Thankful: a lesson about life through writing

Thankful

(a writing assignment; due Friday, Nov. 8)

            To begin, get out a full sheet of lined notebook paper. Remember, you’re an honors student and I expect it to be a normal piece of paper—not a scrap, not torn to shreds down the sides, not riddled with your artwork because  you are bored with the assignment or because you’re an artist at heart. It’s not hot pink or light purple or from a yellow legal pad, it’s simply lined white notebook paper from a three-ring binder or a spiral notebook. Please don’t do anything strange like fold it into a piece of origami, a fan, an airplane, or even into a note. In fact, the paper should be free of stray markings and stains, and it shouldn’t be mutilated or marred in any way. I realize that a few of you know this is common sense, but with the papers I’ve received lately, I feel it’s necessary to reiterate my expectations. Some papers appear as though they were dragged through a muddy ditch and then tossed to a crazed wildebeest for a round of catch. Your paper should NOT look like that. It should be neat. (Please note that I’m talking about both the NOTES that you take to jot down ideas AS WELL AS YOUR FINAL COPY.)

            Neatness includes your writing. Use capital letters to begin sentences and for proper nouns; make sure that the size of the letters in the middle of words aren’t as large as those that you’re using as capital letters. A capital letter and a lowercase letter should be different sizes and sometimes different shapes. When employing terminal punctuation, make certain that your period isn’t half an inch long…that simply makes it look like a wicked comma. At the same time, a comma or a period shouldn’t look like a miniscule spec that’s barely visible to the naked eye. Please remember to include proper punctuation in complex sentences and at the end of sentences so the beginning, middle, and end of your sentences are perfectly clear and punctuated properly. Finally, each paragraph should be indented. Yes, you WILL have paragraphs.

Now that the appearance of the paper has been established, I want to make it clear that you’re only to use a pencil (which is preferred so you can erase), or use blue or black ink. Please don’t use “pretty” colors—and NEVER use red ink; the colorful pens are often difficult to read and I want you to actually locate my comments, feedback, and suggestions.

Okay, here comes the assignment! Mr. Johnson, (your substitute teacher), will give you a blank sheet of computer paper on which I’d like you to brainstorm WORDS or PHRASES, or make a WEB or OUTLINE, or use some useful method to compile different things you’re thankful for. WRITE YOUR FULL HEADING ON THE TOP RIGHT CORNER AND BOX IT IN SO IT’S EASY TO LOCATE. Remember, this paper will be kept neat. This is a wildebeest-free zone!

Some of you are likely furrowing your brows; this may be because you’ve no clue what a wildebeest is, you don’t understand why your paper needs to be legible and not dragged through a plate of SpaghettiO’s, or perhaps you just aren’t thankful for anything in the world so you’re baffled about what you’re going to jot down. (Or maybe you just miss me dreadfully! Awww, that’s so sweet!)

But back to business! Contrary to what you may believe, you all have things to be thankful for regardless of how miserable you may feel and despite the fact that you may believe other people have lives that are so much better than yours. Know that we all have problems, we just don’t always share them with the world. Sometimes we share them with nobody—except for our pets (right, Jo?), or in a journal, or with the only friend you’d actually trust with your life (and if you have a pal like that, you’re terribly lucky).

The beginning is easy. You should all be thankful for food, shelter, water, and space. (No, not outer space, but the space in which we each exist, like your own little personal bubble!) Instead of focusing on what’s wrong with your life, consider what is glorious about it. Please don’t prattle on about things like your iPhone and your plethora of brand-name clothes or your recent windfall while playing the stock market. Instead, find the tiny nuggets of joy that you often fail to notice. For example, I have had what I’ve dubbed to be a lot of “bad luck” lately. Someone told me there was no such thing as luck, only opportunity. I think that is ridiculous and I still have my theories about luck regardless of what he said and, believe me, that man will not make money from me attending one of his fancy-schmancy seminars! Ha! Anyway, I’ve been dealing with what one might call a series of unfortunate events. They never seem to end. I had to find something positive to keep me going, smiling instead of crying, plodding forward when all I wanted to do was sling a rucksack over my shoulder and disappear.

And then it happened. I had to house-sit over the weekend (which was just another thorn in my side), but last night when I returned to my own home, I told my dog that I was thrilled that our house hadn’t burned to the ground in our absence! (Seriously, it was just one more thing that would not have surprised me at all. I hadn’t been burglarized, the house was there, I had a few cans of soup I’d swiped from my mother’s house…and suddenly, life was pretty darn good!)  Sure, it may be pathetic that I’m searching for simple joys, but then I noticed things like a magnificent card a friend had sent me in which her writing curled and swooped all over the card as she wrote about wonderful times we’d shared. I looked at the photos on my walls and smiled at the images of people who are in my life and those who have left it too soon, but at least I’d had the opportunity to know them. I received a text from a friend I haven’t seen in more than 20 years. My laundry was nearly finished. I was thankful to put on warm clean sweats and to have my loyal dog pitter-pattering around with me. I realized that despite all of the lousy things that drag me down, all of the drama, the petty arguments, the endless chores, the unpaid bills, the people and events that tear me down, I have SO MUCH to be thankful for. Perhaps all of the misery I’ve felt was necessary for me to realize that I can be happy with absolutely nothing as long as I have a few amazing friends and true joy in my life. Simple pleasures.

I want you to think about what you may overlook in your life. We all take a lot for granted and I do believe that we all have a lot of stress—regardless of age or who we are—we are all human and we all suffer, hurt, and feel. It’s the feeling part that can also bring us so much joy.

            As Thanksgiving grows closer, I want you to share your journey with me. What are YOU thankful for? Of course you can list some of the material items (those are the things that money can buy), but I also want you to really contemplate what makes you truly happy and what you can honestly be thankful for that isn’t necessarily found in a store. It can be a shared smile, a hug, the art of gazing into your aquarium at your fish and watching them flit to and fro. It can be enormous or tiny, silly or unique. This will be the foundation for your list or web or outline on the blank sheet of paper where you’re going to write things down (NEATLY!). From that, you’re going to grow a paper.

            That’s why you have that plain lined notebook paper and the pencil or black or blue pen. (You may also choose to use a computer and a printer if you’d like to type your paper. The final draft is up to you—but if it’s hand-written it must be exquisite! Nary a hoof-mark will be found. If you type it, please use Times New Roman, 12-point-font with one-inch margins. Obviously you’ll use computer paper for that, too, rather than the lined notebook paper.)   

Write your story. Tell me why you’re thankful. Dig deep and crawl into the corners of your heart and the dark recesses of your mind to do this. If it makes you feel emotion, that means you’re doing a wonderful job. The best writing taps into our emotions and makes the reader FEEL something.

As honors students you know that I expect a MINIMUM of five full-length paragraphs (with five or more sentences per paragraph, as a general rule). I want luscious paragraphs with an introduction that captures my attention and makes me forget that the pantry is just a few steps away. The body of the paper will be at least three paragraphs that are bursting with details, wonderful language, and proper grammar. I will be impressed and ready to write you a recommendation for summer institutes, youth programs, or whatever it is you’re seeking. Write with feeling and use vivid prose that taps into the five senses.

Your paragraphs certainly won’t be lists, nor will they use words like STUFF or THINGS. Tell me your story. Let me know what you’re grateful for in this life. This assignment is more narrative writing than expository, so don’t feel like you have to write what you consider some “boring essay” for your English class. Write more than what is expected. Compose a conclusion that ties everything together, that brings me full-circle, that doesn’t announce that you’re concluding or tell me that you hope I enjoyed what I just read. A conclusion is fluid and natural and should be compelling and thought-provoking. It should leave the reader with a solid impression of who you are and what you feel, leaving no loose ends that will fray and unfurl.

For your final draft, use the full heading with the assignment name being THANKFUL. It is due when you arrive to class on Friday. You may now begin by writing on your blank paper; I hope that you make an honest effort to root around in those crevices of your mind, your heart, your soul, and write with passion.

I look forward to reading what you come up with. You’ll include the once-blank (brainstorming) sheet with your final draft on Friday, so make sure that you have BOTH papers complete and ready to turn in when Friday’s class begins. You won’t be expected to share in class—I am your audience—though you may share if you wish.