A World Composed of Different Perspectives
Like parts of a robot, there are three primary components to which my writing revolves around: emotion, passion, and perspective.
I struggled with this concept; the ability to pour out emotions onto a piece of paper. A person’s feelings stem from their perspectives. Expressing those emotions, such as anger, love, or fear, is an essential facet of writing. I had not thought much of this skill, and I had not tried to hone it. I always thought it was unimportant, and I would follow a five-paragraph structure, only describing things at their surface level.
I have always had a natural curiosity for writing. Sometimes, I would try to implement my perspective and emotions into my papers. Often, pouring my feelings into my pieces felt overbearing, like dumping out molten lava. Throughout my time in this class, I realized the necessity of learning and mastering this process in my writing.
Throughout the year, Mr. Ziebarth taught us how to use the SQUIDD method, which involved physically writing down our observations and thoughts about core concepts in writings or videos. Through this method, I was able to see the importance of seeing the different perspectives of others on various subjects and how it influences a person’s writing. I then incorporated the idea of perspective into my writing.
Reading Mr. Ziebarth’s essay, Minor Thoughts, and going through the SQUIDD method opened me up to Mr. Ziebarth’s perspective on running the class and how he felt about it. I could see through Mr. Ziebarth’s eyes in terms of the course and fully understand the reasoning and logic behind his teaching. I saw Mr. Ziebarth wanted his students to grow their writing skills and nurture their education for the real world.
He did not follow traditional teaching methods that focused on tests and homework. Instead, the class was all about preparing for the real world through the subject of English and writing.
I never really thought about this approach to teaching before, but this has been my favorite perspective a teacher has had on the school. I always looked at school as a chore list of standardized tests, quizzes, and homework. Never anything else. I realized perspective is crucial to writing, and incorporating it can change a person’s insight forever, simply enlighten them about another view or allow them to explore a curious perspective.
I finally understood the principle of how every person has an individual perspective on a matter, which they communicate through their emotions. Perspectives are so unique to an individual and vary so much that the ability to bring your viewpoint to writing brings flavors. It is like your own twist and style to your papers. From this, I saw the cruciality of reflecting my perspectives in my writing and incorporating my emotions into it.
SQUIDD opens up the students’ perspectives in the class to the world and allows them to look at life differently. As a result, I could think about and see the world in a different light.
In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald masterfully used this perspective technique in his writing to demonstrate a higher level of understanding than I had ever seen before.
He left gaps in essential parts of the novel to leave the reader with an ability to infer, assume, and interpret aspects of the story as they would like. This perspective gives every reader a unique view of the novel’s events in those gaps. It creates an air of openness and a lack of restriction. It is left up to the reader what they believe the motive behind specific actions by characters are, whether an action is justified or not, or the meaning behind an element of the story.
He also employs the use of sharing the narrator’s, or Nick’s, perspective on other characters and his judgments about them. Nick’s values and moral standards influence his perception of the other characters. These principles influence Nick’s perspectives and feelings toward the other characters. Although we may have our views on the characters, we can see Nick’s unique perspective as well as our own.
As a member of both the FVHS track and field team and baron banner, I was able to bring my unique perspective as a runner and incorporate it into my articles. This perspective as a runner and my love and excitement for racing allow me to pour my emotions into my reporting for track meets. With this, I am able to dish out great track articles for our newspaper. They help garner interest in our track and field program and provide good coverage of the sport.
Nonetheless, I concede that while the idea of perspective may seem simple, it is unimaginably complex when you place more thought into it. Perspective is critical in writing, and my experiences in this class have made me realize this. Everyone has a unique perspective on everything, influencing their emotions and ideas on a subject. I have come to find the absolute importance in pouring my perspective, takes, and feelings onto my paper. It brings such rich uniqueness to writing. Since this realization, I have attempted to implement this in all my writings.