(Originally posted as a comment over at New Haven Independent. For other comments about Gina’s writing, see here, here, and here.)

I’m a big fan of Gina’s writing and from that writing, what I assume to be her teaching style. What is it that makes someone’s writing great? This is an important starting point and one that I hope she discusses in her classes. I would like to suggest that there are three important factors in great writing which Gina has been touching upon.

Good writing is vivid; it is eye-catching. When I read Gina’s posts I get a strong sense of what it must be like to be in those halls and those classrooms. I hope her students are developing the skills to help people like me get a better view of what it is like to be growing up in a place like ‘the ville’.

Good writing is authentic. It doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t or pretend to have knowledge it doesn’t have. It shows feelings, hopes, fears, and uncertainties. Gina’s writing sure feels authentic to me. The glimpses of students’ lives sure feel authentic to me. I know that high school students can smell false pretenses a mile away. Gina is courageous in her ability to be real with people, both in the classroom and in her postings here. As with vividness, I hope that her students are learning the courage to be real and talk about what is really going on, and not simply what others expect them to say.

It is this sort of authenticity that is a powerful antidote to the peer pressures that seem to drive a lot of gang activity. This leads to the most important part of good writing. Good writing should be life changing.

I hope that Gina’s students are having their lives changed in a positive way be reading stories about how other people have struggled in their lives and overcome adversity. I hope that Gina’s students are finding their voices and this self-expression will empower them to successes they haven’t even dreamed of. I also hope that all of us reading Gina’s posts will gain new insights into what really goes on in public high schools, understand more about the pressures today’s youth face and find new ways to help out.

This does not mean I am unable to be critical of her writing or teaching. At times it seems as if she doesn’t appreciate how difficult the choices some of her students have to make is. Her comment “It seems to me that fighting over respect is a counter-intuitive and counter-productive activity” seems to miss that the fight for respect is a core part of the human condition that we all participate in. Whether we are fighting for respect of our parents by getting married and bringing them grandchildren, fighting for respect of people around us by doing our job well or trying to make the world a better place, we all fight for respect.

Gina has my respect for her writing and her teaching. I hope her students can find new ways, perhaps through their writings to seek respect of the people around them. Finally, I hope we can all learn from one another.