what are essays good for?

[Tomer]

well?

 

[DrTeeth]

keeping you busy

 

[Evalicious]

ohhhh, if it hadn´t been for all the essays i would have failed high-school. I never know any facts, but i sure can write!
About anything, anytime, cos i´ve got plenty to say!

Writing essays was the only thing i was excellent at

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Excercising analytical skills and inducing creative thought processes. Oh, and they start good fires.

I'm an English major, and I think that English essays in particular serve no pragmatic purpose. It's simply learning for the sake of learning. Writing an essay, a good one, is not about showing what I've learned. At least to me. It's more of a learning process in and of itself.

 

[Tomer]

okay
i mean bookreports
like

i read a book
summary
opinion
done


whats that about

it has no purpose
do any of you ever think

man

i learned this form making a bookreport

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

It's more interesting for a teacher to read than a standard quiz?

 

[Tomer]

see
thats what i mean

why do i need to make 5 of them this year?

and why does everyone get mad if i get them from the internet?

 

[e edge]

well.... if you're a good student they only take your time, but if you're a bad student they can save your a**, 'cauze you can write about nth but make an impression that you know a lot (of corse you've got to be tallented to do it - like me , i'm really good in that ). and if you're a teacher that must be awfull- reading all this stuff, people trying to be smart and writing about nth. it generally only take's lots of time. i hate essays .

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Because it's illegal.

 

[Bonochick]

What is the purpose of ANYTHING?

 

[Evalicious]

What is the purpose of ANYTHING?

Someone is having a bit of the existential crisis?

 

[Bonochick]

What else is new?

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Flannery O'Connor wrote weird existential fiction. Christian existentialsim makes my head go

Nevertheless, her stories are provocative. Gotta love "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge"

The Misfit is awesome

 

[indra]

Flannery O'Connor wrote weird existential fiction. Christian existentialsim makes my head go

Nevertheless, her stories are provocative. Gotta love "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and "Everything that Rises Must Converge"

The Misfit is awesome

Oh yeah, I LOVE "A Good Man is Hard to Find!"

 

[indra]

think

Excercising analytical skills and inducing creative thought processes. Oh, and they start good fires.

I'm an English major, and I think that English essays in particular serve no pragmatic purpose. It's simply learning for the sake of learning. Writing an essay, a good one, is not about showing what I've learned. At least to me. It's more of a learning process in and of itself.

Actually, "Excercising analytical skills and inducing creative thought processes" is exactly why you write essays and book reports. Educatiion is not just teaching the what (facts and figures, so to speak), but also the whys and hows. Essentially, they are to teach you to think and to apply what you learn to other situations.

I had a teacher put it best. Some students complained that what was on the test he gave wasn't the same stuff in the book. He said, (it's been decades, so I don't remember it verbatim) "If I wanted to know what was in the book, I'd read the book. What I want to know is that you know how to apply what is in the book. That's what you have to do to answer the questions." What I took from that is that you can know everything in the world, but if you can't express or apply it, it's completely worthless. I did well in Bob's class, a lot of people didn't.

 

[indra]

see
thats what i mean

why do i need to make 5 of them this year?

and why does everyone get mad if i get them from the internet?

You only have to read and do reports of five books?!?

 

[Tomer]

only?







































only?































































shut up!

 

[JessicaAnn]

Oh yeah, I LOVE "A Good Man is Hard to Find!"

I LOVE Flannery O'Conner.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

What I think I'm getting at is the notion that for most people, they can't find apply analytic skills to "real" life. It's really sad. I go to a small liberal arts school, and most of the people here think that they're here for job training. There is NOTHING about job training in the school's mission statement. The point of a liberal arts education is to introduce one to various schools of thought, and teach you how to think for yourself. It's really frustrating. I think I was in severe sarcastic mode when I posted that. I actually think that for someone interested in personal growth and development, writing is vital. But to most people, it really doesn't mean much. Hope that clarifies my perspective, if I even agree with the perspective I took earlier.

 

[Liesje]

Essays are HARD and I'm always surprised when people say they LOVE essays b/c they're so much easier than reciting facts in the form of a test. My bf wrote this term paper and I offered to look it over b/c he was going on about how much he loved to write and how much easier it was. Let me just say there wasn't a SINGLE sentence in 10 solid pages of his writing that I didn't have to revise in some way. Maybe it's just the schools I go to, but just the format and structure of the essay alone is almost impossible to perfect, no matter what you actually had to say. However, I'd rather do essays than projects though b/c I can work on my own at my own pace and get feedback when I feel like I need it. For a test, I'd rather have a more objective test than all-essay tests (which unfortunately almost all of my college tests are).

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I love writing essays, but I'm a horrible procrastinator. The school I go to, depending on the professor, is more interested in the coherence of the argument, and tend to get annoyed when people follow formulaic essay standards. They really don't like the "Broad statement, specific statement, thesis, these are my points" introductions, even though they still like the body to be more or less formatted that way.

 

[Squishy Peanut]

I love writing essays, but I'm a horrible procrastinator.

Same here...procrastinating is what I'm doing now

At the mo I'm doing about 2-3 essays a week (plus other work)...I just wanna sleep tonight

 

[indra]

I love writing essays, but I'm a horrible procrastinator.

Oh, I was a terrible procrastinator as well! Starting any essay or term paper (including research!) more than 24 hours before it was due was what I considered "well in advance." I do better under pressure. And it's more fun that way too.

What I think I'm getting at is the notion that for most people, they can't find apply analytic skills to "real" life. It's really sad. I go to a small liberal arts school, and most of the people here think that they're here for job training. There is NOTHING about job training in the school's mission statement. The point of a liberal arts education is to introduce one to various schools of thought, and teach you how to think for yourself.

Agreed! I still have to tell people that a liberal arts education isn't vocational school! (Nothing wrong with vocational school, but you don't go to vocational school expecting to study liberal arts.)

 

[meegannie]

What is the purpose of ANYTHING?

 

[enggirl]

see
thats what i mean

why do i need to make 5 of them this year?

and why does everyone get mad if i get them from the internet?

are you shitting me? I used to teach English in college and I had my students read a book (GASP!) and write summaries because, unfortunately, so many of my freshmen students couldn't get out a full sentence when speaking let alone when writing! I know it seems lame, but being able to think out a long piece of writing (the book) and summarize it (your report) shows the teacher that you can think. Plus, learning how to summarize well helped in the next class when paraphrasing information (and not just copying it!) was VERY important. Oh, and getting it off the web--so NOT a good idea! Teachers know when you've bullshitted them. They know when, all of a sudden, one student is writing WAY better than s/he used to. I had a student who did that. Needless to say, I nailed him and he got a big, fat F for it. Boy, I bet his momma was glad she paid for that class...not

 

[anitram]

Welcome to the real world. You don't get to show up at work and say "how come I have to do THIS many experiments today? what's it good for?"

Learning to be a competent writer is one of the most important skills out in the professional world.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

I agree. I really don't like doing much writing outside of literary discussion/criticism/analysis, but I know I'm a better writer and better prepared for my future by having written in social sciences, political science, natural sciences, etc. I don't care much for the subjects, but being a versatile writer is beneficial in that it also helps me incorporate interdisciplinary perspective into my writing. It's next to impossible to avoid talking about history, politics, or philosophy when analyzing any significant literary work.