Blaine Cooper, from Blaine, Minnesota, is a Chemistry major (and a first year student in WRIT 1120, College Writing, at UMD) who has found 200,000 readers, and more than a little controversy, for his writing assignment.
Asked to write an opinion/editorial piece as a class assignment, Blaine compared the narratives about substance abuse in Brave New World, a novel by Aldous Huxley, and the narratives about legalizing marijuana. The analogy was clever, the essay was carefully crafted, and Assistant Professor Lisa Horton, his teacher , encouraged him to share his essay with the world.
“[Blaine] has made one of the first arguments I have read on this topic that has made me re-evaluate my own settled position on the matter. Though he has not necessarily changed my mind about things, I very much appreciate his insightful approach. Clearly he also intrigued the Editor.” -- Assistant Professor Lisa Horton
Blaine submitted his essay to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The Strib published the essay on April 10, 2021, to the more than 200,000 daily readers of the newspaper.
The essay did what all good pieces of writing do: instead of being the last word on the topic, Blaine inspired dozens of readers to talk about the issues important to him. As user jbh8426 noted:
Some of the reader comments stood with Blaine. User Robb1960 threw his oar in, developing Blaine’s arguments:
Other folks tried to argue by analogy, too -- if Blaine could argue by analogy to Brave New World, they could argue by analogy to other substances, like alcohol. User wedgeospite offered a typical comparison; if Blaine’s claims were true about marijuana, they might also be true about alcohol.
Most disturbing, though, were the people who disagreed with Blaine but didn’t want to address his ideas. Instead, they engaged in ad hominem attacks -- attacking his person, or his status as a student -- but then failed to address the merits of his ideas. In some ways, this refusal to engage in arguments (to make up their mind based on who the arguer is, instead of the strength of the arguments) is symptomatic of the crash of public discourse lately.
According to Blaine,
I have always been told that I was a good writer, but I never thought it could be this good. I know my article sounds like I need to adjust my tinfoil hat, but I hope people appreciate the good writing and unique addition to the legalizing marijuana argument. I had a ton of fun writing, publishing ,and reading the comments. I think my mom might’ve been more excited than I was. :-)
Like Blaine, through writing, we can change public discourse, one opinion piece at a time.
Students in Writing Studies courses learn to bring their ideas into writing and into the public sphere. They learn how to raise critical questions about the issues of our day and then lead the discussion. Blaine has made the leap into the public sphere, and the readers of the Star Tribune picked up his invitation. Congratulations, Blaine!
For more information about the College Writing Program, visit their webpage.