THE “SO WHAT?” TEST
Monday, April 21st, 2008Sophomore year of college. Classics 202: Greek and Roman Epic. Teacher doesn’t say a word, just passes out our papers, walks up to the blackboard, picks up a piece of chalk, and writes:
Then she says, “Ask yourself that next time you write something.”
Dang.
That’s one of those lessons I never forgot.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:56 pm
oh man, sophomore year…
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I’m an engineering major and I find myself asking the same thing in my classes…
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
So what?
My college greek civilization teacher was one of THE most passionate instructors I’ve ever had! So what? Seek, explore, learn, love! Go beyond the mundane, associate with whatever, stir up the inner pathos and live! So what? Why NOT!!!!
So, Austin Kleon, that is why I love your blog, because you do live and seem to find your own personal answers to the question, SO WHAT? And then, you share.
Thank You, LK
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 am
Laura, you made my day! Thanks! :-D
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 am
Austin Kleon, I also like you!
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
I like you all!
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
And you, Austin Kleon, make the day for several others, I’m sure!
I found you through a google search on… I forget specifics – block printing, german expressionism, or something – but have been intrigued with your energies, observations and insights! How you live, you do, you do!
My reaction to SO WHAT? comes from being an educator, trying to stir the interest and passions of adolescents. When I go off sharing my love for my subject (art), I always think of MY afore mentioned professor. Assuming an educator wants to stir the passions of others (as opposed to contributing to the lathargic sarcasm that is, at times, all too abundant in this age of post-modernism), this is how I interpreted your SO WHAT? (let me count the ways)
Keep living, you (seen ti be) doing a wonderful job of it!
Thanks, again, LK
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Glad you found your way here!
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Your my hero Ferris Bueller!
June 3rd, 2009 at 12:58 pm
This is the question I ask myself anytime I write a story for the newspaper OR write an essay for my English classes. I mean, professors have read the same shit over and over again…they want something new! Fresh! Something on CRUDDY! Or even on classics like Slaughterhouse-Five and Catcher in the Rye.
Hence, my attempt to come up with intriguing and creative critical essays like “The Truth is in the Flies: How Roberta Reveals what really happened in CRUDDY” and “Finger on the Trigger: Holden Caulfield’s contemplation of death in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.”
Sometimes it might be a miss, but at the very least, I know I’m not bored while writing them.
June 16th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
This is the question I ask myself anytime I write a story for the newspaper OR write an essay for my English classes. I mean, professors have read the same shit over and over again…they want something new! Fresh! Something on CRUDDY! Or even on classics like Slaughterhouse-Five and Catcher in the Rye.