Photo taken by Miguel Alcântara on Unsplash.
The second the word “rules” comes out of any instructor’s mouth, eyes glaze over. Rules tend to come in a bombardment of files stacked upon each other, cut and dried in a short period of time and miserable to memorize afterwards because they are presented in a forgettable manner.
Similarly, learning a new language is difficult as a result of many students falling into the pit of mundane memorization. This is why it’s common to be told to find silly connections between the student’s language and the language they are learning—it makes it more memorable. For instance, the only word my father can still remember from Japanese is どういたしまして because, to him, it sounds like “don’t you touch my mustache.”
E. Shelley Reid does an amazing job at incorporating this for writing in her article “10 Ways To Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing Students.” She brings rules to life through memorable, “extreme,” and/or silly metaphors. For example, she explains the necessity of considering your audience through the common, embarrassing event of grandparents showing off what their grandkid had made for them to others. The metaphor provoked an emotion in me that latches onto everyone and keeps them up at night: cringe. It haunts me as I write this very blog post.
Not only that, but Reid also brings out reason and understanding through how she conceptualizes writing rules, which is just as important. While I remember the C.R.A.P. writing test due to its ironically unprofessional acronym, I can’t remember what it stood for or meant since even a funny acronym requires memorization in the end. In comparison, Reid’s hilarious metaphor of showcasing something to friends while on the road is memorable by relatability and carries its meaning with that memory. It’s unforgettable.
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