English class is a fun class:
simple, no homework and relaxing. That is, until a teacher uses that one
dreadful word. Essay. It is like taking ice cream and putting vegetables on it.
No child, ever, likes to hear the word essay. First they get sweaty palms and
their breathing gets heavy. Then their eyes get large, dilated and start to
resemble those of Bart Simpson. Their throat gets dry making it hard to swallow
and the room begins to feel like a sauna. Finally they manage to gain control
of their body, or they run out, screaming, into the hallway never to be seen
again.
Most kids don’t go that far when
they hear the word essay but many have a few of the symptoms (listed above).
Although essays are mandatory in
every English class and every grade, we all act like we were shot through the
chest with an arrow every time we hear the word. It is not that every child
hates writing that creates the hatred towards essays; it is the stress,
structure and significance of essays that make them so bad.
Whenever we have to write an
essay, it is not just, “Hey! Have fun; write an essay on whatever, you’re love
of bubblegum, your passion for superheroes or your fight for women’s rights,”
it is always on a subject that we do not find interesting nor easy to write
about. No one goes home an writes an essay like they do a journal. They are too formal to write your thoughts and rant on about everyday things.
Furthermore, there is always a time restraint and one that is very stressful. You can't take your time to write it day by day and when you feel like it because they are usually written for school. Teachers never give you a month to write an essay and let you work on it one day each week. You are usually writing it in the restraints of a weekend and it then becomes very difficult.
There are also so many other instructions to follow that you could practically write an essay on the rules! It is just ridiculous. Furthermore the significance of essays is a major part of the hatred towards them because they always mean big marks. When writing an essay for school it means that you WILL be graded and they are usually out of a lot of marks. You don’t ever see an essay out of 10-20 points. No, they are usually at least 30 or more. They are so much work and require a certain type of writing that many people find difficult and therefore are not liked very often.
Furthermore, there is always a time restraint and one that is very stressful. You can't take your time to write it day by day and when you feel like it because they are usually written for school. Teachers never give you a month to write an essay and let you work on it one day each week. You are usually writing it in the restraints of a weekend and it then becomes very difficult.
There are also so many other instructions to follow that you could practically write an essay on the rules! It is just ridiculous. Furthermore the significance of essays is a major part of the hatred towards them because they always mean big marks. When writing an essay for school it means that you WILL be graded and they are usually out of a lot of marks. You don’t ever see an essay out of 10-20 points. No, they are usually at least 30 or more. They are so much work and require a certain type of writing that many people find difficult and therefore are not liked very often.
One of the worst things about
essays is in class ones. Writing a five paragraph in a hot and stressful
classroom is terrible. I am the type of person that writes better in a specific
spot and that spot is not at school. I find it quite difficult to write
paragraph after paragraph of writing in seventy five minutes and make it
decent. I always have to reread my work because I make so many mistakes and
write like I speak, therefore during an in class essay, my writing is terrible
and I’m always disappointed. But is there really anything that we can do to
stop writing them. Well for one thing we can stop taking English class but that
is only after high school is finished and there are many other classes that
require them. I, for one, am going in to science for that reason!
It is not that students today don't like writing, it is that we don't like formal writing and extremely structured. We like to express our opinions and thoughts in many different ways and that is not what we are able to do using essays.
Essays are good pieces of writing and very interesting when well written, but are not meant for everyone in school to write. That is why I do not like essays very much.
"Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time"
- Chinese proverb
It is not that students today don't like writing, it is that we don't like formal writing and extremely structured. We like to express our opinions and thoughts in many different ways and that is not what we are able to do using essays.
Essays are good pieces of writing and very interesting when well written, but are not meant for everyone in school to write. That is why I do not like essays very much.
"Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time"
- Chinese proverb
No comments:
Post a Comment