Abdimalik Hersi
12/05/2019

In this text, I will be discussing about Allison D. Carr’s essay “Failure Is Not an Option”. According to Carr, saying that failure is not an option in writing is a bad idea because Carr believes that failure occurs every day to millions of people whether they are writers or teachers. Both Carr’s argument and her sources indicate that making failure an option is a better idea about writing. For instance, they all think that when someone fails- in this case writing, it is an opportunity for that person to learn and grow. They also indicate that making failure an option gives them the freedom to effectively acknowledge their mistakes and make improvements from it.

In “Failure Is Not an Option” Allison D. Carr describes several reasons why writers should avoid saying that failure is not an option in their writing field. She argues that failure is a fundamental part in writing. According to Carr, she states that “Failure should be welcomed, if not actively sought out, signaling as it does both the presence of creative, risky thinking and an opportunity to explore a new direction” (Carr 76). By saying this, Carr means that failure is necessary in writing because she thinks that failure allows writers the opportunity to acknowledge and take responsibilities for their mistakes. This could also mean that Carr believes failure helps writers to effectively think and produce a good writing. She also believes that good writing requires “years—decades, probably—of repeated failure” (Carr 78). This shows that writing requires lots of practice and essentially with failure. Then, it leads writers into gaining the confidence of their written work. For instance, as Carr mentioned good writing doesn’t come easy because it is a process and within the process a writer gains the confidence of their written work. Also failure is not limited only in writing but it also takes place in all academics as well. In “Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class” Katrina Schwartz describes “Carol Deck’s research on growth mindset” (Schwartz). According to Schwartz, she states that “The Stanford psychologist found that children who understand that their brains are malleable and can change when working through challenging problems can do better in school. Now, many school districts are attempting to teach growth mindset to their students” (Schwartz). This shows that the study conveys children can learn better when they have growth mindset. And they can also develop their learning strategy because Schwartz thinks that these children don’t have a fixed mindset. Also Schwartz states “PERTS has developed a toolkit to support the adults in children’s lives who are struggling to change their practice” (Schwartz). This means that these students have been through some challenges, in other words they have failed multiple times. However, Schwartz thinks that since their brains are malleable they were able to overcome their challenges. Similarly Carr’s argument that failure should be an option in writing agrees with Schwartz main Idea in her essay about growth mindset. Moreover, Carol Dweck’s research on “Growth Mindset” also agrees with Katrina Schwartz. Her study focuses on student’s attitudes about failure. In her research, Dr. Dweck talks about growth mindset and fixed mindset. She states that “When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement” (Dweck). This shows that when students have growth mindset they make mistakes but they don’t give up rather they overcome and continue with their work. This could mean when Carr says that failure should be an option in writing she also believes that growth mindset gives writers the freedom to produce a good writing process which leads them to be successful in their writing. It also shows that failure encourages students to take their failures and use them to learn and grow.

We can see that all of these three sources say that failure is good in academia. They believe that failure helps both students and writers to learn and grow. They all agree that failure should be an option. From my perspective, I also agree with their argument for several reasons. First, I believe that in general failure happens to everyone whether they are students, teachers writers, and etc. I am still in my first year of college and I am still facing challenges in my English class. For example, during the first moth of my English class, I was assigned to write a self-reflective essay. However, I didn’t know where to begin or how to start it even though I was given instructions. Eventually, I have started it with the help my English professor and I was able to submit. However, I received a poor grade as well as comments and feedbacks from my professor. The comments and feedbacks indicated that I have failed to give enough examples. But my failure to give enough examples have encouraged me and changes because in my later writing assignments I was able to avoid the same mistake. This shows us that failure gives us the opportunity to learn and grow as we practice more and more. If you are a writer and are afraid of failing, I suggest that you think failure as an opportunity for bettering your writing.

Work Cited

1. Carr, Allison D. “Failure is not an option.” In: Cheryl E. Ball, Drew M. Loewe, (Eds). Bad Ideas About Writing. West Virginia University Libraries, Digital Publishing Institute, 2017, p.76.
2. Schwartz, Katrina. “Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class.” KQED, 27 Jan. 2017, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/41700/growth-mindset-how-to-normalize-mistake-making-and-struggle-in-class.
3. Dweck, Carol. “Decades of Scientific Research That Started a Growth Mindset Revolution.” The Growth Mindset – What Is Growth Mindset – Mindset Works, https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/.