, Mr. Reese is really going nuts on this. Yes. Yes he is.
Last year Ms. Angney helped you grow and grow and grow as readers and writers. We are in ninth grade now, but our eyes are fixed on becoming “varsity level” writers. Why? So that we can flex those skills, those muscles, those talents (<–anaphora) when we want to get the job, get the promotion, get the scholarship, or most important, get the attention—and maybe the affection—of that person you'd really like to get to know better. But listen, in order to do so, we have start thinking OUTSIDE of the box. We have to TRY new ways of thinking and new ways of writing. And most important, we have to be willing to struggle and FAIL. (That's right Ava, I said FAIL!!!!) Which brings us to a very important quote from Irish playwright Samuel Beckett: “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
It took me a considerable amount of time and a lot of edits for me to write what you just read, but I think it's worth it. Why? The sooner you develop a paradigm that embraces getting better, you'll flourish as a student and as a person; and the best part is, that goodness might never, ever stop! You can flourish as a student and a person for the rest of your life! Trust me. This makes life worth living!
This mini-sermon is over. Now let's get to work.
Maybe with a degree of care. 
Chris C. says
Love it!
Carmen P Munnelly says
BRAVO!!!!