Magic in Writing

I resent English teachers who tell their kids to memorise essays in preparation for exams. Is language merely worth the marks that you get? So what if you get A1 if the work isn't yours? Or so what if it's yours but you've written it for 100th time, just trying to twist a bit of that narrative to fit that title?

It disgusts me. I know there is a format to writing. There might be guidelines. Even the best writers have some tricks that they use very often. But that does not mean that writing should be mechanical. Language is magic. It's not supposed to be driven by the desire to score marks. The best writing doesn't come from mere construction of the mind. It is construction from the soul.

When I was writing my composition in Secondary School, I would sit and stare for 30 minutes before starting. Inspiration had to strike. I wasn't going to force it out of me. It was going to flow onto paper most naturally. I've written stuff that I can remember till now. Most importantly I have written stuff that mattered to me.

It is the teacher's responsibility to ensure the student scores well. I bet she'd say, "But what about the student's standard? If he or she can't even construct a proper sentence...". But surely when you've got hour after hour of English lessons week after week for a couple of years, there's no reason to make them more dreary than they should be by taking away the magic and joy of self-expression and imagination.

Being exam-smart is great, but surely there's more to learning than scoring marks for a paper.