|
Tweet |
|
Confessions of an Ex-College Freshman
By: James Moffett
Publication:
The Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3
Date: May 1980
Summary: Moffett uses his experience as a freshman writer to argue that "when writers write from the heart they not only have something to say . . . but better order their thoughts and actualize their latent talent."
Excerpt
Whenever I was asked to write about something outside of books, the subject was so remote from me, such as national affairs, that I could know it mostly only second-hand and hence could hardly do anything but paraphrase the information and arguments that I got from newspapers, radio, and grown-up talk. But that's the point. My teachers really just wanted familiar, adult-sounding prose. This they equated with mature writing. They wanted phrasing they recognized, views they had heard aired around them, because this meant their students were joining the adult world.
Download the Article
Download "Confessions of an Ex-College Freshman"