The Art of Writing

Alicia D. Costello, spurred by either initiative or requirement, scribbled down her thoughts and formulated an essay by the title of "Rhetorical Analysis: Pauline Inklings in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." The essay, namely about the the story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, examines the topic of good and evil within a person being explored. Initially, a student is taught in his/her education to write an essay consisting of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The method is tried and true, for the most part, and consists of analysis of a given article or prompt. The introduction is to provide the background of the target, and usually provides a thesis in which the essay is written about. The body paragraphs support the provided thesis with evidence and commentary of the evidence. The top it all off, the conclusion is supposed to be a restatement of the thesis and somewhat of a summary. Costello's writing methods are not quite matching this method, and instead begins to write on her own tempo.

Costello's opening paragraph follows what some might call a "standard opening" with an explanation of the book she is analyzing, along with a simple statement of her thesis. The majority of Costello's essay is based upon her own analysis of Kevin Mills' essay entitled "The Stain on the Mirror: Pauline Reflections in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide." Her thesis revolves around the weakness in Mills' essay and she refers back to the analytical essay to pick apart Mills' own arguments in her essay, similar to actually quoting from the essay and supporting her thesis. In a standard essay taught in school, she would receive praise for following the format quite closely. What surprises me, however, is the format she formed her essay in. It contains not one, but two paragraphs to state and elaborate her thesis, which is considered foreign in a standard essay.

Costello's thesis is stated in two different places, but they are essentially the same. She pokes and prods at the weaknesses of Millers' essay, quoting directly and then providing the basis on why she provided the quotation. She then commentates upon the quotation and points out how Millers holds so many flaws within his essay. Compared to an essay written by a freshman in high school, this would look just a bit more advanced, but eerily similar to theirs. The standard format of a solid piece of evidence to examine, followed by analysis of the evidence which supports the thesis, and then with additional commentary, is seen. Both theses presented in the initial opening paragraphs are present in each body paragraph, and gives sufficient material that allows each paragraph to build upon. The lengthiness of each paragraph is due to the fact that the statement in question from Mills is attacked by two theses, rather than a standard one.

One of the most foreign aspects of Costello's essay is the method in which she attacks Mills' essay. In a standard essay, one must present both the positive and the negative side in an argument. Costello's essay merely points out the positive but then proceeds to turn it into a negative. Only the mistakes and flaws are highlighted by Costello, when in reality there must exist some positive to the essay by Mills. However, Costello's method of writing is straightforward and on target. A standard essay consists of multiple angles in which a thesis is supported, and Costello is not shorthanded in this aspect. Without hesitation in her writing, Costello writes determinedly about the flaws and holes in Mills writing, intent on proving that Mills fails to bring evidence forward in his own statements.

Schools teach us many things, and among those things is how to write essays. Of course, the method that schools teach at a young age is bound to vary as students age. Students will violate the rules, in more ways than one, as they gain more and more experience. Students will create their own styles and personal flair with imagination and creativity influencing them. However, the lessons taught in the classroom are considered benchmarks that we can always fall back to, and most importantly are what attribute to a student's development.