Being a science major, I spend the bulk of my time writing labs that are in third person passive voice. So my opinion is useless in them. Even in actual research, you may not be able to employ your own opinion in your own research. Even when writing my rhetorical analyses or other English essays, I was still not allowed to employ my voice to further my analysis. Regardless, opinion as a whole is difficult to incorporate into writing.
As a tutor in the Writing Center, it is my philosophy that every student should be allowed to express his or her opinion in any writing they have. It is important to cultivate these opinions in order to prompt for discussion and further the ability for students to understand academia. In other words, the ability to integrate one’s opinion into writing allows for the ability for the writer to develop a sense of ownership of their writing, which doubly enhances analysis.
One of the values that is affiliated with this philosophy is, as I mentioned before, that opinion allows for more discussion that can prompt for more research or deeper analysis. Picture this world: What would have happened if the American colonists did not have opinions against the English government? We would have never had the establishment of the United States, the very country we live in today. The right to freedom of speech is very important, as it is reflected in the Bill of Rights. Even further, the Writing Center should be a space where everyone’s opinions hold validity. Opinion is a driving force for discussion, which also can further develop innovation, enact change, and provoke reform of old establishments. For example, every time we are in a conference with a writer, this question almost always comes up: “So what are your thoughts about this topic?” This is an opinionated question, which should be used to drive any kind of writing and discussion, analytical or not.
Another value of my philosophy is that opinion creates a level of identity in each person’s writing that makes them more unique. In an individualistic society, we crave this need to be different, and being different is simply what makes us, well, us. The same is necessary in the Writing Center. Our differences are what make us unique writers and also what allows people the ability to learn more about a topic once we instill our own opinions about the topic at hand. Hearing a different opinion on a certain novel or analytical work further promotes discussion while also providing a new lens into the piece that may be at the threshold of comprehension. If I go into the Writing Center, I can easily discuss what people’s opinions may be on how best to write a short story. And the best part is that each person will give what he or she thinks is best that is unique to them. Hence, these levels of opinion create better options for students to take new directions in their writing, which can be crucial to opening new discussions on old or worn out topics and helping one identify who he or she really is.
Overall, I think it is important to allow people to employ their own opinion into their work, as it will cultivate new discussions about an already well-discussed topic. Even further, it gives individuality to the writer’s work, which makes them stand out from the generic five-page, third person analysis.