There is a very interesting post to be written from the boys-only school perspective - forgive me for not having contributed to your survey. I think there are some very distinct points to make there! This was a very fun read. If I respond, it will be in the form of my own post.
great to see you back and to read more of your writing! brilliant article, and having spent my time as a boy in mixed schools it was really interesting to read this. the thing i found most fascinating was your description of the girls' tendency to share - not something we really experienced as lads haha
Wait that's fascinating. I'm imagining some sort of anthropological study on this where it charts from hunter-gatherer times these divergent tendencies of men vs. women on pooling their resources lol
Thank you so much as always Liam: your support means more than I can say. Take care :)
Hah---well, it's actually quite a sweet image to think of a hoard of sixteen-year-old boys enjoying each others' company, all suited and booted, playing basketball together. Brotherhood.
The writing style was entirely intentional; I'm glad you noticed it. It's a goal of mine to write better academic prose---writing which has a clear argument without being obfuscated by overly affective or figurative language. There's a time and a place for that: creative writing or personal essays, mostly. But the point is that I often seem to confusedly think that I need to do everything at once: that if I'm arguing, I will lose some important sense of selfhood if I don't slap on loads of figurative language. I want to prove that I can think, ratiocinate, and argue clearly without the protective backstop of writing in a very flowery way. (I have been described as a flowery or fluffy writer ever since I was about 9. Old habits die hard.) I never want writing in a certain way to be a substitute for reasoning, analytical thought. I felt barricading the descriptive writing I also love doing away in a coda created a nice check-and-balance division of power; it still allowed for this kind of writing, but didn't muddy or mess up my arguments through its inclusion.
There is a very interesting post to be written from the boys-only school perspective - forgive me for not having contributed to your survey. I think there are some very distinct points to make there! This was a very fun read. If I respond, it will be in the form of my own post.
Enthused seal claps from the audience
great to see you back and to read more of your writing! brilliant article, and having spent my time as a boy in mixed schools it was really interesting to read this. the thing i found most fascinating was your description of the girls' tendency to share - not something we really experienced as lads haha
Wait that's fascinating. I'm imagining some sort of anthropological study on this where it charts from hunter-gatherer times these divergent tendencies of men vs. women on pooling their resources lol
Thank you so much as always Liam: your support means more than I can say. Take care :)
Hah---well, it's actually quite a sweet image to think of a hoard of sixteen-year-old boys enjoying each others' company, all suited and booted, playing basketball together. Brotherhood.
The writing style was entirely intentional; I'm glad you noticed it. It's a goal of mine to write better academic prose---writing which has a clear argument without being obfuscated by overly affective or figurative language. There's a time and a place for that: creative writing or personal essays, mostly. But the point is that I often seem to confusedly think that I need to do everything at once: that if I'm arguing, I will lose some important sense of selfhood if I don't slap on loads of figurative language. I want to prove that I can think, ratiocinate, and argue clearly without the protective backstop of writing in a very flowery way. (I have been described as a flowery or fluffy writer ever since I was about 9. Old habits die hard.) I never want writing in a certain way to be a substitute for reasoning, analytical thought. I felt barricading the descriptive writing I also love doing away in a coda created a nice check-and-balance division of power; it still allowed for this kind of writing, but didn't muddy or mess up my arguments through its inclusion.