Formal writing. We've pretty much, all done it before, and almost all of us have been cited as, at one point or another, having used an informal tone for a formal essay. Now, I am not questioning the use of proper grammar, punctuation or even the use of third person while writing, say, a research paper.
What I find particularly interesting and particularly... alright, let's just say it, silly, about high school teachers and college professors, is the forced use of the formal "tone."
Students are asked to use "utilize" instead of "use." They have to follow all the structures of language, they have to use exact MLA format (or APA depending on the teacher) and, they have to use "bigger" words and bland language because... why? Seriously, why?
Language like that doesn't sound "professional," it sounds boring at best and pretentious at worst.
Now, my point is not to say that formal writing skills are not required. I've already said it before, it is perfectly acceptable to use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation in an informal setting (and you should!). Yes, the rules can and should be broken on occasion. I don't always use that whole thing about... what do you it call again? Oh, right, complete sentences. (See what I did there?) Frankly, complete sentences aren't always necessary to what you are trying to say and instead of adding to the message they detract from it.
I bet you are all asking, "What's the point of all this?" (Wait, what? Nobody asked that? Oh, well.) All I am trying to say is that nobody wants to read formal essays because they are bland, boring, and don't prepare you for the future. There do seem to be people out there who get it and state that, learning a conversational or casual writing tone is more important than learning the formal tone taught in school as it will be used more often, but those are few and far between.
So I guess my real question is, why are we taught to write essays that no one would want to read? To me, using a formal tone doesn't make you sound smart, (I have actually heard that the smartest people can take huge concepts and put it into everyday language so that any one could understand it), it makes you sound detached from the subject (like you don't really care one way or another about what you are arguing, you're merely doing it because someone... told you to... huh? Never mind, carry on.) The formal tone removes interest by making the speaking far to remote to ever reach.
That is actually a really good strategy now that I think about it. Hiding behind a formal tone because you really don't care about the argument you are making...I am fairly certain, I do that all the time because teachers and professors give us the option.
I could make an argument that I genuinely care about, write it just like this one, and make it fun or at least interesting to read... But why would I do that with the topics given in, say, a Contemporary Literature class? I don't genuinely care about any of the books I've read, and I don't find anything in them particularly interesting.
To me, a formal tone seems to promote... apathy. I don't feel anything. I don't feel one way or the other. I don't care. And I can hide the fact that I don't care because the tone I am using is supposed to be detached anyway.
Promoting that kind of apathy just seems... silly.
