Personally, I don't think we ask ourselves this question enough. It should always be at the forefront of our minds, because our writing should always have a purpose. For me, my purpose is always changing depending on what I am writing. While writing in my personal journal I write for pleasure, for making sense of my feelings, for the sake of recoding fleeting moments in time that I'll never get back. I believe in all of that -- most importantly, that those moments when you look around and realize you will never be as happy as you are right in that second ever again, need to be recorded. When I write for a class such as this one, I write to improve my skills. I write with the sole purpose of growing in my abilities so that I can continue to write better and better in the future. I think writing is a task that requires maturing over time, because it should always be evolving as your learn more. While writing my personal blog, I write for the sake of telling my own story, sharing things I hold dear, and branching out in my confidence. My personal blog is a place for me to share my writing as well as my life with others, and it helps me to grow in my own confidence.
Writing carries a different meaning for each and every one of us, it is a deeply personal expereince. Writing captures a tiny moment in time, and fleshes it out into half a chapter of the next best-selling novel; it re-creates emotions and feelings that come with certain places so that others can experience them as well. Writing takes me to Paris, a farm in Kansas, a country music bar in Tennessee. Writing expands our world, takes us to places we long to be, and reminds us of the places we have been.
Do you think integrating the personal and the academic is possible in a class? How will you approach this question in your own classroom?
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