Creative Writing Starts with a Sentence: Keep the Human in Humanities
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Date
2018-12Author
Klos, Kathleen
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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Show full item recordAbstract
The following research discusses creative writing and structures itself around big
ideas—be those past, present, or future. Current scholars, students in elementary,
middle, high, and post-secondary institutions, as well as the every day writer poring over
drafts at Starbucks, may be noticing a shift in attitude toward creative writing and
humanities classes. Reformation winds are pushing the sails of creative writing in
different directions. Some individuals remain magnanimous about the field of liberal
arts, while others are willing its extinction in education altogether.
Educational practices of 2018 are so far removed from the traditional way things
used to be in the early 2000s, where consequential curriculum, retention in school from
poor grades and behavior, and parents who parented were evident. Education and
respect for such a valuable profession is the worst it has ever been because teachers
don’t feel valued. More so, students do not know how to write a sentence, let alone craft
something creative.
From origin to present day, creative writing under the umbrella of liberal arts
education is a topic worthy of its surge in current research. This research focuses on the
benefits of teaching creative writing, highlights viewpoints of individuals who scoff at its
presence—especially in present day data-driven school curriculums—and discusses
this type of writing as engaging student imagination, promotive of problem-solving skills,
and fosters critical thinking.
A fortiori, it is a societal duty to make sure creative writing stays in school
curriculums for the well-being of the writer in all of us. The future of creative writing
hangs in the balance of administrative hands—whose ruthless attitudes can either make
or break a child’s pursuit of understanding, dignity, self-awareness and happiness.