[unalone]

It was used once for every sixteen words. That means it was used less than once a sentence. If I was unintentionally saturating the essay, I'd agree with you that my style needs some fixing, but it was a deliberate choice and it wasn't overdone for what it aimed to be.

Obviously we're going to disagree over whether it was overdone. That's subjective. I've seen a lot of positive response to this and surprisingly little negative. I'm fine with the response I'm getting overall.

As for offensive: It's the word "shit". I'm not using it in an offensive way. I didn't write "How to shit great". I used it as a generic placeholder. Is it offensive just because it's a swear word? Because here I thought we were more mature than to get prissy over naughty language, particularly when it's not attempting to evoke naughty imagery.

[dsplittgerber]

If you wanted to emphasize the message instead of your stylistic means, you could have lessened the obtrusiveness of your style. By not doing so, I think you are rightfully criticized for style, when it should have been about the message.

[unalone]

I'm fine with being criticized — best way to learn to do better. I just resented the suggestions that I didn't know what I was doing. If I deliberately fuck up, I'll take my punches, but the comments implying I somehow accidentally used "shit" that many times kind of irritated me.