Let Me Be Clear – Rhetoric at its Finest

The buzzword in politics is “Clear.” Both sides say it, and as soon as it comes out of a politician’s mouth, I distrust them; I’m going to side-eye that individual from those words forward. It disappoints me. If you have actually researched and your argument stands on its own, there is no necessity for the words, “Let me be clear.” They’re rhetoric. Pretty words. A veil. A covering. It’s like liars who use the word “Honestly” to ensure you believe something they’re going to say. My response? How about no. If you’re a truth teller, you don’t need to qualify anything you say with “Honestly” or “Let me be clear.” Those words are rhetoric – words chosen with the intent to persuade a reader/listener. The actual definition, according to the Google Dictionary/Oxford Language, is “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.” The ART of using words to persuade. Rhetoric is fun and effective to use if you’re a politician because, well, most people do not think for themselves. We are like sheep joining a sheep circle, going round and round and round, just following whoever looks and sounds like the leader. Hence the term “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

“Let me be clear” is telling the listener to believe what you’re going to say – that you’ve done all the research necessary and you are trustworthy. What you say is clear and accurate. There is no need for a listener to question the authority of your words. You are clear. There is an element of imposed guilt on a listener if they dare to question the statement made by the individual who says it is “oh so clear.” That is in quotation marks, so you read it in my sarcastic tone. “Let me be clear” is an excellent tactic on many people, which is why it is used so often nowadays in politics and in the media. Listen for it. Start counting the number of times you hear it. Make it a drinking game when you watch the “news” (sarcasm again – they’re not reporters now, they’re commentators/opinion givers) if you’re not an alcoholic.

I tell my students to be aware of rhetoric – understand it. Recognize when it’s used on you. Know how to effectively use it on others if you so choose. Law. Politics. Sales. Media. These career fields exist on the back of strong rhetoric. Persuasion is the euphemism. Manipulation is the curse word. Rhetoric.

One of my major teaching points in Comp I is Stephen King’s brilliant, rhetorical move in the short story “The Man Who Loved Flowers.” My favorite paragraph in that piece is this:

“The radio poured out bad news that no one listened to: a hammer murderer was still on the loose; JFK had declared that the situation in a little Asian country called Vietnam would bear watching; an unidentified woman had been pulled from the East River; a grand jury had failed to indict a crime overlord in the current city administration’s war on heroin; the Russians had exploded a nuclear device. None of it seemed real, none of it seemed to matter. The air was soft and sweet. Two men with beer bellies stood outside a bakery, pitching nickels and ribbing each other. Spring trembled on the edge of summer, and in the city, summer is the season of dreams.”

“The radio poured out bad news that no one listened to:” is the opening line of the foreshadowing paragraph. In this paragraph, King tells the audience what the situation is, but it is sandwiched between “Don’t listen to this” and “None of it seemed real, none of it seemed to matter.” None of what King just had the radio say matters. Don’t listen to it. It’s not real. It doesn’t matter. And then, the air is soft and sweet. People are kidding around. And summer is the season of dreams. King effectively told the significant plot point but hid it inside rhetoric. “Don’t listen” and “It doesn’t matter.” And the reader falls for it. The reader doesn’t remember that a hammer murderer is on the loose. And that is the truth of the short story. There is a hammer murderer, and as the reader, you already met him, but you don’t know it. A reader in 1969 would have had further complications in pointing out the foreshadowing because each of the items that follow “a hammer murderer is on the loose” are actual things happening in May of 1963, in New York City news. That audience would be red-herring distracted from the hammer murderer. A rhetorical move well done. Well done. Personally, I find this paragraph of King’s to be brilliant rhetoric. Beautiful, actually.

I can appreciate rhetoric; I find it useful in the classroom, but I do not use it as a weapon. I use it to engage my students, to open minds to new ideas. I do not use it to manipulate or trick them. When I see that happening in media and in politics (and in sales – like car sales – my least favorite shopping venture), it grates on my ever-loving last nerve. “Let me be clear” … I think not. No, thank you. If you had anything of actual value to say, you would have no need to use a subversive, fad-driven, rhetorical device/buzzword.

Remember when someone on the news said J.D. Vance was “weird” – and within days, every station was using that same rhetoric-driven buzzword. The fad began, and people watching those particular news shows believed the word. Thus, J.D. Vance was indeed weird – declared by not only news stations and politicians but also SOCIAL MEDIA – and we all know that social media is reliable for information gleaning (again, sarcasm by me – I hope you do know to sift through anything you read on social media. It’s a rhetorical minefield). Social media, where information is validated because “everyone” says it. LOL … oh man. Seriously. Maybe it’s not that J.D. Vance is “weird,” it might just be that he is different from you – maybe he has a message that someone does not want you to hear or believe. So, rhetoric is employed, and he is called “weird,” so that the masses of people who easily follow and believe what the media tells them will distrust him. Please stop and think. If we are going to play that rhetorical game, J.D. Vance probably thinks that the individuals calling him weird are “weird.” Geez, people. Think for yourselves. Don’t fall for rhetorical terms tossed out by people who want to invalidate another individual – and we just let it happen. It’s far too easy for those skilled in the art of rhetoric.

Let me be clear ...

How about no?

Continuous Writing – From “I Can’t” to “I Can”

“I can’t write,” “I hate to write,” “I’m not a good writer,” “I don’t know what to write,” “Writing is hard.” These are all phrases I hear from students and people out and about in the world I bumble around inside, especially when those folks discover my occupation. “Oh, you’re an English Professor; I better clean up the way I talk,” or “I’d do terrible in that class; I can’t write,” they say apologetically and with much insecurity. Without fail, I say, “Oh please, anyone can be a writer, and if you took my class, I’d prove it to you.”

Anyone can be a writer. I believe that. In “On Writing,” Stephen King said, “Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails. Rocks explode. Jane transmits. Mountains float.” Wa-la, you’re writing. At its core, it’s not that complicated. You have thoughts. Write them down. Do you have more thoughts? Write those down too. You have no thoughts? Write that down. Write whatever is in your head. Write about having nothing in your head. I’m getting ahead of myself. Most folks, when told it’s time to write, absolutely freeze. Freeze or internally weep. Our problem is that somewhere along the way, someone said something that caused you to feel inadequate. And that inadequacy turned into the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves in the form of “I can’t,” which becomes “I won’t.”

I address this in my classes by talking about Word Vomit. As I talk about letting whatever is in your mind and your heart flood the page, a baby spews on the presentation screen behind me. The visual “helps” the students get this idea of word vomit into their heads. Spill yourself onto the paper before you or the keyboard in front of you, whichever it is. They’ll never forget that baby! Chuck Wendig, a writer and blogger I enjoy, calls it, in his article “25 of My Personal Rules for Writing and Telling Stories,” “Bleeding on the Page.” When I discuss his angle on continuous writing with the students, there’s a bloody spill on the screen behind me; in his article, he says to cut yourself open and color your words with your heartsblood! Here, he says it best:

“Don’t write purely to escape pain and fear. Mine it. Extract those wretched little nuggets of hard black hate-coal and use them to fuel the writing of a scene, a chapter, maybe the whole goddamn book. Cut yourself open. Color the words with your heartsblood. I am an advocate of finding the things you fear and opening old wounds to let them splash onto the characters and inform the tale at hand. We’ll know. We’ll feel it, too. This is where your experience matters — it’s not necessarily in the nitty-gritty of mechanical experience but rather in the authenticity of your emotional life. And this is true for the opposite, as well — write about the things that thrill you, that stir hope, that deliver unto you paroxysms of tingly exultation. Be true to yourself and we’ll all grok your lingo, Daddy-O.”

Bleed on the page. Word Vomit. Imagery does wonders for belief. Any of us can pour ourselves out in freewriting—absolutely anyone. My friend, Dr. Douglas Price – the Director of Faculty Development and Global Learning at Tulsa Community College- has recently developed a tool for continuous writing that he and another friend of mine, Professor Amy Rains, are fine-tuning and collecting data on. They received a DaVinci Institute award for their work this past year. Since then, I have gleefully welcomed Dr. Price to my classrooms to share his insights and incredible tool, which assists students in continuous writing – and beyond that, continuous thought.

The practice is continuous writing, without stopping, just letting words and thoughts flow. If you get “stuck” in the writing, have a keyword to fall back on and write that word continuously until a new idea pops into your mind, which you will then write and keep going! Something I like to do is write about being stuck, if I get stuck. When I have had “writer’s block,” I’ve written about it—the feelings involved, the frustration, the despair … and then I have some golden, authentic emotions I can give to a character at another time. Writing our authentic internal thoughts is excellent for multiple reasons: it teaches us to keep going, it frees us to stop worrying about what others will think, it shakes us clear of concern about mistakes and editing. Just write. No stopping. Go. Go. Go. Get it out. Write without stopping; we practice this in freewriting, rough draft writing, journaling, anywhere you need to get words from your head onto a page.

Dr. Price visited my classrooms this week, and we, the students and I (because I love to participate along with them), practiced Dr. Price’s tool for continuous writing. During this visit, he specifically had us focus on comparisons. Take two words that have nothing to do with one another and see where your mind takes you as you continuously write. No stopping, just writing, and if you get stuck, write about it, or use a keyword to repeat until a new thought appears.

What follows are my freewriting examples from our exercises. I’m pleased with the results, as were the students pleased with their own. All of these students, who weeks ago, before my class, and the words from King, Wendig, and me, along with Dr. Price’s two visits to the classroom, used to say, “I can’t,” which meant, “I won’t.” Now … they can, and they have, and they will.

Nametag & Parachute

They found it on the ground, not far from the parachute. Her nametag. It lay in the mud, surrounded by remnants of this and that, things unmentionable due to the tragedy of the accident. The parachute had not opened … and she plummeted to her death. The newspaper would tell all the details, but for now, standing in the midst of it, the coroner just stared at the nametag. Chelsea. Her name was Chelsea Street. A young woman, it appeared. Probably full of life and laughter, excited to jump from a plane for the first time. Or maybe she was an expert and had done this many times, only this time, the chute did not open. Time would reveal that information to the CSI team, but the coroner’s job at this moment was to observe the body, so she took her attention from the nametag which was an embroidered piece of fabric that still semi-clung to the jacket that lay a few feet from where Chelsea’s body lay indented into the ground.

“Sandy, take a look at this,” said a young man crouched near the body. His name was Dan, and he was her newest assistant. Most didn’t stay with her long; she didn’t understand why, but she had come to accept the revolving door.

Sandy stepped closer to the body, and she looked down at the woman whose life had tragically ended that morning. How did this happen, Chelsea? Did the chute not open as it should? She waited and, before long, Chelsea spoke to her only in a voice no one could hear but her. “I didn’t open it.” The coroner heard the words, let them sink in a moment, and asked, “You did this on purpose?” Chelsea replied, “Yes.” And Sandy knew the CSI would find no flaws in the chute.

Snail & Dumpster

It was a long way to the top, but Herbert kept going. He knew the ‘promised land’ would await him once he reached the top. He had heard about the inside of the giant thing from some flies that he knew, though his parents told him not to associate with the flies. They were bad seeds, his dad said. But Herbie wanted to find out what was on the other side, or even better, on the inside of the giant thing. One of the flies had called it a dumpster; Herbie had seen it plenty of times but never knew its name. It was unmentionable. Something his parents ignored, even though it was larger than life.

Stick to the rocks. Stick to the shoreline. Don’t go on the concrete. Don’t go where the people go. Stay safe. Herbie didn’t want to play it safely. He tried to “LIVE.” You know, like the flies. He wished he had wings instead of this shell. Being a snail restrained him. He didn’t like carrying around the weight of his room all day, every day. He wanted to sprout wings and be a fly, though he heard that snails lived longer than flies, so there was that. But heck, even in their short lives, they got to see things that snails never did … and so, that morning, Herbert had kissed his mother and told her he was going to snail school, only he didn’t go. He made his way to the concrete and slowly took his first slide onto the hard surface, not knowing how it would feel. It wasn’t so bad, so he kept going, and before long, though the sun had fully changed positions, he looked up and saw the giant dumpster before him. It was even bigger up close, and his heart swelled with excitement. At the top, he saw flies flying around, doing what they do, and he tried calling out, “Hey, guys! Hey, flies!” But no one heard him, so he found a spot where he could begin his climb, and Herbie began edging upward. So far. At some point, a fly noticed him and whizzed past him …

Cauliflower & Guitar

He strummed the guitar no more than five feet from me. The music was soft, and I was sleepy. I needed to wake up. Something, anything. And then, my food arrived. So grateful for something to do – you know, feed my face. And … there was cauliflower on my plate next to my steak. I did not order cauliflower. Gross. It’s one of the nastiest substances on this planet; I will not eat it. But I don’t want to cause a scene. This place is quiet except for the lullaby floating around in the space from that man’s infernal guitar. He plays on and on, and I think this concert is for senior citizens.

Looking around, no, there aren’t any of those here, but I seem to be the only person squirming in my seat because the music is so dull! My husband seems content with the food on his plate. His steak and broccoli sit there ready to become one with him, as they usually do when he orders them. It’s a routine, and he is happy. But they gave me cauliflower. Ugh. I can’t eat it anyway – even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. So … what to do with it? Everyone is distracted here. No one is paying attention to me. I wonder … I could break the cauliflower into little pieces and try to toss it inside the guitar. He’s only 5 feet away … I bet I could make it. I’m a basketball player after all. Naturally, I will think of making a basket!

Boat & Cello

My favorite piece of music is “The River Flows in You” – especially when done by Hauser, a member of the group 2 Cellos. His video for “The River Flowers in You” is filmed in a boat on a river, and he beautifully plays the melody on his cello. It is mournful, almost, and the setting sweeps me into emotional flow every time I hear it. It seeps into every fiber of my being, and I am on that river, not with Hauser, but alone … I am there, and I am sad, and I am content. I am hopeful, and I am relaxed, and I am mourning … so many things all wrapped up as the music soars through me and the water gently moves me along. They work in tandem with one another – I lie back in the boat and float on a sea of emotion, but gentle emotion, taking me to a place of serenity where I can be open and free and not have worries or concerns. It is a release, and I long for that at all times. I will play “The River Flows in You” with intent from time to time because I need that music. I need that song … in cello, and I remember the river. I am in that boat, and Hauser plays the melody, and I drift … drifting, drifting … ever down the river of emotion but gentle emotion, soft and sweet, though a tint of mournfulness because Life is serious … Life is to be lived and we are to rest and we are to exult and we are to be in the moment, and in this moment, I am all of those things. I want to be in this boat …

Curtain & Trees

She pulled back the curtains to let in the day. The morning light spilled in and lit the room. Her eyes adjusted, and she flipped the latch to unlock the window. She heaved because the window was heavy and opened it, allowing the fresh morning air to rush into her bedroom. Ahhhhhh. The morning. There is nothing like morning. Nothing smells like morning. Especially here in the mountains. She smiled and looked out of the window at the forest surrounding her cabin. The mountain rose in the distance beyond the trees, and a few hawks circled above it all. She wanted to be nowhere but right here. A day lay ahead of her where she would play in the sunshine, wander through the trees, explore the base of the mountain, and perhaps skip rocks on the river. No pressure. No worries. No concerns. No sounds just birds, water trickling, and a car’s tires on gravel … Wait, that’s not the sound she should hear. The sound grew louder, and a car came into view – coming down the gravel drive set between dark rows of trees that overhung the simple road. It was her grandfather’s truck, and she wasn’t ready for his bellowing. Maybe she could pretend to be asleep. He’d get what he needed and leave. She pulled the curtains closed a bit and hid behind one of them, hoping he hadn’t seen her in the window. She was not in the mood to listen to any of his stories or help him hunt for this or for that that he left in the kitchen or the garage. It was always something. At those thoughts, she chided herself. He meant well. He always meant well. It wasn’t his fault that he had no volume level other than loud. Bless his heart. He’s hard of hearing … she pulled herself together, slipped on her flip-flops …

Mirror & Trains

She glanced in the mirror and adjusted her hair. A few strands were loosened from the wind outside near the train stop. She wanted to be presentable. No, she needed to be presentable. It has been two years since she last saw him. How has time flown like that? It is cruel, time. She saw the lines in her face were deeper, and she hoped he wouldn’t notice. She hoped that when he saw her, his eyes would light up and time would disappear. She kept looking at herself in the mirror and wondered how life had brought them to this space – to be so distant but love so hard. It was also cruel. Life. The mirror. All of it. He had to take a train. Trains make so many stops, and the time stretches far beyond what a plane ride would take. Even what a car would produce. And so, it was the train, and time is cruel. She wiped a piece of loose mascara from near her eye and took a deep breath. Two years. Okay. You can do this. Her heart raced. Her hands were a bundle of nerves. She hoped he was just as anxious to see her, but she also didn’t wish feeling this anxiety on him, hoping he was happy and on an adventure. Who knows what they would do with their time? She hadn’t made a plan. She wanted whatever time they had together to be spontaneous. She left the restroom and made her way to the train platform outside, again in the wind, and the strands of hair she had corrected chose their own freedom and flew with wild abandonment in the air. The train whistle sounded, and she stared down the track … hoping this was his train! But another train whizzed past. Not stopping. Ah, the anxiety. And then, another train came into view … and she prayed this was the one. It was time. It was time, ten minutes ago, but that time is cruel … and so, she waited. She watched, and the train came to a stop. Passengers filed off, and she strained to see him. Desperate to see him, but he wasn’t there. Where was he? Person after person filed past her, and her heart sank. Maybe he had decided not to come. He didn’t want to see her after all. Her hopes dashed, but she understood. She understood that he hadn’t desired to prioritize her in his life after she had left all those years ago.

Why would he? She understood. She crossed her arms, rubbed her hands against her skin, and sighed. Deeply. No one else remained to come off the train, and she turned to walk back into the sanctuary of the bustling train station, where she could disappear into the people and not be noticed in her sorrow and shame. Out in the air, on the platform, she felt a neon sign flashing above her saying, “Look at that mother who left her son years ago! She doesn’t deserve his love!” But you don’t know my story, she wanted to shout back at the sign and the people and the air.

Accept Critique or Decorate Your Refrigerator

Just completed filming a new author interview – with novelist and OU Professor Rilla Askew and TCC Professor Kyle Hays. This one is TCC official, and I am excited about it. One thing Rilla shared that I feel compelled to share with you now is this … She shared something she heard regarding not accepting critique well. This is especially to those among us who believe their work does not stink or is perfect. The words stuck with Rilla, as I am sure they will with me, and now with you …

If you do not want to accept critique as a writer or artist, “go be talented in your room.”

Ouch, right?

It should not be ‘ouch.’ Artistry in its various forms is communal. Sure, as writers, you write the first draft alone, but every stage beyond that should be with peer eyes on your work. They will invariably see mistakes you cannot, do not, and will not. As writers and artists, we must develop thick skin. We must be willing to be laid bare, vulnerable, and open to growth. We must lay our work out as a sacrifice to the opinions of others in our field. Listen to them. Be willing to consider their ideas. Admit you cannot see your own errors much of the time …

Or … don’t, and “go put it on the fridge with the other macaroni art” (Kyle Hays).

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sidenote: Professor Hays and I will film 6 author interviews for TCC (Tulsa Community College) this school year, which will be housed in the TCC Archives and made available to TCC students and the public later this year. The 2024-2025 school year interviews are:

Josh Wann – Poet, Short Story/Play/Comedy Writer, TCC Adjunct Professor

John Andrews – OSU Honors and Creative Writing Professor, Author, Poet

Dinah Cox – OSU Creative Writing Professor, Poet

Joshua Danker-Dake – Editor, Science-Fiction Author

Nancy Erickson – Owner of Stonebrook Publishing – St. Louis, Owner of “The Book Professor,” – Focus on Non-Fiction writing

Rilla Askew – OU Creative Writing Professor, Author – Historical Fiction, Short Story Writer

How to Increase Your Word Count

BE DESCRIPTIVE.

Utilize the Rule of 3’s – for any item that needs describing – if your reader MUST know how that chair looks or how this thing smells or what that bird sounds like, then DESCRIBE it. Use the 5 senses to create a description, but give the items being described no more than 3 bits of description each.
Imagine your reader as ignorant of what you know; most often, the reader is, in fact, ignorant of what you know. Never assume they know what you’re seeing in your own mind. Be descriptive. It adds to the word count too. Win!

INCLUDE EXAMPLES: STORIES AND STATISTICS.

To strengthen an idea, include stories (Pathos) and statistics (Logos). Be thorough.

USE A SIGNAL PHRASE FOR ALL QUOTES / PARAPHRASES

To strengthen your argument. Random quotes carry little to no weight. If you explain who said what’s coming and why their word is important, all of a sudden, the quote carries weight to your argument. Example: Stephen King, author of many short stories, including “The Man Who Loved Flowers,” gave an example of repetition in that particular short story that is bone-chilling; he wrote, “And he swung the hammer. Swung the Hammer. Swung the hammer. As he had done five other times” (King).
GREAT EXAMPLE drawn from a Comp II paper:
The writing center at the St. Louis Community College, a reputable academic establishment serving over 30,000 students a year, defines Logos as “[an] appeal to the audiences’ sense of reason or logic. To use Logos, the author makes clear, logical connections between ideas, and includes the use of facts and statistics” (St. Louis Community College).
To mark boundaries: Signal phrases mark boundaries between your words and the source’s words. By marking the boundaries, you also provide a smooth transition for the reader between your words and the source.
To emphasize the source, Call attention to the author or source being used. In some cases, such as a literature review or the use of a well-known author, specific information about the source is important for the reader to know. Giving adequate and specific details regarding the source adds to its credibility.
To avoid plagiarism: All source material must be cited, and signal phrases are one way to cite a source—however, additional citation formatting may be necessary depending on your citation style. Signal phrases are used WITH in-text citations. Both are necessary for proper source citation.

INCLUDE OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES IN YOUR ARGUMENT.

Including opposing perspectives can double the word count of an effective argument essay. This is a simple concept.
It strengthens your argument as well. It builds credibility (Ethos) when you, the writer, are willing to admit there are other perspectives than just your own.
State what the opposing perspective(s) is/are and argue it in the paper, combating it with your own research and opinion. Show that you understand the opposing perspective by the seriousness with which you treat the addition of that information into your essay. Let your own argument meet the opposing perspective at every point. This is exciting and makes you credible.

DEFINE UNFAMILIAR TERMS

In our writing, we often have information that our audience does not have. We understand concepts or tools, rules, and words our audience is ignorant of. Ignorance is not a negative word – it simply means without information. When this is the case, and it will require you to look at your topic and work from the audience’s perspective, add definitions to your writing. Just like I did here in this paragraph with the word ‘ignorance.’
In this case, it is okay to assume the need for definitions. It is better to err on the side of clarity than to lose an audience because of a lack of clarity.
Defining words and concepts adds to your word count! Woot!

BE WARY OF PRONOUN USAGE

There are instances where pronoun usage confuses a reader. For instance, if I said, “Paul and John went to the grocery store. He bought a soda.” The obvious question here is, WHO bought the soda? It is not clear. You may think this does not occur in your writing, but chances are, and I say this with kindness, it does occur in your writing. To correct the situation, some rewording of the sentences is necessary. For instance, “Paul and John went to the grocery store. He bought a soda” is better written as “When Paul and John went to the grocery store, Paul bought a soda.” Now, this didn’t add a difference-making number of words to the basic tenets of this small story, but the concept of clarity with pronouns is here.
Here is another fantastic example of an unclear pronoun: “To keep birds from eating seeds, soak them in blue food coloring.” Soak who? The birds or the seeds? To better state this, say, “To keep birds from eating seeds, soak the seeds in blue food coloring.” Be clear. This is not bad repetition – it is clarity. Again, this does not add a life-altering number of words. However, …
Demonstrative pronouns are exceptionally capable of confusing readers. What are demonstrative pronouns? These are pronouns that specify a particular person or thing. They include such, that, these, this, and those. At times, using these pronouns leaves the reader with questions and confusion. For example, “We can either choose to be clear or unclear with our pronoun usage. This is important to discuss.” While this statement might not be completely vague in its meaning, a reader might wonder which part of “choose to be clear or unclear” that ‘This’ refers to. To go for clarity, the statement could read, “We can either choose to be clear or unclear with our pronoun usage. Using clear pronouns is important to discuss.” Often, I find replacing the demonstrative pronoun with the actual words it represents provides strong clarity – and increases your word count!
In the realm of pronoun usage, too, we must consider that in today’s world, people sometimes choose their own pronouns. When writing these into stories/essays, we must be clear. If a character is going to choose they/them pronouns, but soon a second character is introduced, and the pair are then referred to as they/them together – this can lose a reader. It is best to be clear upfront by stating that the character chooses they/them pronouns, and then work to only use those pronouns in reference to that particular character and use fully flushed-out words/names/descriptions (more words!!) to clarify when speaking of more than one character. Hope this explanation makes sense.

YouTube Mini-Lecture: https://youtu.be/iy7EgQrKtWk

How to Make Your Essay Classic Double-Spaced

Previously called … Word’s Pesky Default Spacing Settings & How to Fix Them

Prior to fixing the Spacings settings in Word, your essay will look like this:

Extra space exists between each header item, between the header and the title, between the title and the text, and between each paragraph.

See it?

For YOUR essay to be in correct MLA format, this must be corrected.

How?

Good thing I can show you.

NOTE********BEFORE you begin to write, perhaps you might want to go ahead and choose to use the MLA Template in Word. If you do that, you do not need to read further. The spacings are CORRECT on the MLA Template in Word.************

If you choose not to use the MLA Template and have not changed the default settings in Word to be correctly formatted for your MLA papers, then you will need to follow these steps …

When your paper is wonky, it will look like this in Word: See the horrendousness?

To fix this monstrosity of an essay and make it visually pleasing with correct spacing:

Select All (This is on the right side of your screen).

Push “Select,” and the drop-down box will allow you to “Select All.” Do that.

THEN, your paper will be fully highlighted like this …

The next thing to do is find this button – and push it. Click it. Whatever.

Once that button is clicked, the drop-down box will give multiple options … you want it to be 2 spaced (double-spaced), and you want to click/push “REMOVE SPACE AFTER PARAGRAPH” … Do That! Do it. Don’t wait. Do it fast. Do it now.

Wa-La!!!!!!

Once you click “Remove Space After Paragraph,” your paper will be in CORRECT spacing format.

It will look like this …

Good stuff. This is very good stuff.

Fix your essays with this information!

“Hair As Silver As the Moon” … And Other Comments Regarding Comp II

“My Soul” – written by a Comp II student – Spring 2024

I always found it difficult to understand people who were so enthralled in their passion because I could not relate. Passion was not exactly something that came easy to me, and I wasn’t too keen on looking for it in places unfamiliar. However, I had a passion for words and reading and writing once upon a time. It was a proper escape from reality that introduced me to fantasies and worlds unknown where the only limit was my imagination—the power the words could hold and the impact they could bring was a fascinating thing. Yet, the older I grew, the more detached I became from these wondrous stories. The world seemed to lose its color, and the magic of words no longer seemed to impact me. The voices on a page no longer came to life, and my pen no longer sang when I put it against paper. It was as if I was beginning to lose my passion for the things that made me human.

When I walked into the classroom of yet another composition class, I was greeted by my professor, hair as silver as the moon, and an energetic smile that seemed to fill the entire room. I hadn’t had much hope of becoming a strong writer since the first assignment. I was surprised at my grade. I knew I wasn’t a very adept writer, but my grade was lower than expected. To think I had gotten even something as fundamental as the formatting incorrect, “Remove space after paragraph” (Cunningham), my professor wrote. It stung. I was aware of my shortcomings as a writer and seeing it up close felt severely demotivating.

As the weeks went by, I found myself feeling lost in my abilities and drifting farther and farther away from the world of spoken and written. I was surprised at my weaknesses and the thought that the professor had about how I already knew how to formulate an argument because I can converse with people eluded me, and her outlook on writing and arguing clashed with my preconceived notions of communication. The more she spoke, the more enthralled I found myself in the words of my instructor, and I became absorbed once again in the magical world of writing.

The writing process was something I never followed religiously because I just had my way of doing things. I had always absorbed knowledge like a sponge, and I never found it difficult to grasp new concepts and ideas and put them into action. Without knowing the hardship of struggle, I was unable to break through my plateaus as a scholar and truly challenge myself. I became complacent, and it was later reflected in my writing. Now that I’m in college, I’m hitting steeper and steeper walls, and it’s becoming gradually more difficult to pick myself up. Because I had never known struggle early on, I never learned how to learn. I didn’t know what made a good writer. I never received proper criticism for my work until I walked into that classroom.

The lessons were difficult to follow, but as if my professor seemed to understand me, she gradually conditioned me to enjoy writing with the short stories we would read. My preconceived notion that there was little room for learning when reading fiction was completely shattered, and I was taught how to research effectively. My professor made me understand argumentative communication on a deeper level. She said, “We use argument every day. If you know how to talk, you know how to argue” (Cunningham). Although I felt weak as a writer, I felt myself slowly becoming obsessed with bringing my thoughts to life on a page.

Communication is an art, at least my professor stressed it to be. She emphasized the importance of communicating and the skills that followed in arguments. It was as if the body and mind would move as one. Thoughts would connect actions, and actions would connect words to exchange information effectively. She stressed the importance of finding reason in between the words of what is being said. To this, she said, “Once you find the ‘Why’- then, communication can begin. Then, a true argument can occur. But not until then” (Cunningham). It was eye-opening for me, almost like a lightbulb going off in my head.

Within the next weeks, I tried to fully apply myself and really, truly engage in classroom discussions, activities, and exchanges, almost like a child eager to play with his new toys. I tried my best to follow her advice, and the task of writing became less daunting to me. The concept of “if you can speak, you can argue” seemed so simple, yet it was exactly what I needed to break through the mindset that writing was difficult. It took me aback. When I was in high school, my opera director sought to put me at ease, seeing as I had difficulty easing the tension in my throat when I sang. He was professional and precise, like a surgeon of the voice. His voice echoed in the grand auditorium during one of our rehearsal sessions, “You sing like you know you’re going to fail. You’re a strong speaker. Why not sing with that same authority?” (Alvear). I had a breakthrough. Writing and communication, just like music, is an art. And it is through the exchange of information that we can truly connect.

The short stories that we read in class, I think, were one of my favorite reasons for coming to class. I enjoyed hearing everyone’s opinions, and the open discussions that followed were extremely productive. It took a little bit of getting comfortable with speaking to new people, but once I got into it, words, thoughts, and conversations seemed to spark. I was unaware at the time, but those conversations over those short stories assisted us students in honing our communication skills.

A certain thought-provoking story sparked a lasting discussion that seared itself in my mind. The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. It’s a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin about a utilitarian utopia that criticized the power of the state and capitalism. It brought such fiery conversations among my peers, and it became a popular essay topic within the class. The sense of unease within the class after reading the short story was tangible, and hearing everyone’s thoughts was like music. Through effective communication, I was able to better understand my classmates. Through effective communication, I was able to build lasting connections with scholars I could proudly call my friends.

It takes a certain courage to fully immerse yourself in a passion, to focus on the beautiful self-indulgence of the mind foolishly and wholeheartedly. I thought that to be a strong writer, one must constantly throw themselves toward the pages. Writing, writing, and more writing. But I was wrong. My professor taught me more than just writing. I was taught that to be a good producer of writing, one must also be a good consumer of it. One must learn to understand and digest not just the words on the page but the hidden meaning and intent of the author delivering it, “the A.I.M” (Cunningham), my professor would say. Communication is a two-way street. Being talked at is not communicating, and vice versa. I was too weak to understand at first that her critique was for my good. I don’t think I would have had such a positive experience had I learned from a different instructor. There’s a fear in me that had I not learned from this professor, my love and passion for writing, for art, for music, for my soul would have withered and died. I am forever grateful for such a wonderful experience.

Emotions felt more and more difficult for me to feel as the days went on. Everything started to feel the same, nothing new, nothing to look forward to, and nothing waiting for me when I finished with my day. My world was a morbid lens of monochrome, and the things that once enraptured me soon slowly began to chip away at my sanity. Every. Single. Day. Became monotonous, and I slowly felt myself slipping away from the things that made me human. No music could soothe my soul. No words could ease my anxiety. The only thing keeping me together was my school routine. I dreaded coming to class, yet my professor would greet me every day with a smile. As abrasive as I am, I didn’t want to admit at the time that that class had grown on me. Everyone showed concern for me whenever I didn’t show up. Everyone asked how I was doing. I was met with “good mornings” and several other greetings. For the first time in a long time, I felt warmth. I felt at home.

This semester has been a test for me, and not just my patience, but my growth as a person especially. There were many trials and tribulations that I had to conquer, and mindlessly going about my day like a husk of a man wasn’t getting me anywhere. The passion that I had for reading, writing, music, and art that I thought had been snuffed out long ago had been rekindled by such a radiant atmosphere. I truly felt at home there. I didn’t want to leave. Most days, I would have been completely fine with just existing and being around everyone. This isn’t even about the assignment anymore. I just cannot contain my emotions as I type this out.

For someone who was a loner and weak, I was shown kindness and warmth by the people around me, and for that, I am forever thankful. I understand that I have strayed severely from the topic of this assignment. I understand that what I am doing could be punishable by the docking of points. But why must I limit my emotions any longer? I don’t want to hold myself back from the things I want to feel and the things I want to say. I want to thank you so much for being there for me. I want to thank you so much for trying to understand me as a person. Without you, I don’t think I could have picked myself back up. You taught me more than just writing skills, more than just communication skills. You taught me how to love myself again and to strive to be better. Mrs. Cunningham, thank you for everything.

Works Cited

Alvear, Joe. Opera Rehearsal Session. March 2021

Cunningham, Dacia. “Essay #1 – Details are Important.” ENGL1213, 8 February 2024, Tulsa Community College

Cunningham, Dacia. “Defining Argument And The Most Dangerous Game.” ENGL1213, 20 January 2024, Tulsa Community College

Cunningham, Dacia. “Writing Tips And Tricks.” ENGL 1213, 11 December 2023, Tulsa Community College

Ursula K. Le Guin, Kay Allen, & Shelby Scott – Women Making a Difference re: Omelas

To Mrs. Kay Allen, one of my high school English teachers, if you can hear me or see this up in Heaven, THANK YOU for bringing the short story “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” to my attention and encouraging me to use it in my Comp II curriculum.

What a privilege to have had Mrs. Allen as a teacher – in 1988-89 and as a friend much later in life. Before she ‘moved to Heaven,’ I would tell her directly about student responses to Le Guin’s work. Today, I settle for a shout-out online to ‘let her know’ that time and again, Ursula K. Le Guin’s message has touched my students, opening their eyes to not just one but multiple horrifying dichotomies that exist in our world. Today, I graded, no, let’s use the word ‘read.’ I read a paper authored by one of my students regarding the impact of “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas.” To say that I am proud is an understatement. Today, I said to my student, Shelby, “You should be proud of your work; it is strong, argumentative, personal, and researched.” Her response was, “Thank you, that means a lot. I really did try my best to do Le Guin’s work justice.” She did, and with her permission, I share it here.

Shelby Scott * Professor Cunningham * ENGL 1213 * April 22, 2024

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” Rhetorical Analysis

A month ago, if you had asked me to name a short story capable of eliciting a range of emotions – shock, disgust, and anger, I would have struggled to find one. That was until I encountered ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’ by Ursula K. Lee Guin. This narrative, set in a utopian city known as the ‘city of joy,’ initially appears devoid of any hardships – a facade that is shattered as the story unfolds. It is a testament to the power of emotional storytelling. However, before we delve into the story’s intricacies, it is crucial to understand the author behind it.

Ursula K. Lee Guin grew up in Berkley, California, with her parents, Alfred Kroeber and Theodora Kroeber, both of whom studied anthropology. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, “Anthropology is the study of human beings and their ancestors through time and space and about physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture” (Webster). Later in her life, she would pursue a career in writing. She dabbled in many genres, according to the National Endowment for the Humanities: “including poetry, historical fiction, picture books, essays, translation, and, toward the end of her nearly sixty-year career, writing a funny and opinionated blog” (Phillips). Yet, she was mostly known for writing science fiction, which had become a blossoming genre a decade before Le Guin began to write due to the rise of technology. The online Encyclopedia Britannica can support this, “developments in technology, such as nuclear energy and space exploration, coupled with the end of World War II, ignited the public’s imagination surrounding ideas of space, dystopia, alternate futures, and militarization.” (Sterling).

Le Guin became a prominent figurehead in this genre, exploiting its unexplored prospects. The Museum of Pop Culture, located in Seattle, Washington, is dedicated to making creative expression a life-changing force by offering experiences that inspire and connect our communities, explains Le Guin’s method of writing. “She used the genre to convey her messages of anthropology, gender, environmentalism, and anarchism” (Museum of Pop Culture). “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is no different, expressing themes of morality, happiness, and individuals versus society, all based in a utopian city. Throughout the story, the narrator tries to persuade the reader to consider Omelas a wonderful place. Describing the people of the town as never having lived complicated lives, as mentioned in the story: “They were not naïve and happy children – though their children were, in fact, happy. They were mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched” (Le Guin). As the narrator goes on, the reader can sense that they want readers to be convinced that Omelas is all it’s made out to be. They try to explain that good things happen in this city. This can make readers wonder why all this persuasion is needed.

It isn’t until the reader nears the end of the story that they realize why the narrator went to great lengths to glorify Omelas. Hidden in a basement under one of the buildings in Omelas, a child is kept captive in a closet. They sit naked, in their excrement, malnourished and abused. The narrator reveals that this child is why Omelas is a city of joy, free from all pain and misery. It is like a stab to the gut for many readers, including myself, to learn of this. As the story progresses, the knife begins to twist as the narrator tries to explain why the child must be kept in the closet. They are a sacrifice, placed there to keep the people and the city happy. All of the people know of this child, and most are complacent with its treatment as long as they can continue without a complicated life. Thus, it leaves the reader with rage and disgust while encouraging them to think about our views of utopia and our perceptions of happiness. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a short story by Ursula K. Le Guin, who skillfully uses Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to explore the themes of morality, happiness, and human nature while criticizing society’s idea of utopia and why it should never be achieved.

Throughout my Composition II class, I have read six short stories, all of which I have interpreted the Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to see if the author used them to help get their message across in a memorable way. Stories such as “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman greatly impacted society and myself. I heavily considered writing about them for this essay. Yet, once I read “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” the other stories I read were not comparable. One of the reasons for this is Le Guin’s use of logos. Logos in the literary world means to appeal to the audience’s sense of reason or logic. The use of logos can be seen throughout the story, with the narrator describing the city and the people.

From the story’s beginning, the narrator describes the luxuries the city offers, detailing all the things Omelas offers or doesn’t offer to try and convince the reader that the city is a utopia. Descriptions such as “They did not use swords or keep slaves. They were not barbarians… As they did without monarchy and slavery, so they also go on without the stock exchange, the advertisement, the secret police, and the bomb” and “What else belongs in the joyous city?… But as we did without clergy, let us do without soldiers. The joy built upon successful slaughter is not the right kind of joy; it will not do; it is fearful and trivial” (Le Guin). From these examples presented, the narrator is appealing to what might be the reader’s sense of utopia—describing how Omelas does not need an oppressive monarchy or slavery to function as a proper city.

The other example shows how Omelas does not need wars or the military to experience joy—acknowledging that joy derived from violence is not the right kind of joy. Yet, the second example is hypothetical. It can be hard to catch since the narrator does a good job sweeping the reader into the sweet details of this supposed utopia, but not all the descriptions of this ‘glorious’ city are accurate. The narrator does not know if the military exists in the city of Omelas, but if that’s something that will entice the reader, then there is no military. These theories blur the line between reality and fantasy. This can trick the reader into thinking some of these promises are true, and that’s what the narrator wants you to believe. The more the reader feels enticed, the harder it is for the reader to judge Omelas for its sin.

Moving on from Logos, the next from the rhetorical triangle is Ethos. Ethos Focuses attention on the writer’s or speaker’s trustworthiness. When considering the Ethos of this story, it’s good to look at the author’s life to understand why they write their stories. Understanding an author’s life, going all the way to the beginning of their life – can establish credibility with the readers and the story. As stated before, Le Guin was born in 1929 in Berkley, California, to her parents, Alfred Kroeber and Theodora Kroeber, both anthropologists. Due to growing up in such an environment, the influences of anthropology can be found in multiple works written by Le Guin. Works like The Dispossessed and Always Coming Home have Le Guin’s twist on utopian stories. Unsurprisingly, Le Guin would once again write about her ideas of utopia in “The Ones That Walk Away from Omelas.”

Yet, the reader might ask ‘why’ Le Guin would write so much about utopia, and there’s a plausible explanation. Le Guin started writing in the 1950s and continued her writing for the next sixty years. Many world events during this time would strongly influence writers – including Le Guin. One of the most significant events of this time was the Vietnam War, which began in 1955. The Vietnam War was a long and costly war against communist North Vietnam and South Vietnam, along with South Vietnam’s ally – the United States, who joined out of fear that communism would take over Asia if North Vietnam won. More than 3 million had died, and 58,000 of those deaths were American Soldiers. Many say that the U.S. should have never entered that war. A poll made in 1971 found on Britannica.com noted that “71% of Americans believed that the U.S made a mistake sending troops to Vietnam, and 58% said that the war ‘immoral’” (Spector).

The controversy and disillusionment of the war led to the birth of a new movement called the Hippie Movement. It was born partly to oppose the Vietnam War. Hippies advocated for peace and love, promoting tolerance and fewer restrictions in life. Many opted to leave society and join communes where they could live amongst other hippies—living a life of what would be considered taboo in regular society, such as participating in open sexual relationships, recreational drug use, and seeking out different spiritual practices that deviated from Christianity.

Readers will better understand Le Guin’s world and where the ideas of utopia come from if they know the time and history of Le Guin’s society. It has already been established that the narrator creates a lot of hypotheticals to make the city of Omelas more enticing. One of these hypotheses was the town orgy. The narrator fears their description of Omelas has become too ‘goody-goody.’ The narrator begins with this one-paragraph description of what the town orgy might be like saying:

“Let us not, however, have temples from which issue beautiful nude priests and priestesses already half in ecstasy and ready to copulate with any man or woman, lover or stranger who desires union with the deep godhead of the blood, although that was my first ide. But really, it would be better not to have any temple in Omelas – at least, not manned temples… Surely, the beautiful nudes can wander about, offering themselves like divine souffles to the hunger of people in need and the rapture of the flesh. Let them join the processions. Let tambourines be struck above the copulations, and the glory of desire be proclaimed upon the gongs, and let the offspring of the delightful rituals be beloved and looked after by all” (Le Guin).

It’s a lot to process, and it took me days to try and understand why Le Guin would write this. Sure, one can say that sex is appealing, and it sells, so it would be a no-brainer to add that tidbit. For some, the idea of people who readily offer themselves to those who are in need or desire sex would already be a utopia, and that’s precisely how most hippies saw sex. An excerpt from a book I found on the website Cambridge University Press called American Hippies by W.J. Rorabach – an American historian and retired history professor from the University of Washington, perfectly explained how hippies viewed sex and the human body.

“Hippies worshipped the human body…This elemental celebration was rooted in the philosophy of the hippie counterculture. The body’s existence was a matter of simple fact, and freaks reveled in facing facts openly. To do so was part of the search for authenticity. “Hippies despise phoniness; they want to be open, loving, and free,” noted the counterculture journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Glorification of the body is beautiful also expressed a preference for simplicity and honesty. Nothing, including the body, should be hidden from view. To hide the body was proof of impure motives. Mainstream culture’s prudish attitude toward the body was proof of its corruption. Nudity expressed purity” (Rorabach).

Now, comparing the story to the actual views of hippies, it’s not hard to see how Le Guin mixes her reality with Omelas. The idea of people being readily available to whoever desired them and encouraging copulation with the strikes of tambourines can be viewed as the hippies encouraging the authentic nude body. Encouraging all that the human body had to offer without any phoniness. Like how the narrator did not think it would be suitable for there to be a temple filled with beautiful priests and priestesses ready to copulate at any time; it should just be anyone who feels the need to fulfill other townspeople’s desires. Learning the details of Le Guin’s life and the world she lived in can help readers not only understand why she wrote about a hypothetical town orgy but the city itself. The city of Omelas mirrors the hippie’s idea of utopia. A town without slavery and soldiers, a place without a monarchy, where all types of love were celebrated without judgment.

It’s incredible how much Le Guin took inspiration from the world around her and used it in her writing. That’s why the ethos is so powerful; she skillfully shows her credibility without having to say it outright. A few Google searches were all it took, and I quickly understood what this utopia was based on. Using real-life details gives the author extra credibility and adds another level of immersion to the story.

Even though ethos is strong throughout the story, it can be difficult for some readers to understand it. It took me a few days, along with research, to grapple with the entirety of Le Guin’s message. The Pathos stood out the most in this story, as it seemed to jump right out and in front of me and give the gut punch of a lifetime. Yet, before I ramble about Pathos, readers need to understand it. Pathos is persuading an audience by purposely evoking certain emotions to make them feel the way the author wants them to. Le Guin was adept at conveying pathos in her message in a way that stands out from most of the stories I have read.

The over-explanation of Omelas can set off red flags in readers’ minds as they begin to wonder why the narrator feels the need to over-hype the city. Then, it is quickly understood why once the city’s dark secret is revealed. The narrator begins to describe that in a cellar or basement of one of the beautiful buildings of Omelas, there is a small, foul-smelling room, and in that room sits a child. The narrator calls that child an ‘it,’ taking away what little humanity they have as they go into depth about their living conditions. The narrator explains that they sit naked in this small room, in their excrement. Going on to say that the child is feeble-minded due to neglect. The description of the child is infuriating enough; descriptions such as: “It could be a boy or a girl. It looks about six, but is nearly ten. It is feeble-minded. Perhaps it was born defective, or perhaps it has become imbecile through fear, malnutrition, and neglect” (Le Guin). It is a disgusting and gut-wrenching read as more information is revealed.

The child is not afforded the luxury of a proper meal or even a kind word. Instead, people come to gawk at it with fear and disgust, or even worse, beat on it so that they will stand for their entertainment. The child has little to no muscle left on their body, their buttocks and thighs covered in sores from sitting in their own excrement continually. They are left in that closet for the rest of their days, and why is that you may ask; well, because the child is a sacrifice. This child is the reason Omelas is allowed to be continually joyful. Everyone knows about the child and understands why the child must be there. They know if the child were to be removed and shown even a mere smidge of kindness – the city would lose its joy, wealth, and abundance.

The narrator continues with their excuses for the people of Omelas. Going on to say: “They feel disgusted, which they had thought themselves superior to” and “Often young people go home in tears, or a tearless rage, when they have seen the child and faced this terrible paradox. They may brood over it for weeks or years” (Le Guin). This is interesting to me. This is supposed to be the city of joy; these people should be content never to be met with the face of hardship. Yet, they find themselves feeling negative emotions when faced with this child. In all fairness, some cannot handle the treatment of the child, so instead, they leave the city without a word. Never to be seen again. Still, even though they are upset to go, too disgusted by how their city must keep its prosperity, they never try to free the child. They leave without a word or trace. These people could do something; in a sense, they have nothing to lose. They no longer want to live in Omelas, assuming they no longer care for the others who decide to be complacent – in theory, at least one should be okay with freeing the child. It’s an infuriating fact. One of the few facts about Omelas that some readers may wish was just another fallacy by the narrator.

The pathos presented at the end of the story can leave an unforgettable mark on readers. Many people are already aware of the injustices many children in the real world go through each day. To read in graphic detail what the child in Omelas is going through could more than likely be a reality for a child out in the world. According to the American Society of Positive Care for Children (American SPCC), which is a nonprofit dedicated solely to the prevention of child maltreatment and raising awareness of the lifelong impacts of adverse childhood experiences – found that 4.276 million child maltreatment referral reports were received in 2022. Child abuse reports involved 7.5 million children, and 89.0% of victims are maltreated by one or both parents. Only 3.096 million children received prevention & post-response services (American SPCC).

These harrowing facts make the story weigh heavy on readers once they finish it. The child’s treatment in the story is the reality for millions daily. The child in Omelas will likely die in that closet one day, never being able to see the sunlight again and never being offered kindness. Again, this is another reality for five children each day. According to the SPCC, five children die every day from child abuse. It can and should make readers feel nauseous or angry when they read this story. If the emotional impact were not as strong, readers would not be left sitting there thinking about what they could do to help protect children and other victims of abuse better. This story is meant to stick into a reader’s mind, forcing them to truly consider what it means and what they can do to impact our society positively.

There are few meanings laden in this short story to leave a mark on the reader’s psyche. Our idea of happiness and utopia, and how easy it is for many of us to forget about those who are without a voice – constantly abused while we try and chase our selfish pleasures. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with trying to find personal joy in one’s life, far from it, but we as a society tend to get so wrapped up in our world that we hardly ever consider another person and what they may be going through. Even if topics such as child abuse are brought to our attention, many try to look the other way and shove their nose into something that will distract them from the fact. Stories like “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” remind readers that they should not be complacent in the injustices others face in our society while trying to chase the selfish idea of utopia. These stories are required to make an impact on society and ourselves.

That brings me to the impact “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” had on society and myself. While sleuthing around the internet, I could not obtain a clear answer as to how exactly the story impacted our culture. There are no blockbuster movie adaptations like “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Conell, and no widespread theory was made from the story’s events, unlike in the story “The Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury. Yet, I think it had a better impact based on the story’s message. We as a society tend to sacrifice our morality for an easier life since many of us don’t want to face the hardships life constantly throws at us. If one were to sit down and think about it, we try hard to avoid negative feelings, events, conversations, etc. It can be understandable sometimes; it’s hard to be uncomfortable. Yet, especially in the age of smartphones and the internet, we’ve become deluded by the world around us. There have been many instances where an altercation has broken out, and instead of people intervening, they pull out their phones to take a video to post online for the whole world to see. To try and get fifteen seconds of fame. This is more commonly known as the bystander effect, which became known after the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese when she was murdered on her walk home, and thirty-eight people were witness to it. According to Brittanica, The bystander effect is the inhibiting influence of the presence of others on a person’s willingness to help someone in need (Brittanica).

It’s a common phenomenon in our world. I witnessed it myself multiple times growing up and have shamefully participated in it. The most prominent memory I have of it was when I was in school, and my classmates and I just watched, some with glee, some with apathy, as a girl beat another girl’s head into a lunch table. None of us tried to stop her; some egged it on, enjoying the violent display before us. Yet, none of us tried to stop and help the victim. The girl stopped once a teacher finally found out what was happening and pulled her off the other girl. Thankfully, she was okay, but I’m ashamed of myself and my peers. Just like the people of Omelas, we allowed that girl to be continuously assaulted for our selfish joy.

It happens all the time. When people drive down the street and see a homeless person sitting in the sweltering heat, many avert their eyes and ignore them. They don’t want to interact with or think about them. We try so hard to forget the atrocities that happen in our world and our communities, electing to scroll endlessly on TikTok to try and continue on our dopamine highs until we reach a point where the dopamine doesn’t hit the same anymore—leaving some running around trying to chase a new level of high like a mindless zombie so they don’t have to think about what is going on in the real world.

Reading “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” thankfully made me sit down and think not only about its meaning but also about what I’m currently not doing. It made me remember all the times in school when I disregarded a child being bullied. All because I was taught it was “one of my business.” How I watched apathetically when that poor girl was viciously assaulted because she had supposedly said something about the perpetrator’s mother.

Since then, I’ve learned to pull up my big girl britches and speak up when others cannot, but I feel I can do more. Over the past few weeks since reading that story, I’ve felt like there is more that I can do for others. I’ve recently begun talking more about topics such as child abuse and better education for our state. Forcing people to wake up and stop worrying about ‘what this celebrity said’ or ‘what Travis and Taylor did today.’ Because it’s all just a distraction. A distraction many people are willing to fall for in the name of ‘entertainment.’ It’s more like media to rot your brain quicker. My main goal is to get the adults around me to give up apathy and pay closer attention to what happens around us. They must be mindful of the media they consume on a day-to-day basis. I’m not saying I don’t want them to enjoy some mindless fun here and there, but that’s all they consume. It’s just mindless entertainment. If people could comprehend what they read or watch, there might be more thoughtful conversations, leading to more action.

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” is a story that should be an essential read for many. Not only does the tale invoke strong feelings that most stories may not be able to, but it can also lead to personal introspection. Le Guin encouraged the reader to examine society and themselves and ask if we are living a life of comfort or continuous self-growth with the ability to help those around us. The story also allows you to look through the lens of Le Guin herself and possibly see how she viewed her society at the time this was written. Letting us see inside her mind gives the readers a better understanding of why utopianism can and shouldn’t ever be attained. She told us that happiness cannot be achieved without trials and tribulations. That is why “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin skillfully uses Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to explore the themes of morality, happiness, and human nature while criticizing society’s idea of utopia and why it should never be achieved.

I believe this story should always be included in the Comp II curriculum. It would be a disservice to future students not to include it. The story offers incredible usage of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos, engaging readers in a story that closely reflects our society. “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” forces us to rethink how we decide to live our lives and how we think about those abused within our communities. The story allows readers to start change within our personal and public worlds. If “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” were to be removed from the Comp II curriculum, it would be a missed opportunity for young adults to read this impactful story. They may never read it in their lifetime and get the wake-up call to rethink how they live, compromising their morality for comfortability.

Works Cited

Child maltreatment & neglect statistics. American SPCC. (2024, April 4). https://americanspcc.org/child-maltreatmentstatistics/#:~:text=4.276%20million%20child%20maltreatment%20referral,prevention%20%26 %20post%2Dresponse%20services.

Le Guin, U. K. (n.d.). The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. https://shsdavisapes.pbworks.com/f/Omelas.pdf

Phillips, J., Heitman, D., Gillis, J. R., Tonguette, P., & Holsinger, B. (n.d.). Ursula K. Le Guin was a creator of the world. The National Endowment for the Humanities. https://www.neh.gov/article/ursula-k-le-guin-was-creatorworlds#:~:text=Born%20in%20Berkeley%2C%20California%2C%20in,and%20The%20Dispos sessed%20(1974).

Rorabaugh, W. J. (n.d.). Bodies, sex, and gender (Chapter 3) – American hippies. Cambridge Core. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/american-hippies/bodies-sex-andgender/ABA6ADB4F3379997E3E6006E46E590AF

Spector, R. H. (n.d.). The United States negotiates a withdrawal. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Vietnam-War/The-United-States-negotiates-awithdrawal

Sterling, B. (2024, April 5). Science fiction. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/science-fiction Ursula K. Le Guin. Museum of Pop Culture. (n.d.). https://www.mopop.org/ursulakleguin#:~:text=Celebrated%20for%20such%20science%20fictio n,gender%2C%20environmentalism%2C%20and%20anarchism.

Let Them Earn a 65%

I just gave a well-written essay from an online course a 65%.

Why?

Because following directions is essential.

>There is no title.
>There are no page numbers.
>The Works Cited page is incorrect. The spacings are off, and there are no hanging indents.
>The author of the short story under discussion in the essay, who is dead, is referenced in present tense continually, even though I said to use past tense when discussing a dead author’s actions for logic’s sake. I discuss Literary Present with my students with a yada, yada, yada attitude because LOGIC states that if an author is dead, they are not writing or using anything at the present time. If they are, then we have a paranormal situation on our hands. Logic, people. Logic. Logos … speaking of Logos …
>The essay was to discuss Logos, Pathos, and Ethos as used by the short story’s author. None of these words were used – although the ideas were there. Whyever not? Why were the words not used as the directions stated? I gave the students a specific OUTLINE with the words even on it as the main points and the directions to put Ethos, Logos, and Pathos in the order they feel the author best utilized them in the short story. Define the rhetorical devices ( sub-point a). for each main point on the outline) and discussion Logos, Pathos, and Ethos using examples from the text.
>There were to be 1 to 2 quotes per page across the 6-page essay, meaning there should be 6 to 12 quotes/paraphrases. There was 1 in the entire document. 1. Only 1 – and yet, somehow, the incorrectly formatted Works Cited page had 4 sources – with no evidence of how they were used in the essay. Perhaps they were hastily added before turning in the essay and not used at all for research? If they’re not quoted or paraphrased, I can’t know; therefore, they are of no consequence.

Had these details been correctly utilized in crafting this essay, the content would have received the A it deserved. The content itself was grammatically spot on – though not the content necessarily requested. The general ideas of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos were discussed, but the words were not used. I have never encountered this before whilst grading this particular set of essays – not in any semester. It was written well, but I was beyond distracted grading it because of the aforementioned lacking details.

I tell my students regularly that formatting comes first in the editing stage. Make sure all your t’s are crossed and your i’s dotted. Ensure that your MLA formatting is spot on. I even gave them an EXAMPLE MLA paper to use as a guide with a correctly formatted Works Cited page. The assignment’s directions are specific. Overly specific. They are also to participate in Peer Review groups wherein they are encouraged BY ME – THE GRADER to look over their classmates’ formatting and content before the final drafts reach me, thereby helping every student reach “A” status – let that always be the goal of Peer Review! Do for others what you want them to do for you. Everyone has the opportunity for an “A” with this method. Unfortunately, some students skip this part … and this essay did come from an online course in which multiple students did not fully engage in their peer review groups, so chances are strong that the student has not taken in all that I have to give through video lectures and handouts.

Ah well. The student’s choice. “Let them.”

I listened to Mel Robbins discuss the “Let Them” theory this morning; she is correct. Let them. Let the students earn the 65%. https://youtu.be/YiE0QBkPvRQ?si=w3TVg9GKI-eBQChU

Everything in me would like the student to correct all of the items I’ve pointed out and get that 65% changed to an A … but that is the student’s choice. The option is there.

Let them.

I’m sitting here baffled, though. I would NEVER turn in something this lacking in correct detail.

Perhaps the paper was written by AI …

“A Kiss in the Rain” Lives On?

In prepping my “Novel Writing” course, I came across a discussion prompt where my students must share 3 possible story ideas, and they must give a synopsis of each story. My mind leaped back to a phone conversation I’d had with my cousin, Linda, yesterday evening. Linda read my novel, “A Kiss in the Rain,” and she said there were several characters she wanted to know more about. I laughed – not at her – but because she is not the first person to request stories about some of the other characters in that novel! I’m taking that to mean that they were written well. Pretty cool, really. And as I, in the present moment, read through the discussion prompt for my students, three different storylines came to me as potential storylines for other characters from “A Kiss in the Rain.” Nice! I’m excited!

I’d love your thoughts. Which might you like to read?

1. . John and Victoria Clark’s life together began like a fairytale, rubbing elbows with high society in their town, living vicariously through their daughter Daphne and her accomplishments, and their names on the top lists of charities across the state. They’re proud people. Wealthy people. Until Daphne’s teenage impulsive actions bring ‘shame’ upon the family – at this, the family unravels, the facade of their lives crumbles, and John finds himself in prison – with Victoria on the edge of filing for divorce. When a once-so-perfect life crashes to the ground, is there hope, or are they destined to live in the murky shadow of scandal?

A title might be … “The Judge’s Choice.”

2. She graced the cover of magazines from coast to coast. Journalists clamored to interview her. Senators and politicians wooed her. Adeline was the doll of the stage – a hit on Broadway and in the hearts of men. One, a wealthy bank owner, asked her to be his wife and offered her everything she could ever desire … except George, the man her heart loved. He was poor, a stagehand. He could offer her nothing more than his heart … and she chose wealth. Life for Adeline would never be the same – whisked away from the man she loved – she tried to fit into her new role as a socialite wife … and mother. Until everything fell apart – and she was left with no one … and no forgiveness for herself. Throughout the remainder of her life, she tried to stay off the radar, doing for others as she could but not for herself. And George never left her heart or her side – the stagehand with nothing but love to give – but could it ever be right to hope to right all over her wrongs to him? To her husband? To her child?

This would be titled (possibly) … “The Lady in Red.”

3. Jacqueline’s twin sister Victoria had it all. She was beautiful, vivacious, outgoing, and smart. She could roll out of bed and look like Barbie on parade. From an early age, Jacqueline resented Victoria. Jacqueline’s own hair hung straight as a board, her make-up – when she tried to apply it – ran and made her look goth – no matter what she tried. Her shoulders slumped, and she preferred books over people. Where Victoria shined, Jacqueline stayed in her shadow – invisible … until she ran out of gas one night after work at the Piggly Wiggly. Mad at her luck, she was kicking her front passenger tire when a 63′ Chevy pickup pulled up alongside her, and the driver said, “Tire piss you off?” Then, he laughed – and the music of his laugh entranced Jacqueline. Before she knew it, she married that man named Carl and found herself living with him, a man who would do anything for her, in a rundown old farmhouse while her sister when off to college and married a man who would become a Judge. She envied Victoria, hated Victoria, and she obsessed over everything Victoria had and did. Nothing ever seemed to go right for Jacqueline … and then, her mother died, leaving her to care for her niece and her niece’s child because they lived in her mother’s house. When she saw Daphne, she saw Victoria … and Carl gave her an ultimatum. Jacqueline finds herself at a crossroads of choice. Will she run off the only person who has ever given a damn about her, or will she, in her 50s, find a way to let go of the past. Carl has one foot out the door …

A title for this could be … “A Life Not Lived”

Now that I’ve written these out … I’m really excited about them all! I’d love your thoughts, especially if you’ve read “A Kiss in the Rain.”

If you have additional ideas or characters you want more about, let me know! Like Alice, perhaps. Or Brian? Definitely Robert and Lynne … so many characters! LOL.

Help!

How to Increase Your Word Count

When students tell me they “can’t” reach the word count for an essay, I often smirk. Yes, I smirk. I don’t just “smile – it’s a full-on smirk because I know some tips and tricks in writing that will get them to their goal, and they’ve presented me with an opportunity to talk about what I love to discuss most … communication in writing. Sit back and relax, students. Here comes some life-changing information. For school, this is packaged nicely in a handout. For this space, here are my 4 strong ways to increase your word count for school or for work sans the PDF file.

BE DESCRIPTIVE.
• Utilize the Rule of 3’s – for any item that needs describing – if your reader MUST know how that chair looks or how this thing smells or what that bird sounds like, then DESCRIBE it. Use the 5 senses to create a description, but give the items being described no more than 3 bits of description each.
• Imagine your reader as ignorant of what you know; most often, the reader is, in fact, ignorant of what you know. Never assume they know what you’re seeing in your own mind. Be descriptive. It adds to the word count too. Win!
INCLUDE EXAMPLES: STORIES AND STATISTICS.
• To strengthen an idea, include stories (Pathos) and statistics (Logos). Be thorough.
USE A SIGNAL PHRASE FOR ALL QUOTES/PARAPHRASES.
• To strengthen your argument. Random quotes carry little to no weight. If you explain who said what’s coming and why their word is important, all of a sudden, the quote carries weight to your argument. Example: Stephen King, author of many short stories, including “The Man Who Loved Flowers,” gave an example of repetition in that particular short story that is bone-chilling; he wrote, “And he swung the hammer. Swung the Hammer. Swung the hammer. As he had done five other times” (King).
• To mark boundaries: Signal phrases mark boundaries between your words and the source’s words. By marking the boundaries, you also provide a smooth transition for the reader between your words and the source.
• To emphasize the source: Call attention to the author or source being used. In some cases, such as a literature review or the use of a well-known author, specific information about the source is important for the reader to know. Give adequate and specific details regarding the source – add to its credibility.
• To avoid plagiarism: All source material must be cited, and signal phrases are one way to cite a source—however, additional citation formatting may be necessary depending on your citation style. Signal phrases are used WITH in-text citations. Both are necessary for proper source citation.
INCLUDE OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES IN YOUR ARGUMENT.
• To create an effective argument essay, including opposing perspectives can double the word count. This is a simple concept.
• It strengthens your argument as well. It builds credibility (Ethos) when you, the writer, are willing to admit there are other perspectives than just your own.
• State what the opposing perspective(s) is/are and argue it in the paper, combating it with your own research and opinion. Show that you understand the opposing perspective by the seriousness with which you treat the addition of that information into your essay. Let your own argument meet the opposing perspective at every point. This is exciting and makes you credible.

These things work. In fact, #4 on its own has the capacity to double your word count. Your essay will go from being dry and short to lively and lengthy – you will find yourself having to cut your word count at times. Never cut what needs to be part of your argument. Always keep your audience in mind – and write the argument in a way that they will not feel attacked, nor will they shut you off because you are one-sided. Be open, be reflective, be fair, and be knowledgeable. Logos, Pathos, and Ethos must thread through your entire argument. Do this by following these 4 steps. Win. Win. Win.

Winning.

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