Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Rise of Red Writer

I have had a story in my head for quite some time now, and finally put pen to paper...or rather fingers to keyboard...and started writing.  I may not be the best writer in the world, but I do enjoy it.  It is very therapeutic for me.  With a little help from my mom (the best English teacher ever...now retired), I am ready to present the story to you.  I am working on a drawing of my "hero" and will share that as soon as I finish.  Now, without further ado, the story of Red Writer...

I have often heard the phrase “the pen is mightier than the sword”, but nowhere is that more accurate than a school…especially if that pen happens to be red. Oh, the immense power of a red pen, with a stroke it can bring relief or despair. Those little checkmarks, or lack thereof, can build you up or bring you down.

With the power of the red pen comes responsibility, and a solemn vow not to misuse the power, or use it for self gain. No, the ones entrusted with said power are on a mission to stamp out ignorance across the country, and the red pen is the all powerful tool. Who are these chosen ones? How do we identify them? Simply, they answer to the name Teacher.

Never have I felt the power of the red pen more than I did a few days ago, when I discovered an exchange that was less-than flattering about me. As expected, my initial reaction was one of justified anger, but as I re-read the exchange, anger was replaced by a much different feeling. My anger dissipated as I took pen in hand and swiftly made spelling, punctuation, and grammatical corrections on the note. Oh, such power! The page soon became filled with red marks that gave me such a sense of freedom. Ignorance was being vanquished by an object mightier than a sword!

I have often wondered what feelings give rise to those who become super heroes, and I have come to the realization that it must be power, and the confidence that they have the capability to make a difference. The dawning of this new knowledge led to an idea; and idea that began to take shape on paper; and idea for a brand new, true-to-life superhero….Red Writer! Never before has there been one so dedicated to stamping out ignorance as Red Writer. She comes swiftly, wielding the power of the red pen as her weapon. She draws knowledge from teachers across the country, and with them, she is determined to improve grammar and vocabulary. She is fighting many unseen foes, the evil Abbv Txt Man who forces victims to change complete words to a mishmash of letters and numbers with his evil counterpart L8r, who is bent on ending the use of vowels. Fonetik, who has children world-wide convinced that it’s okay to spell it like it sounds, and IDK, the worst of the bunch, who is on a mission to completely change the English language as we know it, bringing entire sentence structure down to nothing but simple letters. Should these evil villains succeed; gone forever will be good vocabulary skills, correct spelling, and all punctuation marks. But, with the mighty power of the red pen, and the knowledge that she is not alone, Red Writer will succeed. Through her vast internet resources and the support of English teachers everywhere, ignorance will be vanquished and grammatical superiority will reign!

5 comments:

Kelly said...

I think it is funny, interesting and so true. Rid the world of ignorance. I love it.

Unknown said...

I enjoyed it.

The Dean is in... said...

YES! BRAVO! HOORAY FOR RED WRITER! You did a great job with this story. :)

Our English teacher does not allow our students to use text ease so they are really good about not trying to use it in other classes. If they do in mine, I remind them that it isn't acceptable.

GO, RED WRITER!

Mallory said...

Hi "neighbor!" Thanks for visiting my blog. One of my best friends is married to a Viola native, Josh Hamby. You probably know him or at least his family. We were just there last week eating dinner at the pool hall, we'd gone on a drive and ended up there! Cute blog!

Heather said...

Awesome! May Red Writer rise against her foes successfully :)