I felt that pull throughout my entire body.
This felt really powerful and convincing. It made the argument feel real instead of hypothetical and I understood why she cares so much about how essays are thought.
5 Matching Annotations
- Feb 2026
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hypertextmag.com hypertextmag.com
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where we follow our curiosity as a way to discovery
I understand her augment about having to much structure but the five paragraph model can be really helpful with students who are just starting to write.
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“Essays are terrifying.” “Terrifying,” I said. “Why terrifying?” “Because you have to be totally, completely certain about everything,” she said. “I’m eighteen years old—I’m not certain about anything.”
this is a problem because students are expected to be certain when they are not.
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We’re not teaching writing as a course of exploration and discovery, a way to follow your own passion and curiosity and then share that passion and curiosity with others; we’re teaching writing as a way to get a grade.
This made me frustrated because it feels true, confidence can matter more then correctness in school writing. This is why essays are a lot more stressful then they are creative.
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I don’t have a topic sentence or a thesis statement, just a savage desire to know.
This makes me think about the essays I've written in the past just to "get them right". Following a set formula for a essay instead of as she put it "having a desire to know".
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