The Essay
I reread the essay for what felt like the thousandth time, still not believing my eyes. It had been turned in with the others from my fourth period tenth grade English class, but without a name. The title, “Learning to Deepthroat,” had led me to believe, at least initially, that it was some kind of tasteless joke. The assignment, the first major essay of the school year, was to write a narrative essay about a first-time experience. Given the age of my students, most of whom were from just fifteen to almost sixteen, I frequently received essays on learning to drive a car, staying at home by themselves, cooking a meal, or other kind of age-appropriate topics. But in my eight years of teaching, I had not received a sexually themed narrative essay before. My …