5 Elements of Authoritative Content in Academic Writing

I don't know many people who like the word authority. It makes us think of "The Man," of oppression and tyrants and "authority figures" who think they can tell us what to do. Butauthority doesn't always have to be a dirty word. In fact, it's something most of us appreciate, indeed find essential, when we seek information. When it comes to writing, authority equates to someone who has done their homework, someone who may even be an expert on a topic, and who you feel you can trust.

Today Problogger posted an article called "The 5 Elements of Authoritative Content," which emphasized the importance of writing with an authoritative voice in order to keep readers interested and always coming back. The blogger, Tito Philips, explained what he saw as the five basic elements to authoritative writing, elements which make your content compelling, useful and trustworthy to the audience you are trying to reach.

As I was reading through the post I realized how important these same five elements are within academic papers, and how when I spent six long years as a grader and Humanities instructor, these elements were always found in the best essays. You know, those essays that received the highest grades.

So I thought it would be interesting to look at Philips' article in light of the academic essay and try to show how these elements are so essential not only to the content on blogs and websites, but also in the academic world.

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Insight

Philips says that insight is "the personal understanding gained as a result of coming in contact with particular information." In other words, insight is the result of your personal experience with a text. This is an invaluable element of an academic paper. In fact, it's the only reason to write or read an academic paper. Insight is what imbues your essay with life and meaning. Your professors have likely read the same texts you have , and so have countless other academics, but it's a fact that you have something to bring to the conversation that hasn't yet been said, simply because your personal experience with the text will be unlike any other person's experience.

As Philips simply states, insight is "basically telling us what you think of the information or knowledge you've gathered on any particular subject." It is certainly essential to do this in a blog, when information is constantly moved from one source to the next, but it is equally important in your essay. I guarantee you that professors and graders don't want to see someone else's argument regurgitated. We want to hear your unique opinion, your singular experience with a text.

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Simplicity

The purpose of academic writing is to share information and to bring others to see the value of your insights, your way of thinking. Your insight is valuable, yes, but if your language and structure are convoluted and confusing, then no one will be able to understand that valuable insight. As Philips explains, "Simplicity is about making the information easily memorable by breaking it down from a complex whole to tiny understandable bits. Simplicity is the evidence of insight." Again, this is just as important in academic writing as it is in blogs. Even if your readers are experts on the topic, it is essential to demonstrate your command of the information by breaking it down and showing how it works.

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Depth

How can an essay be both simple and deep? Depth, according to Philips, "is about how well you’re driving home your point. Depth is the extent to which you break down the concept you’re writing about. It’s a matter of not leaving any stone unturned." When I write academic papers I like to think that I must be as thorough as Sherlock Holmes. I investigate every angle I can in order to develop my own understanding of the situation. It is important then to explain how you got there. Give your reader the pertinent and specific information that they need in order to take the same journey you did. Philips asks, "What good is a solution that only half-solves the problem?" When you write academic essays you are posing a solution to a problem, and you must be as specific as possible. Avoid sweeping statements and generalizations, because they won't solve any problems.

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Breadth

"If depth is about details, then breadth is about association". As a Humanities scholar, I especially enjoy the element of breadth. Whenever we encounter art or literature we automatically make associations. For example, I recently wrote a paper about ice palaces, and I was able to reference a Russian Empress, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Cowper (an 18th century British poet) and Stanly Kubrick's The Shining. I received high marks and praise from my professor for being able to draw all of these texts into a coherent discussion. Making connections is essential to academic essays, and can add great interest and meaning to your work.

Philips offers a couple of suggestions that will work just as well for your papers as it does for blogs. First, "storytelling helps your reader to associate the information you provide with a similar concept that's familiar to them." In the Bible this is called a parable, and it's a tried and true way of conveying information. Second, reference others. This of course is essential in academic writing, but it's still good to know why. As Philips explains, referencing other authorities "suggests to the reader that you do your homework well. You don't just come up with solo ideas, but build up on the ideas of others that your readers consider experts". That's exactly what your professors want from you, to consult the experts and show that you are a competent reader.

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Relevance

While most blogs need to be up to the minute with specific information within particular niches, academic papers may seem less relevant, especially if they cover information that may be slightly obscure or historical. This is an erroneous assumption, however. Your paper is relevant if you make it so, if you show exactly why it matters. Relevance answers the "so what?" question that is so essential to the essay, and must be more than "this is an assignment that I have to do." Maybe the topic is assigned, but it is still important to find the point of it all, to look at why it is interesting, why it is worth even talking about.

It really is interesting to see the strong connection between blogs and academic writing, two seemingly incongruent genres. All of these elements combined make strong arguments and interesting content, and proves that it is definitely worth thinking about how you handle the information that you present to any audience.

Sunday Housekeeping

I have a deadline looming over my head and not a lot of time, so today's post is just general housekeeping. First, we've officially named the blog after two weeks of agreeing we should really have a title: Triumphal Blogging. Arch editing and triumphal blogging, that's us. It was either that or Triumphal Writing, but that seemed a little bit too stuffy.

I've also created a feedburner for the blog, and have it all set up now. So add us to your favorite reader and we'll continue to delight and charm you, I'm sure. I'll have exciting news to post in the upcoming days and weeks.

We're finalizing Put the Body on the Slab, we're created some amazing supplemental materials to be released along side the book, and once the papers have been signed and everything is finalized, I'll be able to share news about publishers and future releases. I'm also beginning a project with a friend of mine that should be very exciting and I can't wait to share it.

Now work is calling. I better stop procrastinating. I hope everybody has a lovely day. It's spring here in Utah and if I finish my work in time, I'll be able to go out for a delightful walk in the park.

Saturday Blog Roll

Saturday is upon us once again. I plan to take it easy today and get caught up on writing. I had a late night editing Put the Body On the Slab. It was time to focus on local issues, like passive sentences, wordiness, and redundancy. Basically, I had all the content in place so it was time to polish the sentences. I expect it'll be time to polish the sentences once a week every week until I finally publish it. I hope to have other exciting news to post throughout the week. I'm really enjoying blogging and building this website. I don't think I've ever felt such a sense of ownership over a website. It's exciting! Today's blog is Novel Publicity's Free Advice. Like us, they're new to the web, and I spent yesterday afternoon reading through their articles. Each one has solid, straightforward advice for new writers and reminders for the more experienced authors. Since the website is new, they don't have a great deal of content, but they're growing (like us!). They also offer several other services for authors, though for my own selfish purposes, I'm only going to mention their publicity services. Currently they're running a contest for a book trailer give-away, and it looks like a great value.

Friday Picks: Five Things You Should Watch on Netflix this Weekend

Exit Through the Gift Shop

This documentary by Banksy is available on Netflix Instant and everybody should watch it. I wish I hadn't waited so long to see it. Jasie went to see it in the theater and ended up going back to watch it three more times. I should have paid closer attention to her enthusiasm, because this documentary absolutely blew my mind. I'm still thinking about it, and I know I will need to watch it two, three, maybe ten more times. I'm not really sure how to describe it. Yes, it's about Banksy, about graffiti and street art, but it's about so much more than that. In fact, I'm probably going to have an entire series of posts about this film because it realigned my view of the world. Here's part of the summary for it:

One of the most provocative films about art ever made, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating study of low-level criminality, comradeship and incompetence. By turns shocking, hilarious and absurd, this is an enthralling modern-day fairytale... with bolt cutters.


That's not what the movie was about to me. It was about art. Who has the right to make art, what sort of art should be made, what is classified as art, who turns it into art, and how we can understand our relationship with art. I know the other summary sounds more exciting, but I think when the film is stripped of everything else, we're left with a handful of men who are now questioning who they are and what they do.

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A Piece of Work

You don't have to be a fan of Joan Rivers to watch A Piece of Work. I wouldn't consider myself a fan, since I'm a little too young to remember anything besides the day time talk show she hosted for awhile and now her regular appearances on E. But I can honestly say after watching this documentary that I am a fan of the woman. She's cursed with self-doubt, and no matter how many times she's validated, no matter how much she's worked, no matter what she owns, no matter how many fans she meets, it's never enough. I've actually asked myself more than once "What will make you happy?" I always imagined it would be more and more proof that I've mattered to somebody, but Joan Rivers proves if you're empty on the inside, it doesn't matter how much money or fans you possess. Of course, the film is funny as well as tragic, sometimes sweet, sometimes frightening, but always human.

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The Larry Sanders Show

Why haven't I always watched The Larry Sanders Show? Well, I know the answer to that. I didn't always have HBO, and then when I did have HBO I didn't know that it was the greatest show ever and I should be watching it every week. It's completely changed the way I look at talk shows, but I can't remember the last time a show sucked me in so quickly or made me laugh so hard. Jeffrey Tambor and Rip Torn are amazing. So if you're like me, and you've never seen it before, do yourself a favor and watch an episode or two. The entire series is available on Netflix.

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The Great Buck Howard

The Great Buck Howard only has a 72% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and I don't get that at all. I think it should be a bit higher because I don't think this movie was flawed. It was charming and thoughtful with fantastic performances by Collin Hanks and John Malkovich, not to mention Adam Scott's delightful cameo and Steve Zahn being his hilarious and wonderful self. This movie didn't make me ask uncomfortable questions about art and fame and courage and self-confidence, but it did speak to my fears and gently reassured me that everything was going to be all right and magic might still exist in the world. Or it might not. But things will still be all right. Funny, well-written, and well-acted, this is a gem that more people need to see.

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She-Ra: Princess of Power

I love She-Ra! She was always my favorite when I was a wee lass. She kicked ass, she had a pretty costume, she had an awesome horse with RAINBOW WINGS. I'd watch He-Man and the other cartoons, but there was a special place in my heart for She-Ra. Imagine how excited I was to see that the first volume of season one is now available. She's smart, she's always the winner, she's never the damsel, and she's just as strong as her more famous brother. I also love her origin story, how she was the force captain of the imperial guard. Volume 1 is her origin story, and even if you don't have fond memories of the cartoon as a child, I think it's still worth watching. It's surprisingly engaging. It also features the perfect beta-male, Bow! I love Bow! He wears a heart on his vest and he ride a pink horse and he says things like "While I was hiding, I noticed...." She-Ra was naturally kicking ass while Bo was hiding. And he's the perfect knight who never tries to show-up his princess and immediately falls in love with She-Ra because she's so amazing.

Here's a wonderful article on Jezebel that explains more about what makes She-Ra a feminist superhero and her general awesomeness.

Humanities 101: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Opera

For most of my life I've been trying to convince people how important the humanities are. I've been preaching that art is good for the soul, that it will bring you to a heightened sense of self awareness, world awareness, people awareness. Art can make you a better person. It will make you more creative and more sensitive to the world around you. I believed my professors when they told me this, and I hoped my students believed it when I taught it to them. But honestly? I don't know if I ever really felt it, and sometimes I wondered if I was straight up lying to them. I've always loved art; looking at it, thinking and talking about it, researching it, I've made art my whole life. And yet I always wondered why it never moved to me tears, why I felt an intellectual pull to it, but never an emotional one.

Well, I'm getting a bit more emotional in my old age, and I'm seeing a correlation to how I experience art. Part of me wonders if maybe all these years of trying to figure out why art moves people has taught me how to approach art, and it's finally all clicked in place. Somehow I doubt that. Somehow I think it's just evidence of a cold heart melting.

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You know what the strangest thing is? I crave art, and when I encounter it I let it take over me and it renews me, it really does. Last Friday I stood and stared at a Greek statue in the British Museum for 20 minutes, and then I left without looking at anything else because the beauty of that one piece just filled my soul. I'm beginning to think that all that stuff I fed my students that I suspected might be total malarkey wasn't, isn't. So for the past few weeks I've been craving the opera. If a Greek statue can move me to tears, then the opera might leave me in a puddle on the floor, which is just what I needed. A catharsis. I was talking to a friend on Sunday and one of us mentioned opera (forget who) and the other got excited and somehow we ended up at the Royal Albert Hall last night to see Madame Butterfly. It was just what the doctor ordered.

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I don't understand why or like how opera is perceived in our culture now. Opera was never really supposed to be "high" culture, well not Italian opera. Wagner pretty much changed it all. Wagner turned the lights down and made opera a serious aesthetic event. He really was the first one that insisted the lights be dimmed. Before that opera was a social event. All the lights would be up, people would be walking around and talking to their friends and hanging out. Of course the music, story and singing would rapture them at the right times, and they would burst into applause and shouts, "Bravo! Brava!" Old men would be crying and yelling and carrying on. You know why? Because opera is pure, raw, base emotion. It's not subtle by any means, and it's not particularly intellectual either. It grabs you by the chest and it pulls you out of your seat and makes you want to shout at the stage.

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Opera was popular. It wasn't high brow. Imagine if in 150 years from now people would be spending $200 to tickets to see Doctor Who or The Office shown on a 2D television set. Wagner operas, yes, that makes sense. They were written and designed to be shown in dimmed theaters and have elaborate stage design and virtuoso performers. They are the Gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art. But Italian operas? I saw an Italian opera in Italy once and it was a completely different experience from the one I saw last night. There were old men shouting at the stage, people standing up at the intense moments because they just couldnt stay in their seats, and the performers were definitely not virtuosi. I wish opera could go back to that a little bit in the UK and America. I was really sad last night when I looked around and saw I was the only one giving a standing ovation.

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I apologize for the digression. Back to Madame Butterfly. The liberetto was in English, unfortunately. I do prefer supertitles and the original language. You can't understand anything anyway, so it might as well be in Italian, right? Despite that the performers were as astounding as expected. We were in the cheapest seats available and I was still moved by their actions and sound. The set was amazing; a Japanese water garden (in the round so it didn't matter that we were on the side and not the front). The only problem was that there was an annoying rail right in front of us, but the seats next to us were empty so we shifted over. I always told my students that the best way to enjoy an opera is to read a synopsis and listen to the music before going, so you're not wondering what the heck is going on with the plot (which isn't usually too complicated. Remember how opera is pure base emotion?) I'm going to have to rethink that advise. I didn't know anything about the opera, and I was definitely surprised on a few occasions, which seriously helped to heighten the emotional level of the performance. I gasped, I clapped with joy, I hung my head in disappointment. The Italian in me almost got me to my feet shouting a couple of times, but the repressed English in me won that battle. By the end I was reduced to a puddle of tears. The intensity of the music with the intensity of the emotion and the sadness of the story just took me over. When it was over I was to my feet, cheering. Unfortunately I was surrounded by repressed English and no one else stood. I wish I could have transfered that experience to the tiny opera house in Rome, and I would have felt completely at home. Well, I think I can say I get it now. I get why people love this stuff, and why I was trying to convince all my students to love this stuff. I wish opera didn't seem so inaccessible, especially when it can have such a strong pull on your emotions, and not on any particularly sophisticated emotions either. The story last night was simple, the themes were love, betrayal and humiliation, something we all can relate to. And yet somehow I felt totally renewed, totally alive, after being hit the face with this abundance of emotion. Oh dear, I think I may have just become addicted to opera.

Books I Didn't Know I Owned: The Beginner's Guide To Insight Meditation

Title: The Beginner's Guide to Insight Meditation Authors: Arinna Weisman and Jean Smith Library Journal Review: Weisman, founder of the Dhamma Dena Meditation Center, and Smith, the author on Buddhist subjects, offer a skillfully written book as a companion to Smith's Beginner's Guide to Zen Buddhism (LJ 3/1/00). This book addresses the practices of the Vipassana (Insight Meditation) tradition of Buddhism, and it not only treats sitting and walking meditation within that tradition rather fully but also reviews the basic tenets of Buddhism and provides guidance about selecting teachers and retreat centers. Rating: 4/4 stars Available: Print and Kindle

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I first read this book ten years ago when I was a freshman in college. I took a class on Consciousness and Meditation because I thought I liked philosophy, the professor was a nice guy, and there was a really beautiful boy in the class named Chris who had brown eyes and a great smile. Since I was 19 at the time, and I didn't know much at all about pain and suffering, the book didn't really stick with me. Also, it turned out that I hated philosophy, and I especially didn't like the teacher, who I got into long arguments with, but that's a story for another time. I honestly thought this books was gone forever, and when I found it on my bookshelf the other day, I immediately thought "I should read this." A book about insight meditation doesn't have much to do with writing at first glance, but I felt like it was a very informative and in some ways enlightening read. I already blogged about how I think it'll help me and others with writing, but I found it a very helpful book in general. First, it's very engaging. The authors know what they're talking about, and their profound happiness, their balance, their peace of mind and lovingkindness resonates through each word and on every page. I wanted to trust them and follow their guidance because each chapter was offered as a gift, not a command. The authors provide a good deal of information about the practice, the teachings of Buddha, the history of Buddhism, as well as their own advice about readings, retreats, and finding teachers. But the book never seems like it has too much information. I wasn't overwhelmed by the introduction into a new belief system with its own history and culture. Straightforward but concise, each chapter is easy to consume and digest. Having said all of that, I feel like I should read the book two or three more times. And this is just a beginner's guide, so there's obviously a great deal of information they didn't cover. If you're interested in learning more about Buddhism or meditation, I highly recommend it.

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Join me next time when I'll review another book I didn't know I owned, Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence

The Seven Factors of Great Writing

I'm reading The Beginner's Guide to Insight Meditation by Arinna Weisman and Jean Smith to review tomorrow, and I realized that it actually makes for a really interesting writer's guide. At times I had to remind myself that they were discussing the personal road to Nirvana not the best way to write your next novel. But it just so happens that the Seven Factors of Enlightenment also seem to be the Seven Factors of Great Writing. They are mindfulness, investigation, effort, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. Mindfulness might be where the breaking point happens between competent writers and great writers. "The Buddha described two kinds of mindfulness: bare attention, that quality of knowing directly and intimately the essentials of experience without interpretation; and general comprehension which understands the purpose of what we are doing" (120). Writers need to cultivate both kinds of mindfulness, simultaneously reducing the world around them to the essentials, breaking down the elements to discover how the pieces work, or don't work, together. At the same time, they need to be students of the human condition so they can understand why people behave the way they do, what motivates certain emotions and actions, what makes the world what it is, or what could change the world in an instant. Constantly asking questions is a sign of mindfulness, and that leads to investigation

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"Investigation can counter boredom and aversion by lighting up the mind with questions such as 'What is my experience?' 'What are the details of it?' 'Do I really know it?'" (131). These are good questions for anybody to ask, but a writer takes these questions as a starting point to more investigation, more inquiries. If you're stuck on what to write, you can jolt your muse by asking a series of questions about yourself and the world around you. "What is my experience and how does that differ from my brother's experience?" From there, the only thing stopping you is your imagination. Writing is an attempt to answer questions and solve mysteries. Some of them are explicitly drawn questions and mysteries, like the work you might do for a research essay, and some of the mysteries are more subtle, implicit, maybe we don't even know they're inside of us. If you're stuck on a school assignment or you have writer's block, find something to investigate. Investigation leads to effort. "The Buddha described four ways we can make courageous effort: guarding, abandoning, nurturing and maintaining"( 114). When I read that line, I immediately thought of my greatest challenge as a writer. It's not the search for ideas, since there are ideas and characters and new worlds everywhere you look. My greatest challenge isn't motivation, since there's nothing I love more than losing myself in my imagination and bringing a new story to life. My greatest challenge is the internal editor, the little voice that criticizes everything I do until I'm paralyzed with indecision and uncertainty. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. Every writer at one point or another is secretly convinced they suck. Every. Single. One. That self-doubt may last for a few minutes, a few hours, or a few years. When the self-doubt is allowed to go on for that long, it usually looks a lot like writer's block.

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It's possible to protect yourself from the destructive imps that would hinder all progress. If you're aware of a possible threat, you can guard yourself against it. This may take some self-evaluation. Are there any particular factors or events that set your inner editor off? Are there particular people that harm your self-confidence? Is there past trauma informing your current actions? You have to protect yourself against the circumstances that cause your insecurities and fear. At the same time, when the critical voices and feelings start, make the effort to abandon it. Don't feed into the critical thoughts, creating a constant loop of doubt and debasement. Recognize they're present, acknowledge them, and then dismiss them because you are in charge of them. Not the other way around. Nurturing involves creating the mental space that will lead to positive feelings and results. Don't just focus on the things that hurt you. Seek out and cultivate positive influences. I love the definition of rapture. "Rapture is the joyous interest that pervades the mind and body with lightness and happiness." Naturally, they're referring to quite a different state than what I'm thinking about, but isn't that exactly what it's like when a project really clicks? Don't you feel a sense of lightness and happiness when a plot goes into high gear, when characters began to speak for themselves, or when you finally have the perfect thesis statement for your research paper? Isn't it that sense of lightness and happiness that carries you through to the end of a difficult project and then beyond? Ultimately, isn't that what writers strive for and what students always secretly want to capture? The moment when you're imbued with that joyous interest and you reach a higher level beyond self-doubt? You don't have to be an author or self-identify as a writer to reach this state of rapture. Everybody is capable of it, including the student who is only writing the essay because he "has to."

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"Investigation, effort and rapture are called the arousing factors; tranquility, concentration and equanimity are called the stabilizing or calming factors" (130). Writing requires energy, enthusiasm, confidence, and joyous interest. But it also requires the stabilizing factors. Tranquility brings peace and suppresses anxiety, which leads to great concentration. The ability to gather the mind and direct it continuously towards one object--in this instance, the project, the art, the work you're creating. Finally, there is equanimity. "It is a mind without clinging or aversion, so it is not inclined towards any extreme" (132). I don't believe wild flights of emotion, extreme reactions, or disrupted mind states lead to great art. The best writers I have ever met are, without exception centered, focused people. They are not emotional automatons or enlightened beings above petty human concerns, but they have disciplined minds, patience with themselves, and focus.

I Can No Other Answer Make But Thanks And Thanks

The Kindness of Ramona Quimby by Haley

This is a special post for us. So often there are people in your life who deserve all the credit in the world but may not even hear a thank you. Most of these people are teachers, and I know they may not necessarily expect the gratitude, but it's sure great to hear it. I understand that now that I've been teaching a few years. There's one person in particular who stands out for myself and Jasie. Somebody we discuss often. Somebody who I still think about when I'm feeling overwhelmed or insecure. Her patient eyes, her kind voice, her encouraging smile. She gave me confidence when I needed it. She was my second grade teacher, but I was fortunate because she was also my music teacher and a friend throughout elementary school--Irene Ruf.

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I have many memories of Irene since I've basically known her my entire life. When Jasie and I went to church by ourselves, she always invited us to sit with her. I even went to her house once in Kindergarten because of a playdate I had with her son--yes, I can remember a random playdate when I was six but I have a difficult time finding my shoes every day. Now I realize that it was always her approval I sought, her feedback and attention I coveted, and her encouragement that gave me the boost I always needed. If I ever got on her nerves because I was clingy and insecure, she never let on. Maybe in the end, that's what I appreciated about her the most.

But despite the myriad of memories and stories, there's one instant that stands out to me the most. One day, one moment, I can replay again and again with perfect sensory recall. I was in second grade, and it was probably October or November. Every month, we had to turn in a reading calendar, but I never did. In fact, even though I knew how to read quite well in the second grade, I don't recall reading in class, reading at home, or having any interest in the books available to me. But Mrs. Ruf took me to the school's library during recess. I know it wasn't a special class trip because I loved the library the most when it was empty, and I remember having that special thrill of being there by myself.

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She handed me a book and she asked me if I've ever heard of the Ramona Quimby cartoon. I hadn't. In fact, there were a number of things I had no awareness of. Jasie and I mainly inhabited our own little world. We lived on a lovely piece of property up in the hills, miles away from the nearest neighbor with very little social interaction. We didn't have friends or any sort of life outside of school. We had each other, and we had PBS, and that was about it. But I digress.

In all my life, I had never held a book so large as Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Mrs. Ruf said I should read it, and of course I believed every single thing she said. She said it was good, and I'd enjoy it, but those 108 pages were so daunting. I still remember looking at page 108 and thinking, "I could never read this much. Is she crazy?" Ms. A, the very hefty and friendly librarian, checked it out for me and reminded me that it was part of the Accelerated Reader program, and if I took a test, I could earn points to exchange for candy and pencils and other cool little prizes. I was seven years old, nothing seemed better than getting red hot jaw breakers for just reading a book!

It seems like such a small story, such an insignificant moment. But it wasn't insignificant to me. I finished reading Ramona Quimby, Age 8, and I loved it so much I immediately wanted to read all the other Ramona books. From there, it was the rest of the Beverly Cleary books, and then the entire world opened up. As much as it ever can for somebody in the second grade. I finished that year with 20 accelerated reader points, and I literally read everything I could. I didn't care if the books were age appropriate as long as they looked interesting. Out of all the kindness Irene showed me, out all of the things she taught me, and out of all the years I knew her, this is what I cherish the most. Because she didn't just give me a book to read, she set me on the path that culminated with an advanced degree and nearly 100 published books, not to mention our upcoming book Put the Body on the Slab: The Anatomy of College Writing.

So, Mrs. Ruf, thank you.

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One Afternoon in the Library by Jasie

Not unlike most people, my early teenage years were difficult, painful and awkward, and not something I like to think about too often. I grew up in a little town, and I was a little weird, and so after years of bullying by the time I was thirteen I had pulled myself away as much as possible from most social interaction.

As a result I spent a lot of time in the middle school's library before and after school and during lunch. The library was a haven for me, even though I didn't love reading books as much as I told everyone I did. The best part of the library was Mrs. Ruf. She let me stay there and read or do homework, and she talked to me. I had known her since I was a little girl; we went to the same church and she taught my older sister in school before she became the librarian. She was quiet spoken and kind, and even though I she didn't teach me, she taught me more about life in one conversation than I had ever known up to that point.
Growing up in a small, conservative, religious community I assumed I would do as my mother did, and her mother, and most of my neighbors, and do all I could to find a husband and start a family as soon as I graduated from high school. As a thirteen year old I hadn't really got to the point of thinking about college; I don't know if I was capable of thinking that far ahead, except for the little girl hope to get married and be a mommy as soon as I could. This all changed one afternoon in the library.

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I don't know why she decided she needed to tell me these things, and I can't remember the circumstances of conversation Mrs Ruf and I had that day in the library. The details of that afternoon are lost to me, but the words of the conversation are seared in my heart.

She told me that I didn't need to find someone to marry as soon as I graduated from high school, that I needed to go to college and get the best education I could. She told me that she hadn't been married until she was almost thirty, until after she had had experiences, after she had seen the world. She probably told me about some of those experiences, but I'm not sure. Everything surrounding those words, the concept that I had a future full of experiences outside of my little town, are a blur. I probably didn't show her the appreciation I felt for her words at the time, because the idea was so new, because I was confused and the words hadn't quite sunk in yet. "Ok, yeah, sure, thanks" was probably my response.

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I never stopped thinking about what she said. My life basically imploded not long after that afternoon in the library, and I was caught up in an inordinate amount of drama: boy drama, family drama, moving from the little town in Utah to a big scary city in California drama. Those teenage years were the hardest of my life, and yet, threaded throughout all of it was that idea, that little seed Irene Ruf planted in my heart that day in the library. That little idea grew and grew, and when I graduated from high school I left California and I pursued my now solid dream to go to school, to see the world, and to experience all I could while I was young.

Fourteen years after our conversation and nine years after high school, I'm living in London, working on an advanced research degree, and I have had the most awesome time being young. I do hope someday to have a family, but I know that all of the experiences I've had in the last ten years, learning and traveling and meeting remarkable people, will always be with me and have made me who I am today. I like who I am today, and I'm glad that I can thank Irene Ruf for the guidance and the kindness she showed an awkward, weird kid one afternoon in the library.