On the essay

I am not the most gifted when it comes to being conversant with technology. Hence, I have a certain hesitation when it comes to moodle and the like. Not because they are not suited for the purpose, but because my technological dyslexia prevents me from venturing that way. I vote in favor of the essay as my preferred tool for an intellectual/academic exercise. I am aware that part of this nepotism has to do with my old-fashioned quasi-British education. Even then, cultural baggage and the ghost of the empire past notwithstanding, I do think that the essay as a form is the most malleable and hence, best suited for our purpose. The essay could be anything, and here I go back, once again, to my literary studies roots. It could be the personal essays of Charles Lamb, the stuffy armchair essays of Montaigne, the pulpit essays of Bacon and so on. It is a form that lends itself to the most profane and to the most arcane of subjects with remarkable ease. It is the best tailored for creating the skill of making sustained arguments. I am aware that most students will not go on to write essays in their workplaces, but it is not merely an attempt at good writing, but more importantly, it is an exercise is thinking in a streamlined, organized fashion. That skill I am sure will be useful in whatever profession they might enter. It is the mode of thought that I endorse more than its execution on paper. There is a certain logicality in the essay that short responses to prompts do not always generate. It is in trying to tap on this analytical tendency that the essay generates that makes me latch onto it more than any other format of academic exercise.