The beginning of this really isn't very witty at all [11/90]

Rage against the machine used to be a band. Actually, it might still be a band. I don't really know. Anyway, it is now a (semi)clever way for me to say that I am angry with the institution. The institution in this case being High School education. More specifically, English.

I hate the way we teach English and writing. Hate it. There is very very little you could ever say to change my mind. You go through high school and then you get to college. And when you get to college the first thing most English professors say is forget whatever the hell your high school teachers said. Forget it. It's stupid. (Actually that's the way it goes in a lot of fields, or so I'm led to believe)

We teach our kids to memorize and regurgitate for the sake of tests and funding. We don't teach them how to think or discuss. You know, life skills. We tell them the green light at the end of that fucking dock in The Great Gatsby stands for how Gatsby is so close to his goals but can never reach them. How he's green with envy, or what the fuck ever. We tell them that the eyes on that damn billboard are representative of someone always seeing what goes on. We tell them that Tom loves red and gold because it symbolizes power. We tell them all this shit and we tell them to memorize it. We don't let them think. Or when we do we tell them they're wrong. They can't be right. Because there's clearly only one way to read this book. Because Nick Carroway is a god among men and so much better than all of them. Not the attention starved judgmental unreliable little shit I read him as.

We tell them to write about whatever they want, and then tell them they're wrong when they do it. We don't want them to think outside the box, not really. And that's so wrong. It's so bloody American too. What other culture is so centered on individuality and then telling you exactly how to be an individual? When they say write anything, they never really mean anything. They mean write something along the lines of exactly what I've taught you. Don't speak, don't think, don't do anything at all. God forbid you turn the assignment in on itself.

My little sister, a sophomore in high school, came home with an assignment to write anything. She asked me for help. We decided to write about what you could write about (because I'm such a whore for all things meta). Teacher hated it. Damn near failed her (she got a lovely D-). And for what? Because she didn't see the point. And because it was written in second person.

First of all, fuck the second person rule. Fuck it. Yes, yes, I understand why they say don't use second person. I can understand keeping it out of 'formal' writing. I understand not alienating an audience. I understand not putting words in the readers mouth. But second person is not a sin upon mankind. Using second paper does not make your writing the worst thing anyone could ever read.

And the point, I feel, was extremely clear. The entire thing said that "this is what you could use 500 words to write about." I don't think it gets much clearer than that.

It's frustrating. It's more frustrating than it should be. I really have some issues with the American education system. Most of which aren't very fleshed out. I should work on that.