30 Days In Rome

Chapter 3

29 more days to go....

The next day, Mr Henderson gave us details on the beauty of writing and poetry. The way he spoke fascinated me. I've never really liked English or any subject for that matter but he made it seem so easy. He broke it down into tiny pieces, making sure everybody understood.

Rainer made school seem effortless. He passed all his subjects while living a life of partying, football and gaming. I, on the other hand, would study for 2 hours straight and the highest I could achieve was a C minus. A C minus!!

Rainer would score straight A's without even trying. No doubt, he had a photographic memory. Incredible, isn't it? Yeah. He was amazing

"Let me ask you guys a question" Mr. Henderson said " Who is the greatest writer of all time?"

All hands shot up, including mine. This is an easy question. He made his class simple and interactive. Usually, I would doodle away till the end of class but I'm actually interested.

"Yes Ruby?" He called me out

"William Shakespeare" I answered

"So you think. Ha! You're wrong"

Everyone whispered in disagreement. Who could it be then?

"The truth is, there is no correct answer to that question. There is no greatest writer of all time. It is all a matter of opinion. To you, Shakespeare could be the greatest but personally I prefer Marlowe. Never heard of him, have you?"

Everyone shook their heads

"Of course you haven't. In the city of the blind, the one-eyed man is the king. How can you name Shakespeare to be the greatest writer when you haven't read the works of other magnificent medieval aged writers, such as: Cervantes, Mark Twain, Durante Degli and so on. Your choices are only limited to what your mind knows." He explained "Janet" he called on a girl in front.

" Yes sir?"

"Who is your favourite musician?"

"Beyonce, duh. She's the best"

"Great. To many of you, you may say she's the best, blah blah blah, but have you ever thought about the thousands of people who have better vocals and are better dancers. The problem is, they just haven't been recognised. Beyonce is a Legend, no doubt about that but there are other people out there that could do better. It's all a matter of opinion"

A boy raised his hand up

"Yes Simon"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your talk and all but what does this have to with today's lesson?"

"Great question. All I'm trying to say is, there is no bad writing guys. It is all a matter of opinion. What is appealing to me may be disgusting to somebody else. Bottom line, most writers feel insecure and that affects their writing. Don't read someone else's work and feel discouraged or feel you're not good enough. For example, maths is a universal subject. 1 + 1 equals 2 everywhere in the entire universe but English is not. Grading papers is a matter of the marker's opinion. Sure, there are rules but the person's perspective must always come into play. Do your best. Ask people to read through and if you don't get it right try and try again. Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded. Wow. I never thought of it that way at all.

He walked down the rows as he explained. He captured our attention with little effort. He didn't have to try too hard. Everyone looked at him. We were all eager for what he was about to say next. It wasn't just about his incredibly good looks. It was obvious he had a passion for this.