The Idea of an Essay, Volume 2

187 what will be done with the paper after the student has written and edited it. Teachers read many papers each year, but none of these papers make it beyond the audience of the teacher. For instance, a teacher will grade this paper and hand it back to the author, who will then stuff it in his homework folder. No one sees the paper beyond the teacher, student, and perhaps a writing mentor. If the paper were not only graded, but also published for other students and experts in the area of the topic to read, students would be motivated. Dave Garrison wrote several papers, tailoring each one to the specific desires of the teacher he was writing for. The difference in teachers determined his writing style, and motivated how and what he wrote. He only said what he thought the teacher wanted to hear (McCarthy 243). Students should have their essays graded, then published before an audience of peers and those interested in the subject being discussed, because it would allow the students to write more openly and thoroughly about their topic, being motivated with the goal of contributing to an audience and an academic discussion. Garrison continues to explain how writing is a community-motivated idea and a social function (234-235). Publishing papers would allow students to express their ideas and research from their perspective to a group that can understand and relate to the topic. The community motivates students, as they are contributing with their writing, not monologue-ing for a teacher. Scritch, clackety-scratch, scuff-tap, scuff-click tap tap. The sounds are of a pair of writers, on both sides of the room, writing furiously as they compose a work, poem or paper, which they feel expresses themselves and relates to them. A piece that they have put time and effort into, and know will mean something once they are done writing. And while both may not get red lip marks for their work, neither will incur the dreaded purple pen marks. Works Cited Evans, Rick. “Learning “Schooled Literacy”: The Literate Life Histories of Mainstream Student Readers and Writers.” Discourse Processes 16 (1993) : Moodle Class Page. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. McCarthy, Lucille Parkinson. “A Stranger in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing Across the Curriculum.” Research