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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Francis Tran <myemail@student.edu>
Date: Sun, Apr 20, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Subject: An ex-writer's lamentation
To: [my english teacher] <theiremail@highschool.edu>
From: Francis Tran <myemail@student.edu>
Date: Sun, Apr 20, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Subject: An ex-writer's lamentation
To: [my english teacher] <theiremail@highschool.edu>
Dear [my english teacher],
I
write to you in a state of deep sorrow, for I miss dearly the
experiences I had in English II honors, when writing was, for lack of a
better word, fun.
Gone are the days of creative writing!
Gone are the days of poetry and of storytelling!
Long gone are the days of subjective, argumentative essays!
No
longer do I read beautiful, intricate creative works and contemplate
their implications. No longer do I confide with the pieces of Yeats or
the tales of Bradbury. Even more rarely do I find myself in deep thought
with Plato, taking his abstract ideals and morphing them into
narrative.
Nay!
Now
I am condemned to assembling 10-page lab reports for various fields of
science, in which words become mundane vessels for cold logic.
I
am also encumbered with a year of terse and informative articles for
Slick Magazine, for whom I am shackled by Associated Press rules,
incessant peer reviews, and worst of all, relevancy!
And
even when I write papers for my psychology of oppression course, I must
refrain from creative or argumentative styles. Or rather, from style in
its entirety!
So much objectivity. Heigh-ho!
Alas! And also, lack-a-day. I suppose that these objective forms of
writing may be enjoyable to some... but certainly not for me.
I
even intentionally re-enrolled in Creative Writing only to be kicked
out at the beginning of the year (because it's not an elective??? like,
what??????)
One
might argue, "Can't you just do creative writing in your own time? You
can still read critically acclaimed literature and write thoughtful
essays without enrolling in an English course."
And to such a fellow, I would truly hope that they go on to read Don Quixote or Catcher In The Rye, because they desperately need a lesson in naïveté.
All it takes is one glance—just one—at my Canvas calendar to dispel any shred of creativity into the oblivion of hopeless dreams. Just one look (for a second would surely send me into a fit of madness) and I am reminded of my chains and my duties; my obligations and my priorities.
As
Tiresius once prophesied, "You can't do literally every extracurricular
ever and then write essays just for fun." Unfortunately, he was right. I
have been cast out from the language arts and reduced to the status of a
mere hobbyist blogger in some corner of the online world. The majority
of my creative works these days are indeed lamentations.
Such
is the price to pay for skipping two years of high school English and
earning a two-year degree in Chemistry while in high school.
...
Anyhow.
The
actual reason I am writing this is because a) it was fun and b) I thought
it would be amusing for you to read. I hope you are doing well.
And if it hasn't been made abundantly clear, thank
you for a wonderful year of sophomore English. Jake and I both still
have the partner essay we wrote, which holds for both of us the highest
mark we've ever gotten on a paper.
Regards,
The Self-Acclaimed #1 Relative Clause Lover,
Francis Tran
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