My Perspective Matters
Over my scholastic journey in WRIT-340, I have learned two things. Firstly, I have learned that it is okay to have more of my own perspective — to think my own thoughts. I do not believe that there is a real difference between thinking and writing. As the semester has gone on, and I have done more and more writing, I have become far more comfortable with the notion that I am an individual with their own subjective point of view.
This may sound trivial, but this genuinely a bug revelation for me. Intellectually, I have always known that every individual has a unique life experience that shapes their opinions, perspectives, and internal reasoning. The way I think is different to the way that others think. But it is one thing to know this as a taught fact and another to understand my own uniqueness. I do not say this to be obtuse. I do not pretend to say that my voice is any manner carries more discussive importance than others — my reserved British nature would never allow such narcissism. However, I do have a far greater understanding of how I may bring something different to a discussion than someone else — just as any critically minded individual would. And I am grateful to the class for not only allowing me to discover this but also to express it.
Thus, the idea that my thoughts are unique to me and may possess academic value has been brought out of me far more in WRIT-340 than any other class I have taken over my time at USC. I quickly found that I would give different answers to my peers during discussion questions in class. Often my answers were far more philosophical, rather than practically minded. Initially I viewed this as a bad thing and had even spent a couple of classes trying to give answers that I perceived to be more relatable to my peers (ones that are were more grounded in real life, more “tangible” scenarios). In doing so, I had suppressed my initial instinct of my thinking and tried to think of something else. Fuck that. There is a reason I had that initial instinct. So I stopped suppressing my initial instinct and try to learn to be comfortable with answering as my true self.
This has greatly benefitted my essay writing. Having grown up attending UK schools, a lot of essay structure was standardised. “POINT, ANALYSIS, QUOTE, EXPLANATION”. Every time. I found it difficult to express much of my thinking as I was stuck to such a rigid structure. Or, given the time pressure of such essays when in an exam setting, I would limit my analysis to ensure that I did not come across as “verbose” and that I would finish my essay on time. Honestly, this sort of teaching is probably what made it take so long for me to understand that I can bring my own perspective to things rather than regurgitating (to excruciating detail) what I had been taught by someone else.
In this class, I felt that not only did I have a lot more freedom to express my thinking — and thus, lean into my subjectivity — but I was encouraged to do so a lot more. Yes, Professor Dissinger did teach a structure to our paragraphs, but I felt the structure had more “wiggle-room” and was designed to force students to express far more analysis. Being told that it was okay to explicitly mention our own bias also helped, as I could candidly talk about why I take the views that I do rather than trying to write up the aforementioned objective “correct” answer.
The second thing that I have learned is that — in becoming comfortable with expressing my subjective thinking — there are repeating patterns to why I take the perspectives that I do. Being told to express an opinion that is my own has bred this introspection. This is because I was analysing myself when talking about a subject, instead of just analysing something outside of myself (instead of just focusing on the thing I was talking about).
In my writing, I would rather outwardly express my privilege growing up, which I recognise influences a lot of my thinking. I have grown up in an affluent family, spent my childhood attending private schools, and am enabled to pursue a creative passion for my career (as we are told in film school, the “height of luxury”). I do not really know what it means to struggle beyond personal or family issues that most deal with. I understand that being privileged may carry a perceived negative connotation in recent times, but I think that — through this class — I am better at how this element of myself influences my subjectivity.
Secondly, I have also recognised that I am far more comfortable when talking about things that I take interest in. This may — once again — seem obvious. However, I did not consciously realise that I did this until this semester. All of the essays I wrote for my “Writing Projects” pertained to film in some capacity. Even when I was making a political or economic point (such as my WP1 focusing on maintaining drone technology on the market for public access), it was told through the perspective of a filmmaker who is aware of the power of the camera. I do this because it is the easiest means by which I am able to draw upon my perspective. I know I think about film a lot, and so I know that my brain likes to find excuses to frame my thinking through this subject. I could just have easily used sports to focus my essays.
In screenwriting we are taught to “write what you know”, and this semester I applied the same principle to my essays too. However, in writing about topics I have a vested interest in — and being demanded to dig deep into my opinions — I have been reminded that not only do I have a perspective but that it matters in an academic setting. And as I graduate college and leave my formal education behind, I think that this is a rather beautiful discovery. I am very thankful to this class for allowing me to know that my perspective matters.
