I want to talk a bit about "real life" language.
I've uploaded three images below. All three are screenshots of a post from an Instagram account that belongs to Callen Hearne (@callenhearne). For what it's worth, he has 12.9K followers and his account is public, so hopefully it's OK that I'm sharing these images (if not, someone please let me know and I'll ask permission). I actually don't follow him, but I do follow his wife Abbi, who has an even larger following (50 thousand). They're in the wedding photography business but their niche is "adventure wedding and elopement." They're young, mid-twenties, married, living half the year on the road in their van, traveling with their dog Charlie. I preface my comments with this information just so you have context.
The post I happened upon is a picture of the Yosemite sky, taken sometime in the wee hours of the morning. The image is stunning, but it was Callen's message that interested me, as well as one of the comments that followed.
Callen's writing style is slangy and original, filled with its own dialect and grammar. It's unfiltered and genuine, a Gen Y guy talking to the universe, to his followers, to anyone who wants to listen, including this 60-something community college English professor.
Callen Hearne isn't writing for a grade. He's just writing. He's developed his own voice, which is authentic, unconventional, funny, honest. You don't grade this kind of writing. You enjoy it. Listen to it. Laugh with it. Cry with it.
I skimmed some of the comments and one in particular stood out. She writes, "I'm in college and sometimes my brain just needs to read something like this." Then she adds, "Thanks for helping my head stay creative and my language spirited."
"Sometimes my brain just needs to read something like this."
Sometimes English teachers' brains need to read something like this.
Sometimes English teachers' brains need to read something like this.
Spirited language.
Authentic language.
Original language.
Language unencumbered by rules or red ink.
I love this kind of writing.
I wish I could write this way.
I wish I could teach this kind of writing.
English teachers assign papers and essays. We take note of missing commas and periods. Misspellings. Fragments. Slang. We comment and edit and correct. We try to encourage and inspire but aren't always successful.
It's becoming clear to me that some of my students this semester won't pass my class, though I'll do my best to help them succeed. But even if they don't, can't, or won't pass, I hope, at the very least, I can encourage them to write anyway. Encourage them to "talk to the universe" in their own voices. In their own Authentic. Original. Spirited. Voices.
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