When I was in high school, I had an English teacher who everyone seemed to hate. It wasn’t until several years later that I realized the gift he had given me.
Mr. Bond had a schedule for every one of his Grade 10 students to complete an essay every six weeks. He would pick the topic and expect written essays anywhere from 500 words to several thousand. We wondered if he actually counted the words. One of his assignments was for a 2,500-word essay about a business.
I chose to write about The Fort Frances Times and interviewed the editor, Carl Schubring and the publisher, Russ Larson. They compared notes, and between them they agreed that I did not have enough information from that first interview to complete the assignment. I had to go back and reinterview those two gentlemen to be able to complete the essay.
Those written essays would be my guide to the future. In the remaining three years of high school, no teacher demanded essays of any consequence like those expected by Mr. Bond. It was in my first year of university that my English literature prof demanded a much sterner essay.
I can’t remember what the topic was, but I pounded out many pages with footnotes and other notations on my typewriter. It was then that I realized how important were the skills I developed in Grade 10 in assisting me in my education.
I never did directly use my university education, but writing has become an important part of who I am. It has two parts. The first part is researching topics until I understand the various points of view and then making my own determination of direction using my words and ideas.
The second part is putting my thoughts together on paper. Often it is not an easy road to come to an understanding, and I am left in confusion. My computer has thousands of articles stored on topics that I have tried to write about. They have been left for another time.
Which leads me to the temptation of using artificial intelligence (AI) to write columns. It is an easy habit to fall into. It is a pattern that teachers see too frequently as students choose to get AI to write the essay without needing to do the research or use their own words and thoughts to write those essays.
Written ideas have led us forward for centuries. Essay writing is an important tool for all students to learn.
I have read every book published by James Michener and have reread every book at least twice. I marvelled at his research into the development of countries, states and territories. I have enjoyed the work of Ken Follett, who wrote a series of books on England. From Canada, I have enjoyed the works of Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale) and L. M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables).
Along with biographies of Obama, Clinton, Eisenhower, Truman, Diefenbaker and many other world leaders, they have provided me with a better understanding of the need to encourage our youth to persevere and write essays. They are the continuing chain that knits us together.
