Thursday, April 19, 2012

endings are hard.

Yesterday, my cooperating teacher and I were discussing the difficulties our students have had with writing good endings for their stories. We're puzzled, because their stories will have lots of details, descriptive words, they flow nicely, and then BAM! -- an abrupt ending.

I told her that I could relate to the students, that university students struggle with it, too. Or at least I do. I can't even count the number of essays I've gotten back from a professor with comments like, "Great essay! But the conclusion was abrupt" or, "This would have been perfect had the conclusion been better developed," etc, etc. The problem is, by the time I've written an entire essay (and a pretty darn good one!), my mind is fried, I have nothing left to say, and I JUST WANT TO BE DONE! I know I could do better, I should do better, but I give a half-hearted attempt at a conclusion and then it's over.

The final words I spoke to my teacher about the subject were: "Endings are hard."

My mind immediately jumped from stories and essays to other endings we're all familiar with. Friendships that have run their course. Death. Relationships that fizzle. Graduating. Moving. The list goes on and on.

Endings are hard.

(P.S. Have you ever wondered, "What's the point?")

2 comments:

  1. "For last year’s words belong to last year’s language

    And next year’s words await another voice.

    And to make an end is to make a beginning."

    ~T.S. Eliot, “Little Gidding"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, Annie, I love this. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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