Showing, Not telling!

You should listen to Yoda. He wouldn't steer you wrong .

Stanley Fish wrote an article titled What should colleges teach? Part 3. He made the argument that sentence structure, and knowing how to play the game of sentences is key to becoming a successful, and proper English student. He believes that both high schools and middle schools do not do their part in teaching students what they need to know to properly structure a sentence. This lack of knowledge before students start college makes it harder for the English college teachers because they have to reteach the student all the basics of college writing when instead they should only be expanding on their ability to write better and at a college level. I believe him in some ways, but I also believe that writing is too complex to be broken down to on issue. I believe that, “Showing not telling” is an equally important tool to have in your arsenal.

Use your words to bring your story to life!!

Throughout my first semester of college at Ohio State University Newark Branch, my instructor Derek Boczkowski introduced a term. He called it “Showing, Not Telling.” This term was alien to me, (1) It helps draw your reader in and holds his/her attention,(2) Most college professors would rather you show as much detail as you can(if their assignment requires it)(3) If you show not tell, it also allows you to be able to transport the reader into the world you are trying to create. As Fish stated in his argument about the sentence structure middle/high school teacher do a poor job of teaching students what they need to know.

In my 1109 class we did a group assignment where Derek paired us up into 5 groups and gave us 5 tells and asked each group to transform them into awesome shows.
                                               Tell-The house had vines(Boring right?)

This is what I picture with the tell

This is what you should strive to portray to your reader 

Show-The ramshackle house on the corner of my street was covered in vines, they seem to be strangling the life out of the house, breaking into the very foundation, and crumbling the house to dust(Much better to read right?).  I believe that a good writer should hold the ability to grab a readers attention, causing them to stay on the edge of their seat, never wanting to put down your assignment. I think if you are able to do this then you will succeed in college writing.

Most college instructors(if they require it in your paper) absolutely love it when you show some detail. An example of this in my Sociology Class with Dr. Hennen, we had to write a 4-6 essay about a world when one social aspect had changed in the world. It was towards the beginning of the year, and i did not have much information on showing not telling, so I wrote up my paper, I got the first grade back and was not happy with it. He allowed us to rewrite it, and by the time the revisions were due. I had more information about showing not telling. I turned in the paper. It went from a C to an A, The main revision I did was to use more detail than my previous paper. The link to my first draft is here. And the link to the draft after I revised it is here.

If you are extremely good at showing and not telling, whenever you are writing something creative it allows you to transport your reader into your world, or your words burrow deep into their minds. If you are able to use enough details to send your reader to the world you have created. You have already won the attention of the reader. Over the course of my English 1109 class.

Let the gears turn in your head!

Derek required us to spend one day a week for 8 weeks observing a tutoring session between a student and a tutor of the Writer's Studio. They were going over their 1110.3 classes. I learned some other important keys to college writing. I wrote a paper about how brainstorming is important for college writers. I observed brainstorming in many of the sessions as well as showing and not telling.

I believe that one of the more important tactics that you will learn in college about writing, in my option is to showing and not tell. I think once you can master that. I believe you will find your writing assignments much more interesting and not at hard. If you immerse yourself, and your reader in detail, you will win the hearts and the minds of your reader, as well as your instructor. It allows you to express your assignment using your imagination and creating a world and characters that keep your reader on the edge of their seats