Regardless of whether you’re still in school, have completed your education, or hold a full-time job, one universal sentiment is the dislike of writing essays.
There are a few outliers who seem to enjoy writing them, but they’re not the focus here.
As a journalist who spends seven-and-a-half hours daily crafting articles, it may sound strange to many, but I consider myself fortunate to have a job that I love.
So, if there was anyone likely to relish assignments, it would have been my younger, more diligent self, right? Wrong. As a chronic procrastinator, I did not.
However, I might have enjoyed them if I had been as clever as Allison Garrett.
Given the task of writing a review about a movie she had watched, Garrett produced a cheeky 19-word essay on the iconic 1999 film Fight Club… and it paid off.
Directed by David Fincher, the film features Edward Norton as ‘The Narrator’ and Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden.
A lot happens in Fight Club, making it quite easy to detail the story and reach a substantial word count. But Garrett had a brilliant, albeit risky, idea to make it even easier.
She took to Twitter to share her ingenuity: “The assignment description for essay 5 was to write a review of a movie that we had seen. The opportunity arose, and I took my chances.”
So, what did Garrett write?
She quoted the film’s legendary line, which, if you’re familiar with the movie, you would have expected.
Her review simply stated: “The first rule of fight club is: you do not talk about fight club.”
At the bottom of the page, Garrett added: “That’s it. That’s the essay.”
This concise review was apparently enough for her to earn a perfect score – 100/100.
Garrett also added in her post: “I cannot say that I am sorry because that would be a lie. Am I Proud? Yes.”
Her professor, who also appreciated the humor, gave feedback: “I struggled over this grade for a long time. I finally decided you get a grade for a laugh and how relevant your review is for this particular movie.
“Let me warn you: do NOT try this kind of thing with other professors; they may not have my sense of humor.”