Rachel Konig

Davida Charney
December 9, 2015
Writing: The Fusion of Creativity and Formality
In 2009, New Dorp High School in Staten Island attributed their students failure in
school to their inability to write. To address this, they developed a new standard curriculum that
stressed the importance of formal writing instruction in public schools. Beginning in elementary
school, students no longer learned writing by constructing personal narratives, memoirs, and
small works of fiction, instead, these students were required to write informative and
persuasive essays (Writing Revolution, Tyre). Writing was no longer an outlet for imagination, it
became a tired formula of thesis body conclusion.

Dear public school educators adopting New Dorps Writing Revolution,

I want the creativity of writing to be recognized as just as important as formal writing
instruction because communication outside of school requires the ability to express oneself
effectively, not strictly analyze another. You see, I come from a place where teachers left a
handwritten note in your locker if they thought you needed help in class. Hell, theyd leave a
note if they noticed you looked sad one day, as they were desperate to get you to talk or express
any type of emotion. Not to say they werent strict about rules, formalities, and the importance of
education, they definitely were, but they specialized in establishing creative voice and sense of
self through that education, and did so persistently.
I come from a lifetime of private school and with it came an intense appreciation for the
way my teachers not-so-slyly incorporated creativity and expression in to every subject. I was

blind to it for years, I admit, but looking back at my high school graduation of a whopping 133
students (note my sarcasm), I realize it was not the equation or the formula of education (writing,
in particular) that threw us; it was the emotion and the connection. Needless to say, in a small
upper class college preparatory school, we could take tests and write papers like programmed
robots completing a task. Like robots, we worked with formulas to generate correct answers, but,
what challenged us was the ability to draw on creativity to make our answers original.
My awareness of the value of emotion and connection that accompany creativity is what
made me so surprised to hear of the phasing out of creativity that New Dorps Writing
Revolution exemplified. This is not to say I disagree with the significance of formal writing,
however, I believe that the way I learned writing throughout private school is what public
schools should adopt, thereby encouraging creativity and not banishing it. Although the 20% rise
in graduation rate and jump in test scores prove that the new standards at New Dorp teach
students how to successfully answer a prompt by formulating an argument and providing
support, it fails to show that these skills alone prepare students for the professional world.
Furthermore, its possible that in a professional setting, the inability to make an argument or
claim original will be what causes an employer to choose the other guy. With that said, I believe
that by the time students enter high school, they should be familiar enough with formal writing
that teachers can instruct writing as less of a formula and more of creative interpretation: by
diffusing creative writing in to formal writing, students will not only develop critical thinking
skills and successfully formulate arguments, but also appeal to emotion and establish a voice in
their writing.
In Creativity Is Not the Enemy of Good Writing, Bob Fecho and Stephanie Jones make a
fantastic point that New Dorps writing initiative, although seemingly successful, is a narrow

vision: New Dorps instruction gives students the skills to identify/write about a problem and a
solution (conclusion) but abandons the challenge of inquiring about the complexities inherent to
teaching and learning. In laymans terms, New Dorps teachers are enforcing formal instruction
because its easier to teach than creative writing. Teachers must rise to the challenge of teaching
creative writing in order for students to rise to the challenge of learning it. What ever happened
to when the going gets tough the tough gets going? Even the slightest incorporation of creative
writing is useful. For example, I would suggest instructing students to read a passage, chapter,
etc. and underline fact/highlight tone as a way to understand the differences and notice what tone
or creativity adds to the facts. Its important that students are challenged with creativity so they
can successfully address problems in a real-world setting outside the four walls of a classroom.
Now, I doubt any creative writer (or any writer) would question the importance of formal
writing skills. I sure cant deny how vital it is to learn how to analyze a text, formulate an
argument, and provide evidence. But, imagine this, how are these skills for a 5+-paragraph essay
going to help you convince a conference room of people, and your boss, to agree with your
newest office proposal? Any one can stand up in front of an audience or write an essay stating
the facts of a problem and a solution, but what really drives an audience to agree with you is the
ability to draw your own conclusions and include personal tone to appeal to the emotions of
others. With New Dorps creativity-free writing instruction, students lose the ability to develop a
persuasive voice in any form of writing including language arts, science, and social studies. The
ability to creatively write is what gives a persuasive voice to an argument: without that ability, it
would just be a plain defense without any drive to actually have people agree with you.
Id like to draw your attention to a quote:

As you grow up in this world, you realize people really don't give a shit about what you
feel or what you think A man named David Coleman said this as he backed New Dorps
implementation of formal writing instruction and abandonment of all that is creative and
expressive. Who is David Coleman? Hes the original architect of the Common Core Curriculum
applied by public schools around the country.
Mr. Coleman, although he may stand by his claim that people don't give a shit, well, they
should, and so should you. As proven by Sharlene A. Kiuhara in Teaching Writing to High
School Students: National Survey, how well students write is influenced by how they are taught
to write so, without implementing creative practices, students may be learning to write but not
necessarily write well. Coleman says the new writing standards are to de-emphasize the
importance of writing with expression and emotion, but what is learning and drilling the
analytics if you cant put some of yourself in to the writing? Great writing is the ability to
balance analysis with original ideas and expression.
If New Dorps writing instruction prevails, how are high school students expected to
succeed on the ACT/SAT? Information on those tests arent meant to challenge students ability
to recall a formula, it is meant to evaluate how students apply that knowledge to new
information, and use it accordingly. Forget college essays, students only having endured formal
writing instruction their entire lives wont have a clue how to make their essays stand out from
thousands of other applicants. Without creative writing skills, students are being set up for failure
come high school because high school prompts warrant more persuasive techniques and require
the ability to not just know the basics but know how to morph them to support the piece.
I ask you to reflect on this editorial: I identified an argument, I did research and
developed an opinion, I wrote a thesis, and I backed up my thesis with research as a persuasion

technique. But, my ability to do those things isnt what convinced you to agree with me, right? It
was the way I was able to present the argument and the way I drew you (the audience) in to it. I
was creative, abandoning the intro, body, and conclusion technique for something that I believe
would be more effective in expressing my thoughts. Creativity and emotion is what separates a
good writer from a bad writer, so, this is me using the combination of formal writing with
creative writing to force people to give a shit about what I feel and what I think, for the good of
students everywhere.

Works Cited

Tyre, Peg. "The Writing Revolution." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 19 Sept.
2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Jones, Bob. Fecho, Stephanie. "Creativity Is Not the Enemy of Good Writing. "The
Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Lee, Haley. "What the Best Writing Teachers Know." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

"English Language Arts Standards." | Common Core State Standards Initiative. N.p., n.d.
Web. 10 Nov. 2015.