Some of you may not have a Facebook account (come on, get with it) so, for the record, I’ve posted, below, Brendan Jones’ own spin on the exam fiction that got him expelled from Heart Lake Secondary School in Toronto. I’ve also posted his letter of personal apology to school officials.
I think I should say I don’t know Brendan Jones or anyone else involved in this matter. My interest has nothing to do with vindicating Jones; rather what interests me is the fact that fiction, my chosen craft and trade, is to all appearances being set up as justification for an abusive act of authority. Canada, of course, is not my country, so I’ll stop short of drawing any more assumptions. If I’m not getting it, or there are facts I’m not aware of, I invite comments telling me so.
Read carefully. Do you hear the voice of a possible maniac? I would be happy to print the other side of the story, as well, but according to the Toronto Globe and Mail there wasn’t one, since “no comment” was all that came out of the Principal’s office.
“Why I Wrote It,” by Brendan Jones
For starters, this story is neither something i pre-determined I’d write about, nor is it a story that I’m passionate about. I simply wanted to do my work like any other exam or assignment. The only real requirement of the story was that you had to inbed 10 of 18 literary devices that were listed on a seperate sheet. In the 5 handwritten pages, i knocked off a lot of the literary devices in the first 2 paragraphs or so. And if you read, i was running out of ideas for where i can put them after a certain point.
One of the devices was Irony. I was quickly running out of time to write, so the only ironic thing i could think of, that would also still keep excitment in the story, was to simply have that teacher already in the house during the time the friend was over. Then i thought, well wouldnt her friend hear her screaming? Thats why i put “Unable to speak” at the end. It was all just a rushed paper with thoughts made up right on the spot. I’m no threat, this paper is no threat, and in order to think so, there’s definitely a lack in judgement. I do understand that it may have been distasteful reading it as a teacher, but it WAS creative writing and it WAS a fictional story. I have apologised for the misunderstanding, but it would seem that i will never return to Heart Lake to finish my 3 credits. If there were concerns about this story, there are appropriate actions to take for that, and I feel those were not the ones excersized.
And now, Jones’ letter of apology.
January 28, 2008
Mrs. S. Turner
Principal, Heart Lake Secondary School
I would like to sincerely apologize for the fictional story I wrote on my creative writing exam last week. The teacher in the story does not fit the description of any teacher I have ever had and the main character of the story has nothing in common with me. I did not mean to offend anyone, as it was strictly meant to be a story I thought would fit the criteria of the exam, but now I realize was in very bad taste.
I am very sorry and apologize to Mrs. Turner and the Teaching staff of Heart Lake Secondary School and also the Peel Board of Education.
I have really worked hard this past year to bring my average up greatly and have applied to 5 universities, hoping to get accepted and continue on my academic life. In the past year I have volunteered at school, made the Honor Roll, received the Principal’s Award, and have been active on sports’ teams.
I assure you that I am no threat to anyone in this school or anywhere. I just had a very distasteful idea for a story that I should have thought twice about and known better not to write. I am truly sorry and ask that I can be given the chance to prove I will continue to work hard to complete my last term in high school, which only includes 3 more credits. Hopefully I will get accepted at one or more of the five universities I have applied to.
Once again, I would like to say how very sorry I am for writing this very distasteful story and promise to use better judgement in the future.
Sincerely,
Brendan Jones
