In Pursuit of the Gold Star: Diary of a Law Student
By Kristina Brittenham
Towards the end of my 2L year, I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was planning to turn a paper I wrote for a class into an article for publication. The topic encompasses—rather roughly—outlaw emotions, Brown v. Board of Education, and the things about law school that make me crazy. He was intrigued and wanted to read it. I let him, and he insisted on taking me out for tea and telling me all of his thoughts on the matter.
The essence of our discussion was:
- Friend: Kristina, what you have done here is very interesting, even compelling. But you make so many assumptions when you write that I don’t know where the basis for your paper is.
- Kristina: You mean assumptions like “racism is wrong”?
- Friend: Yes. You begin by assuming your reader agrees with you. So how will you convince a hostile reader that your take on law school makes any sense?
- Kristina: That’s not the point. This is a purge, really, a cathartic purge in which I lay out my own experience. Like other (real) critical theorists, I assume my reader has a basic belief in social justice. If I tried to talk people into that before I wrote about my view, I wouldn’t have any room for what I actually want to say.
- Friend: But that is not a very legal approach, is it?
- And my answer is: No, it is not.
about 10 months ago
enjoyed this one!