Bright students are starting university unable to structure an essay because of the “damage” caused by test-driven schooling, Cambridge academics warned on Monday. Many undergraduates are struggling to show their natural flair after being ordered to write in a highly-structured way to pass exams, it was claimed. Robert Tombs, professor of history at St John's College, Cambridge, warned that students were “drilled into writing” in a formulaic manner between the age of 11 and 18, leaving them unable to articulate their ideas on degree courses. David Abulafia, professor of Mediterranean history at Gonville and Caius College, also told how extremely bright students were “grappling with difficulties” that “would have been inconceivable” in the past, even among their weakest classmates.
What do you think about the findings of these university professors? How would you rate your ability to write? Are you able to show “natural flair”? Given that good writing is really the process of developing and articulating one’s own ideas in a coherent way, and not just filling in blanks in order to meet the requirements of a formula, how would you rate the training you have received in writing? What do you think you can do—on your own—to improve your writing?
- I believe that these findings are indeed very true - all the prep classes that students are taking are affecting writing because it restricts and limits students to write according to a specific formula. I believe that I am also influenced by this, because my essays also have a specific structure to it. However. I believe that there is still some natural flow to my writing despite all the lessons on how to formulate my essays; this is because there are times when I will write my own stories (most of the time for writing for enjoyment). This helps improve my natural flow of writing because when I write my own stories, I am able to write in any structure or form that I want. I am able to choose between narrative forms or descriptive forms, and I can also practice forms such as conversations and the changing of point of views throughout the story line. I believe that the training that I have received in writing might impede my natural flow of writing because it may block my creativity and prevent me from being creative about what I want to write about when I start on a new short story.
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