Bunch O' Bull

I remember sitting in my IB (International Baccalaureate) class blankly looking at the essay prompt, having absolutely no recollection of the topic on which I was to be writing. While I didn't know the topic as well as I should've, I knew I could always produce a decent essay due to my ability to bullshit.

I received a score of 8 out of 10 on that particular essay. Why was it so easy for me to do this when that really wasn't the grade I deserved? Luckily, I happen to be a pretty good writer and as suggested in the "Bullshit" article, "good writing" can sometimes serve to be a mask for mediocre analysis and content. In order to prove your point, you must be persuasive, and whether bullshit is intended or not, it almost always is a component to academic writing. More often than not, students write their essays in order to please the professor to get a good grade aka writing what the teacher wants to read. If we are not writing what we want to write, not only are we bullshitting the assignment, but also ourselves academically. I can easily recall several times (particularly in CORE, of course) when I was graded on what the professor wanted me to write instead of what I did write. After receiving grades that I was not happy with, I decided to give in to what he wanted and write exactly what he wanted to see. Bullshit was what I produced, and I began to receive better grades. It may be impossible for me to convince myself of what I'm writing about when I don't believe in what I'm writing, but I sure as hell can convince the professor. To quote the article, "if academic writing is bullshit, then bullshit is what we teach." I guess I can't bullshit that bullshitter, but will I actually ever stop bullshitting in my academic writing? Well, not at least until I find a professor that can't be won over by bullshit.

Forever Bullshitting,
Lauren