What's Wrong with Writing Essays

I agree with this article. In my AP Lit class in high school, I found myself writing countless boring essays that I knew only one person would read. This did not become an exercise of creative sharing or deep thinking for me, but it was a task where I just wrote what an AP grader would think was pretty good. 

This article made me very excited for this class. I look forward to being allowed to work creatively and outside of the confines of a typical essay. I believe that knowing that my work will be seen my multiple people and shared publicly will encourage me to work harder on what I produce.

I found this article to be really interesting and I agree with a lot of the points made. I completed the IB program in high school, which required an unusual amount of essay writing, and I got very bored of the typical essay structure and frustrated knowing that only one or two people would ever read essays that put a lot of effort into. I believe that the flexibility and openness of the assignments in this course will really help motivate me and exercise my creativity.  

I really liked this article because I really believe in practical writing and learning to do things that will actually impact my personal life. As a journalism major, it's really important that I learn how to communicate in a way that reaches my audience, which inevitably will involve technology. 

Although I agree with Mark L. Sample's view that certain types of essay structures are counterintuitive to the learning process, I believe that assigning essays are also integral to a student's education as it practices informative, clear, and concise writing.

I believe that more teachers/professors should support and follow Sample's example by creating curricula based on "creative analysis" as opposed to the rigid, rubric-based "critical thinking" essay. My freshman year of high school, my English teacher encouraged us to find alternate ways to analyze literature and express our takes, and to this day, he is the reason I love writing and other forms of literary analysis. But too many of my other teachers left no room for creativity or style; where an analytical essay demands unique perspective, the essays were instead expected to be uniformly structured to be evaluated by a single person, 3-prong thesis rubric in hand. Odds are, students will have to write enough structured papers in other classes, so I think it's time we bring the Art back to Literary Arts.

After reading the article "What's Wrong with Writing Essays" my opinion is slightly indifferent in terms of the points made by the author. Although he makes a valid point that the only thing writing an essay measures is how well a student can write an essay, he misses the point that repeatedly writing essays also strengthens how well a student can write an essay. Although, I do see the point that the author attempts to get across because some writings in school tend to be extremely restricted and inhibits the student's ability to be creative when writing the essay because of the formality of the essay. Therefore the author's approach of implementing less words and more images, sounds and objects does solve the problem of restricted creativity.  

I love the article that Sample wrote. I do believe that essays are a form of writing but should not be the standardized form of it. I have struggled with fitting in the rubrics of essays in the past and sometimes find myself quite bored writing rigid essays. My Spanish professor in high school had a similarly idea against essays. All of our works were projects; like debates, pamphlets, podcasts, etc. At first, I kind of hated it because I was not used to not having direct instructions on how to execute an assignment. After some time, I realized that with the power to express myself and my creativity, I feel a lot more mentally stimulated, and willing to learn genuinely, not just memorize facts and regurgitate set claims.

I almost wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Sample's perspective on writing essays, but I also feel as if writing essays of any kind strengthens how well students can effectively create an argument or express an idea. My senior year I took a creative writing class, but before that essays were always something that I lackadaisically threw together due to the rigid confinements that were placed on me by a rubric. In the class I was assigned to write whatever I wanted as long as it reached four pages on a weekly basis with no rubric. We were also required to publish four of our works onto the internet throughout the semester. The class was essential for me to allow my creativity to develop and flourish while also becoming a stronger essay writer by completing the plethora of other essays I was assigned from other classes. There definitely needs to be some sort of a balance between the two. 

I definitely agree with this article. Although I do believe that essay writing can be somewhat beneficial in helping students learn to form a coherent and concise argument, after being assigned essay after essay the task becomes redundant and pointless and students truly are writing for no one to read. The notion of writing and analyses of literature being expressed through different forms of media seems very interesting and I look forward to experiencing that in this class.

I definitely agree with this article. Although I do believe that essay writing can be somewhat beneficial in helping students learn to form a coherent and concise argument, after being assigned essay after essay the task becomes redundant and pointless and students truly are writing for no one to read. The notion of writing and analyses of literature being expressed through different forms of media seems very interesting and I look forward to experiencing that in this class.

I definitely agree with this article. Although I do believe that essay writing can be somewhat beneficial in helping students learn to form a coherent and concise argument, after being assigned essay after essay the task becomes redundant and pointless and students truly are writing for no one to read. The notion of writing and analyses of literature being expressed through different forms of media seems very interesting and I look forward to experiencing that in this class.

I definitely agree with this article. Although I do believe that essay writing can be somewhat beneficial in helping students learn to form a coherent and concise argument, after being assigned essay after essay the task becomes redundant and pointless and students truly are writing for no one to read. The notion of writing and analyses of literature being expressed through different forms of media seems very interesting and I look forward to experiencing that in this class.

I definitely agree with this article. Although I do believe that essay writing can be somewhat beneficial in helping students learn to form a coherent and concise argument, after being assigned essay after essay the task becomes redundant and pointless and students truly are writing for no one to read. The notion of writing and analyses of literature being expressed through different forms of media seems very interesting and I look forward to experiencing that in this class.

This was a very interesting article! I agree with Sample that essay writing limits students' creativity and is not necessarily applicable to the real world, where problem-solving involves more than simply writing paragraphs. However, I think it's important to recognize that other media have their limitations as well. Not all students will put as much time and thought into their art projects as in "the captain's log" from Sid Meier's Pirates! and it can be difficult to objectively grade such projects and understand their intended meaning as interpretation of them is more open and subjective.

I believe that we as a society should stray away from classifying the process of writing essays as a standard medium to assess how well a student can analyze, interpret, or argue a subject -- especially in an English class setting. I think that Sample makes a point when he states that there is a lot of conformity and rigidness in the traditional student essay. Because educators are fixated on directing their students to write essays a certain way, the papers themselves lack originality and creativeness. I personally like the idea of incorporating mixed media into classes that are usually fixated on the production of essays because I think it allows students to tap into another more creative side of themselves which they can then apply to other aspects of their lives.

I believe that Mr. Sample has a great point about writing student essays. There is no other time in a student's life where they will be asked to write such an extensive, formal piece for. the sole purpose of receiving a high mark. Instead, real world jobs require people to produce information for very specific audiences and purposes. Sample's approach to analyze student creativity and innovative thinking is great for teaching this sort of "conditioning" information for intended audiences and allowing students to explore a range of mediums to bring their ideas to life; however, I believe traditional student essays do have a distinctly important role. While this type of mixed media approach to learning offers great possibilities to students who go on to design-oriented jobs, many students will go on to fill office-type jobs where they must be proficient in communicating information in a formal, straightforward fashion and student essays force students to develop these skills.

I agree with the author's argument in this essay. While there are some merits to the traditional paper, I feel that the rigid model of the academic essay limits creativity and prevents the exploration of new ways of thinking and doing. I particularly liked how the author challenged my perception of how writing should be approached. 

This article made me reflect on my past experiences with writing papers. In my high school English classes, there would be a set rubric or strict outline to follow for writing essays. There was also an expectation to follow a certain format in order to do well on an assignment. However, I think that Sample's ideas of allowing more creativity in the methods of analyzing topics can make it more engaging and interesting for students. I agree that more instructors should consider adding more flexibility to these types of assignments.

I agree with every single sentiment expressed in this article. I've always felt like essays are useless - why not instead give a presentation, make a project, or share my research and knowledge in a more engaging and practical way? After reading this piece, I anticipate the kind of work we will do in this course. Getting away from essays will certainly be a breath of fresh air.

It is really refreshing to see a professor advocate for more creative ways of writing in an educational setting. I wish more professors were like him. Writing essays has always been a challenge for me because there is no room for a student to breathe when writing an essay. We have always been told an essay MUST look like this, MUST be formatted this way, MUST be in this order, when it does not really matter. As long as the point the writer is trying to make comes across, I do not see why formatting issues and the like are taken so seriously. Furthermore, I would be way more enthusiastic about doing school work that let me be creative in how I presented my ideas. Students would put more effort into those kinds of assignments rather than the traditional, boring essay.

This article is really interesting! I agree with Sample's argument on this essay. I think technology can provide students with new avenues to show their critical thinking skills and essay writing doesn't have to be the only way students can express their thoughts. Students would also be interested in doing these assignments versus monotonous essay writing. Not only the students, but the professors would also be excited looking at different types of assignments than reading piles of essays. 

I agree with this article's argument completely. In many ways, writing essays can be beneficial but still lacks a true presentation of a student's full capability. Although I enjoy writing, it really can get boring very quickly. This concept of introducing more hands-on activities seems like a great one. However, I am a bit nervous to partake in it for this class because even though I think it's a great idea, I am not completely confident in my personal creative abilities. Even still, I am willing to try and I think this option of teaching/learning would be a great idea for many other classes as well. 

The very nature of how humans express themselves is evolving. Initially, symbols and hieroglyphics functioned as the vehicles for communication. This gradually progressed into alphabets and grammatical structures; however; this modern age has experienced a revival in utilizing images and symbols to exchange ideas. Evidenced by the advent of emojis, GIFS, and various other mediums, visual representations have replaced words in certain contexts. The educational system should embrace these shifts and challenge the status quo for academic assignments. Rigid essays foster the impression that learning is clinical and a linear process.  The implementation of interdisciplinary and original assignments to replace and/or supplement “traditional” essay writing aligns more with the dynamic nature of learning and this “new wave” of communication. 

Although this article is short, I believe it expresses an opinion shared by many students across various academic settings. Although certain subjects and ideas are best communicated through a structured report and essay, many times I've found myself wishing that I could express my ideas on a subject a different way. Essays have become tedious and a mental exercise of filling rubric requirements and meeting page counts. Senior year of high school I had an assignment where I got to interview someone and write an article informing readers of a central article and pulling from the interview. I found this type of assignment much more enjoyable and learned a lot from it both about the subject and about writing in general than I would have learned from a typical 5 paragraph essay. I look forward to expanding the types of literature I create to convey my ideas in this class.

This article made me reconsider my thoughts on the formal essay. I had always considered the formulaic nature of the formal essay to be an advantage from a student's perspective as they made the process of writing them easier. However, after reading this article I realize that this does not make for a good experience for either the Professor or any reader of the essay. I think the ideas given in this article are very creative ways of redefining the formal essay and will definitely lead to a more valuable essay. I am excited to explore this new take on writing essays in the future.

This article made my think about the negative outcomes of using essays as a form of testing knowledge. Writing essays has been a standard protocol in every english class I have taken thus far. Frankly, I do not love writing essays and this article helped me realize that there are many other forms of expressing knowledge without words that could be even more valuable. However, this article is flawed in the sense that it can be much harder to fully describe something in terms of sound and picture without words because our brains are wired to think in terms of words. I enjoyed reading this article and contemplating an idea that has never crossed my mind. I am excited for this class!