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March 23, 2007
An Impressive Writer
When my kids were little we did a lot of reading. We also did a lot of listening and writing. It's funny how habits get engrained in kids and parents.
Carolyn is now in college. A couple of weeks ago she called with a request, “Mom, would you listen to my paper?”
“Sure,” I said. “What did you write a paper on?”
“Well, it isn’t written yet, but I want to know if you’ll listen to it when I finish it?”
“Sure,” I said again. “What do you think you’re going to write about?”
“I think it’ll be a comparison of several major writers and how their writing impacted the world.” She named a number of authors. I wondered how she was going to do all of this in eight pages, but she’s a clever girl.
A few days later she called again. “I’m emailing my paper,” she said. “I changed it some. I couldn’t fit all the authors in so I’m down to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Betty Freidan, and Jean-Jaques Rousseau. Would you read it please?”
I just did. I'm stunned. I knew it would be good. Her writing was good when she was little. Now it’s sophisticated, no, it's more than sophisticated. She not only compared their writing and the impact they made on the world, Rousseau's view of the rich government, Stowe's look at slavery, and Freidan's commentaries on women, but went on to deal with today's "authors." I put authors in quotes because she feels that there are fewer readers and more TV watchers so documentaries have become the way of getting across a message. The traditional written appoach isn't as easy to manage these days so Michael Moore, Al Gore, and others have taken to the air, at least the TV air, to make an impact on guns and global warming.
Well, what was an eight page paper turned into thirteen, but it made for interesting reading and more importantly an insight into my daughter that I hadn't had before.
As a parent you raise your children to be independent thinkers. It's a surprise and pleasure sometimes when you recognize how good a job you've done.
Posted by Dr Joni at March 23, 2007 09:12 AM