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  3. In order to become well-rounded individuals, all college students should be required to take courses in which they read poetry,

In order to become well-rounded individuals, all college students should be required to take courses in which they read poetry,

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问题 In order to become well-rounded individuals, all college students should be required to take courses in which they read poetry, novels, mythology, and other types of imaginative literature.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.
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答案 Issues related to education have always been under heated debate. For example, one controversial question revolving around college education is: should all college students be required to take courses in which they read imaginative literature so they will become a more well-rounded individual? At first glance, this piece of recommendation has certain benefits, as imaginative literature could emancipate people from cliche thoughts and enable them to embrace a more diverse and open dimension of life. Closer examination, however, reveals that we imaginative literature does not necessarily always lead to "well-roundedness". Furthermore, there are several practical factors that could render the recommendation of making imaginative literature compulsory in class not desirable. Given these reasons I cannot agree with this proposal. To begin with, I do not deny the benefits of imaginative literature in expanding one’s dimension of perspective, as the advocate of this piece of recommendation implicitly suggests. Because there is no physical boundary to the imaginative literature, it greatly stimulates a reader’s creativity, an attribute often deemed valuable in not only college education but also in society in general. For example, Bob Dylan, the godfather of folk music as well as a Nobel Prize laureate, was immersed in poetry, fictions, and novels during his youth. A fervid fan of Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Charles Dickens, Dylan ingested the wisdom and imaginative force in literature, thereby exploring the richness of life and delving deep into the nature of humanity. Thanks to these epiphanies from imaginative literature, Dylan’s creativity later led to his classic musical pieces such as Bloxvin’ in the Wind and Like a Rollin’ Stone. Likewise, for college students who have just embarked on the journey of adult life and entered a new stage of acquiring knowledge, studying imaginative literature can certainly boost their creativity. That being said, I find that the recommendation above is based on an unsubstantiated assumption that all students are inherently lacking imagination and hence are in need of reading imaginative literature to become well-rounded. It is admittedly true that science and engineering students typically conform to the existing doctrines and lack originality, and hence taking courses on imaginative literature shall in theory help them become more well-rounded individuals. By contrast, students in humanities and social sciences often are not limited by their imagination; instead, they typically lack the capacity for meticulous observation and logical reasoning, which means that taking mandatory courses on imaginative literature may not be as helpful to them in terms of well-roundedness. In this light, classes on logical and quantitative reasoning would be more conducive. This is why in more and more universities economics and sociology students are required to take classes in advanced mathematics and statistics. At any rate, reading poetry, novels, mythology, and other types of imaginative literature is not necessarily conducive to becoming well-rounded individuals for all students. Finally, even if we acknowledge the theoretical benefits of imaginative literature in helping science and engineering students become more well-rounded, from a pragmatic point of view whether such courses should be mandatory demands a second look. Here, the practical issue is that many students in science and engineering major have the limited amount of time and energy under the tremendous pressure from their major courses. A recent survey of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students in the United States reveals that on average they have to spend more than 7 hours in their workload per day. If they were required to take imaginative literature courses in college, a heavier workload would ensue. As a result, students’ performance in their major studies would likely deteriorate. At the same time, it is possible that their interest in literature will actually decline because they regard the intense reading as a burden rather than an enjoyment. Eventually, students would dislike imaginative literature despite its theoretical advantages, a counterproductive result that is actually unfavorable to becoming a well-rounded individual. To summarize, while imaginative literature, as the marvels of humanity, guides one into a freer world full of possibilities and imaginations, their merits does not justify the mandatory courses for all students. One reason is that not all students lack imagination. What is more, even for students who can need benefit from imaginative literature, making such courses mandatory may adversely affect their performance in the major field of study and may, counterproductively, diminish their interest in literature reading. (722 words)
解析     本文讨论的问题是“如何成为一个全面发展的学生”，这里我们可以继续沿用前面说过的方法，去思考题目中最关键一词的定义。很显然，在本题中关键词就是well-rounded，也即所谓的“全面发展”。顾名思义，全面发展意味着一个人在各个方面都能得到均衡的发展，注意这个词背后所涵盖的“平均”之意。有了这个概念之后再看题目所说的， “所有学生都应该去学习想象类文学的课程”，背后的假设就呼之欲出了：当下，我们的学生缺乏想象力，因此为了均衡发展，需要从大学的课程中进行补充(还得以必修课的方式)。
    当我们挖掘出题目的内在假设之后，文章立刻就好写了：对于理工科的学生来说，也许他们真的缺乏想象力，需要额外补习和阅读想象类文学；但对于人文社科类的同学，这个政策就不那么恰当了。正如第二主旨段所说，人文社科类的同学或许缺乏的不是想象力，而是逻辑推理能力和定量思考的能力。以上是从全面发展的定义出发，根据学科进行分类讨论，我们又引入了理论和实践这两个视角，阐述了强迫所有理工科学生阅读文学作品也许会带来不好的后果，这也契合了文章direction考虑政策后果的要求。
    最后从本文的题目出发来聊一聊现实中的一点观察。相对而言，GRE写作在理工科研究生申请中的比重低于文科申请。同样，一般人也认为人文社科类学生的Issue水平应该显著高于理工科学生。但根据笔者多年的GRE写作教学，发现并非如此。很多人文社科类的同学确实很雄辩，写起文章洋洋洒洒，看似能够旁征博引，妙语连珠，乍一读起来觉得很厉害；但实际考出来的作文分数却不尽如人意。仔细批改他们的文章之后，我意识到他们恰恰是缺乏一种工程师思维，在写文章的时候缺乏章法。对于Issue，他们往往没有一个明确的观点和对于观点的清晰表达；而到了Argument，他们又开始谈论自己的看法。这两者都是GRE作文当中的大忌。
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