Essays.

[SagaLore]

Old thread revived by spammer.
admin allisolm

Random thought of the day...

I think that "Essay Writing" is one of the worst contributions to our culture. Think about this... what does it actually do for the us? How is this productive to either the writer or the reader? People don't read essays, ever. Teachers read them and grade them. Its a lesson in busy work. Its confinement and constraint of what could be creative free flowing talent.

When you read a book, its not in essay format. Websites are not designed in essay format. Marketing is not designed in essay format. Lab reports are not in essay format. NOTHING is designed in essay format, except for essays.

:frown:

 

[nakedfrog]

I'm sorry, I'm going to need your post to be at least five hundred words and double-spaced before I can read it.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I'm sorry, I'm going to need your post to be at least five hundred words and double-spaced before I can read it.

And tab indented with APA style citing?

 

[spacejamz]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
I'm sorry, I'm going to need your post to be at least five hundred words and double-spaced before I can read it.

And tab indented with APA style citing?

don't forget the 1" margins...

 

[SagaLore]

One of the best classes I have taken was "Technical and Professional Communications". It taught technical writing. THAT makes sense to me - it puts details on paper in a clear and precise manner so that the writer fully understands the subject.

Maybe that should be our new standard for writing.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Dont be afraid to do your essays, esse. They are meant to build you up to become a good little taxpayer. :evil:

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Random thought of the day...

I think that "Essay Writing" is one of the worst contributions to our culture. Think about this... what does it actually do for the us? How is this productive to either the writer or the reader? People don't read essays, ever. Teachers read them and grade them. Its a lesson in busy work. Its confinement and constraint of what could be creative free flowing talent.

When you read a book, its not in essay format. Websites are not designed in essay format. Marketing is not designed in essay format. Lab reports are not in essay format. NOTHING is designed in essay format, except for essays.

:frown:

Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

 

[K1052]

n/m

 

[RKS]

stay far away from law school

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Random thought of the day...

I think that "Essay Writing" is one of the worst contributions to our culture. Think about this... what does it actually do for the us? How is this productive to either the writer or the reader? People don't read essays, ever. Teachers read them and grade them. Its a lesson in busy work. Its confinement and constraint of what could be creative free flowing talent.

When you read a book, its not in essay format. Websites are not designed in essay format. Marketing is not designed in essay format. Lab reports are not in essay format. NOTHING is designed in essay format, except for essays.

:frown:

Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

 

[TallBill]

Not random..

 

[darkxshade]

Originally posted by: hanoverphist

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Random thought of the day...

I think that "Essay Writing" is one of the worst contributions to our culture. Think about this... what does it actually do for the us? How is this productive to either the writer or the reader? People don't read essays, ever. Teachers read them and grade them. Its a lesson in busy work. Its confinement and constraint of what could be creative free flowing talent.

When you read a book, its not in essay format. Websites are not designed in essay format. Marketing is not designed in essay format. Lab reports are not in essay format. NOTHING is designed in essay format, except for essays.

:frown:

Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

Then teach email writing

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

That is what Presentations are for.

The essay format is only appreciated by teachers. I don't know anybody that has ever said "hey, I think I'll read some essays today", or instead of a memo the boss says "Bob, send me an essay on this year's budget by this Friday".

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Random thought of the day...

I think that "Essay Writing" is one of the worst contributions to our culture. Think about this... what does it actually do for the us? How is this productive to either the writer or the reader? People don't read essays, ever. Teachers read them and grade them. Its a lesson in busy work. Its confinement and constraint of what could be creative free flowing talent.

When you read a book, its not in essay format. Websites are not designed in essay format. Marketing is not designed in essay format. Lab reports are not in essay format. NOTHING is designed in essay format, except for essays.

:frown:

Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

Really? It taught me to use block quotes to fill up space, to use courier new to fill up space and to always write opinions that I thought the professor would agree with. At least, I got the best grade results using those methods.

 

[gorcorps]

I don't see the problem here. You write papers in school to convey you understood something and did the required reading or w/e. It's just the school trying to do as much as possible to teach proper english, which is needed these days.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Random thought of the day...

I think that "Essay Writing" is one of the worst contributions to our culture. Think about this... what does it actually do for the us? How is this productive to either the writer or the reader? People don't read essays, ever. Teachers read them and grade them. Its a lesson in busy work. Its confinement and constraint of what could be creative free flowing talent.

When you read a book, its not in essay format. Websites are not designed in essay format. Marketing is not designed in essay format. Lab reports are not in essay format. NOTHING is designed in essay format, except for essays.

:frown:

One of the many reasons I hate school. Pointless busy work.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: MrChad
Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

That is what Presentations are for.

The essay format is only appreciated by teachers. I don't know anybody that has ever said "hey, I think I'll read some essays today", or instead of a memo the boss says "Bob, send me an essay on this year's budget by this Friday".

Sure, that or anyone who reads any form of commentary in a journalistic publication. Or how about NuclearNed's stories? Those are narrative essays that many people enjoy. In fact, essay is such a vague term than it can be applied to almost any piece of short writing. Maybe your complaint is specifically with academic essays, in which case I can see where you're coming from (though personally I've always enjoyed writing and reading academic essays). I just can't imagnie someone saying that all essay writing is bad. It's akin to saying no one should write fiction; it's such a broad field that the claim becomes virtually meaningless.

 

[mjrpes3]

The word essay means "to try, to attempt". A good essayist learns about their subject, and themselves, through the essay writing process. Because the form has become so rigid and lifeless today, it ain't got the respect it deserves.

 

[Brainonska511]

If taught properly, essays are a great tool for teaching how to structure an argument, back up the claims with positive evidence, and strike down or address some counter claims that could be made (and show why those counter claims would be wrong).

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: SagaLore

Originally posted by: MrChad
Essay writing teaches you to collect and organize your thoughts, present an argument and support that argument with facts. In a day and age where grown adults can barely formulate a coherent email message, I'd say teaching essay writing is more important than ever.

That is what Presentations are for.

Presentations emphasize getting in the most important ideas in a time-constrained environment, plus the factors unique to public speaking (confidence etc.). Essays emphasize a careful assembly and analysis of the facts able to stand up to careful scrutiny. Nearly everything about the medium is different.

The essay format is only appreciated by teachers. I don't know anybody that has ever said "hey, I think I'll read some essays today", or instead of a memo the boss says "Bob, send me an essay on this year's budget by this Friday".

Your newspaper's op-ed section is essentially a collection of essays. Many blogs are essentially made up of short-form essays. Some books are collections of essays (and marketed as such), while many others are effectively long-form essays. Academic journals in the social sciences are substantially full of different sorts of essays. Hell, your OP is just a short essay on why you dislike essays. And frankly it reads like someone that is only really familiar with one particularly timid, unpleasant dog and then asks others, "What's the deal with dogs? They're a useless part of our culture."

Honestly, you should read more.

 

[Farang]

This entire forum is essentially a collection of short essays followed by critiques of those essays, the critiques usually being "pics?" or "ban."

 

[LtPage1]

Teaches you how to logically build an argument, and how to express it in clear language in terms that your audience (whatever it may be) can understand.

Originally posted by: mjrpes3
The word essay means "to try, to attempt". A good essayist learns about their subject, and themselves, through the essay writing process.

Well said- this is an even better reason. You haven't learned a subject until you've not only researched it, but thought about it and formed an opinion. Memorizing and regurgitating facts teaches you nothing but how to memorize things- for critical thought to happen, you have to write about it. Technical writing might as well be bullet points summarizing a text- it requires nothing from you, and teaches you nothing. The point of an essay isn't just to tell your reader something- it's to teach YOU something.

 

[GasX]

OP, ever read a magazine or newspaper editorial?

 

[So]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
If taught properly, essays are a great tool for teaching how to structure an argument, back up the claims with positive evidence, and strike down or address some counter claims that could be made (and show why those counter claims would be wrong).

Agreed. Have any of you actually read a real, competently written academic essay? They're quite good and having a structure <gasp> does help.

Essays teach you to think in a logical manner, and if you can't do that, you have no business participating in a modern society.

 

[Turin39789]

You don't go to Clemson do you?