I've always considered myself to be a person who doesn't care what others think, but lately I feel like, opinionated though I might be to myself, I feel like I have a hard time being opinionated when it counts. Even though "I don't care what others think", I'd still rather blend in than stand out. I'm a lot more likely to take a moderate, safe, careful route rather than be blunt and really say/write what I think about something, especially if I don't know my audience well, or if I feel like my audience is more knowledgeable than I am. Maybe I care more than I care to admit?
I'm writing a short "Op Ed Project" for one of my classes, and the prof offered a potential title upon reviewing my research. I LOVE the title that he came up with -- it perfectly captures my own feelings on my subject very succinctly. However, the title is everything that I subconsciously avoid being in my writing - flamboyant, "controversial", pointed, and attention-grabbing. I feel like, although I'm arguing against something, that I can't argue strongly enough against it to merit such a blunt title. Do I gussy-up my writing, and break away from my usual academic caution? I suppose that's the point of this kind of project - We've been repeatedly told that "this is not an academic research paper". Or, do I come up with a title that matches the moderate, analytic tone that I feel like my project is taking? I suppose I'll have to figure it out soon, the thing is due tomorrow afternoon...
