Academic writing is like being in the military. You have to have everything lined up in the correct format, and if not, you get penalized harshly.


I hate writing for a grade, because what you write is judged based on someone else's point of view. Every time I drop an assignment in the drop box, my heart races with stress, because I'm about to be judged and criticized on my writing.


Academic writing is similar to man writing a letter to his wife and kids from jail. He has to be very careful with every words he writes on the paper, because certain words can be used against him, which may cause his letter to be rejected. Just like jail writing, academic writing has so many rules and formats, that makes you want to pull out your hair for each assignment. This type of writing keeps the writer from being free.


Just as Dr. Samuel Johnson was a "Jack of many trades," so am I, but with handcuffs on. Johnson was very versatile in his writing. Because of his social and political standing in society, he was able to express himself much freely. Johnson writing style and humor would still be the same in today's society. The reason I say this is because, history repeats itself. The same problems and pleasures that they wrote about then, are the same problems and pleasure that we are writing about now. The only things is that with today's social media, we are able to expose more information nationwide to everyone. The writing in the 18th century never changed, and because of the problems and pleasure that we are faced with today, gives vital evidence that history always repeats itself. Johnson displayed freedom in his writing, freedom from being judged by the media. That is the kind of freedom that I only feel when I'm not writing for a grade.

Whenever I write for my own pleasures, I write with joy. Stress free is how I feel as I pour out my thoughts onto the paper. I put my humor and heart into my words, and when I write in my own voice, aside from the school drop box, I tell the truth. That's why I love to write jokes for people that do stand up comedy. When I'm writing freely with no rules and regulations, you can hear me speaking from within, and I'm always honest.


So, in the 18th century, people like Johnson were needed so that they could show the world that writing can be fun when you are allowed to write freely with no restrictions or rules.


"I Just Want to Be Free in My Writing"


Blog Post #7