<p>If you’re illiterate you should get a bad grade in reading. If you try really hard but suck at math, you still fail. So why is it that bookworms get A’s just for trying? The argument that some people just aren’t literate isn’t valid since some people just aren’t proficient in certain academic subjects either.</p>
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This is what’s wrong with the American education system. Way to hit the nail on the head.</p>
<p>I’m in Honors English and half the kids can’t read that well, but my “that well” may be different than your “that well”</p>
<p>Honors English don’t require that much reading anyways unless you’re in an AP class, which also includes analyzation of literatures.</p>
<p>I’m talking about when we do read passages aloud and stuff though, kids can’t read big words and it annoys me. :l</p>
<p>^I get where you’re coming from, but once, this kid was failing as much at the more difficult vocab as most kids do and the teacher totally embarrassed him. She’d supply every more than disyllabic in this incredibly pedantic and condescending tone.</p>
<p>There alot of kids in my school with that problem too, but for me, it’s pronunciation. Usually some weird words that I’m unfamilar with. Length of the vocabulary really does affect people from speed reading though.</p>
<p>I know, but even in French, I read better than the teacher (as naive and unbelievable as that sounds), but half the time I don’t know what the reading means…</p>
<p>I feel like a lot of kids have sucky vocabulary. Like, I wrote this short in-class essay, about 450 words, that was to be peer-reviewed. I didn’t get a grade back and the students called it overly-complex. I mean, yes, I do write periodic sentences, but the longest one in this paper was about 50 words and superbly punctuated. And yes, I guess I could have avoided, like, say, Cimmerian, but hegemony? suzerainty? I mean, we are in AP Lit.</p>
<p>^ I lol’ed.</p>
<p>I guarantee if I asked all 381 kids in my graduating class what Suzerainty meant, only 1 or 2 could fathom, let alone know. </p>
<p>Though I know what you mean Millancad, even in Civics or English we’re asked to write a 500 word Essay and I can get it to 1000 words within 5 minutes.</p>
<p>^Really? That’s a skill. It depends on the topic and the density of my writing, but I can probably do a max of around 750 in 40 minutes. </p>
<p>And, tbh, I only learned what suzerainty meant a few weeks ago, when my sister started this random conversation at 4 in the morning about monolatry versus henotheism. I just stared at her.</p>
<p>Yeah, but really when there is a designated topic I already know about, I can just type for a few minutes and be done with it and get a good grade. That’s why I’m on here so frequently and often, because when I actually do have those somewhat long/difficult assignments, I just crunch things out and put them on paper. I usually take a little more time with AP’s because it takes more research and knowledge to produce something good, but in the end it never takes me too long.</p>
<p>That’s funny, because in my school it’s totally the opposite. The honors/AP English classes literally kill kids, and the math classes people just mosey on by…</p>
<p>I personally cannot stand English class though…</p>
<p>I like English class, Math kills me. :\ I like every subject except Math and French. I’m dropping French next year though, I’ve got 3 years of it, and my grades are only getting worse in there.</p>
<p>I hate English, but I have the biggest vocabulary. In my MYP 10th grade English, people ask me for the definition of amnesty.</p>
<p>My teachers also ask me to dumb down my language, because it makes me sound arrogant when I use vocabulary that I feel should be standard.</p>
<p>^Lol, that’s weird. I have a feeling if I use too many big words in my essays, I’ll just confuse my teacher, so I just type as everyone as else does, but it’s fine.</p>
<p>From the literature I’ve read, pretentious word choice is never a good idea. Typically you come off as more of a pseudo-intellectual than anything else.</p>
<p>More often than not, you degrade the quality of your writing as well.</p>
<p>Yeah that’s why when people tell you to write your college app essays and AP Exam FRQ’s without any strong vocabulary, they just want you to use good voice or tone, and be to the point. There’s no point in going out of your way to use big words when all you could be doing is confusing the reader. Also in both cases, the reader could be tired of reading the same essay over and over, so it’s just better to be clear and concise.</p>
<p>A strong vocabulary is fine. Writing, at least at the final stages, or after you believe you have achieved your purpose, is about the most precise word choice. The subtleties of your word choice can completely alter the way the piece of writing impacts the reader. And in those cases a strong vocabulary is essential.</p>
<p>And I guess aesthetic reasons, but that should honestly be a last priority.</p>