Join the discussion.

Inklings News

Join the discussion.

Inklings News

Join the discussion.

Inklings News

Write more, guess less

Students (and maybe even some teachers) groaned when as they saw this headline. Students hate papers because all the analysis, writing and editing that goes into a receiving an A is difficult. Teachers hate papers because they require more effort to grade as opposed to a multiple-choice test.

Despite the above, I’m a heretic in that I love (or more appropriately, hate less than multiple choice) essays.

This began freshman year. The first subject my Global Themes class tackled was religion. By the end of the unit, we were focusing on contemporary religious conflicts. In the form of a project, we were supposed to pick a conflict, do research and then write an essay.

Upon hearing this plan, I with the rest of my class groaned (like you are now). This wouldn’t be fun.

It wouldn’t be fun. But I can say that I’m glad we did this as opposed to a test.

If my teacher had chosen a test, the following would’ve happened. We would’ve been told the content, studied, taken the test and forgotten everything a second later.

But since we were doing an essay, there was a lot of self-teaching. We were supposed to apply the concepts our teacher had taught us in exploration of contemporary issues. With an essay, it’s not about knowing, but understanding content so that you can draw parallels.

This is a rigorous process. But then the information I learned is almost permanent in my mind. I still understand causes and effects of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict.

This brings into question whether we learn for a test or learn for learning. Through programs like No Child Left Behind, there is heavy emphasis on standardized testing with little consideration of analysis.

In Sweden, multiple-choice is almost never used. It happens to have one of the best educational systems. Clearly, essays are better form of knowledge acquisition.

So if we want to solve our world problems, we ought to analyze rather than pick between “a” and “b.”

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Justine Seligson, Photo Coordinator
Being a self-described political junkie and a teen travel writer, Justine Seligson '15 is not only, without a doubt,  a well rounded student and basically a mother's dream, but also a very unique addition to the staff. Seligson is extremely modest about her accomplishments, but it is very clear that her extensive journalistic experience outside of Inklings has largely influenced her presence on the paper. "I have a column on teen travel on my parent's website, which is called Farewell Travels," Seligson said. "It's a very different type of writing [than Inklings] but it's definitely helped me to grow as a journalist overall." Seligson goes on to describe the plethora of exquisite articles she has written for her column over the years. Seligson further explained how her experiences in traveling have shaped her journalistic presence in a large way. She explains why she is nonchalant about the amazing experiences she has had traveling the globe, explaining that it has always been a way of life for her and her family. "My family travels all the time," she said. "It's just part of our business." However, Seligson says that "...[she] would a much different writer if [she] hadn't traveled so much." She casually mentions how much of an impact a pre-college Kenyan writing program had on her, as what an honor it was to be featured in the National Geographic Student Edition. "It made me realize that even though journalism may supposedly be a dying business, there may be some hope for me to pursue my dream career," she said. With her in-depth knowledge of travel and politics, Seligson is sure to be an interesting voice on the paper this year. She hopes to improve her writing and photography even more this year, as well as to help other staff members to increase the quality of their own photographs.

Comments (0)

All Inklings News Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *