the invisible frame
Tuesday, June 10, 2008 (5:44 PM)
i was browsing through the assessment books, or rather sample essay books for secondary school at a famous bookstore again.
yes, this isn't the first time that i've been flipping sample essay books.
there really are lots and lots of books on sample essays or what some of the book titles call, "model essays". reading through, i got a little disturbed with the writing, particularly the narrative pieces. i wondered who wrote them.
and if they are highly qualified professionals, why they limit the mental growth of the adolescent.
i felt some sort of disgust at the writing style. it was childish. there are only 2 reasons for this.
1) whoever wrote them is simply not good enough
2) whoever wrote them is limiting the abilities of students (we're getting into socialisation again)
either way, there's no reason why the books should be published. if the author is an excellent writer, s/he is most probably too framed into a kind of social belief that secondary school students should write like that and this is not helping. the writing style is too "primary school".
the syllabus appears to be 120-word essays for primary school kids. 350 to 600-word (probably more) essays for secondary school students. but the standard remains. it seems that they are more concerned about the ability to write longer essays than the ability to write good essays. the age-old showdown begins.
quantity VERSUS quality
do these guys ever stop fighting? if books continue to call those essays "model essays", how can anyone hope to outdo alvin? best writes is not called BEST writes for nothing.