I found Where’s the Action by Professor R. Lanham more than a little idealistic. I accept that academic writing standards are seriously flawed; however, the question we need to consider is not whether there is a problem, but rather how we can fix this problem.
I understand that teachers need to assign essays. Personally, as a student, I will admit I still need some outside motivation. However, I was very cynical of high school writing – volume was the key – there was a set range for the page limit, and diligent students attempted to match it. I was not asked to think when I wrote –the page limit said very clearly that I was being judged on quantity rather than quality.
Professor Lanham makes the point that “government, military, social, scientific, lab scientific, [and] MBA flapdoodle” all exhibit the same “central imbalance,” that they all worship “stasis over action” (307). He clarifies his argument by stating that “[we] all sometimes feel, whatever setting we write in, that we will be penalized for writing in plain English,” that we will feel it “sounds too flip,” or “[even] satirical” (307). I completely agree, but I still fail to see the other option, writing to be easily understood, as realistic. The norms of our world are founded on relative perception; when the majority of an academic populace accepts a certain mindset, the collective mental inertia works effectively to stifle the efforts of an idealistic maverick.
Notice that last sentence? Couldn’t I just have said “everyone else believes complexity sounds smart, so Lanham’s ideas are utterly inapplicable”? I guess I could have, but I’m indoctrinated already, so unfortunately clarity lost out.
The little idealism left in my cynical soul hopes for a world where teachers assign essays with NO boundaries. College writing is getting there – there are no cookie-cutter topics anymore, but I’m still a little disappointed that the worth of my ideas is even partially judged by the number of pages I turn in. Really speaking, if a student forces in the extra words when he or she really has nothing more to say, is it worth the teacher’s time to read fluff? Students should have the option of turning in what they consider truly worth reading, not just what they feel the teacher expects to read.
As students, we have to take the academic world as it is, but it is worth considering that while the status quo might be the easiest option, it is not necessarily the best one. When one man stands up in a crowd, his voice is lost in the wind. When the crowd stands up together, they make their voices heard. It is up to the writers of tomorrow, and their teachers, to set precedents together so that, one day, we can cut the crippling literary red tape of today.
