Should literary commentary no longer be required as part of the high school graduation exam in Romania?
The number of students complaining and stressing about the 12th grade exam in Romania is overwhelming, most of them blaming the subject surrounding literary analysis. This is a major part of the curriculum of high school, and a good way for extending general culture and both speaking and writing skills, yet it seems like the standards for a good essay are very high. [nu e ok ca ai dat argumente in introducere - schimba cu mai mult context, care e miza, istoricul etc]This composition represents a big part of the grade on the exam, which is why it is such a discussed problem.
On one hand, it is important for students to learn the skills that they acquire from literary analysis. Amongst these advantages are the capability to interpret a text, ways to structure an essay, how to express an option and how to see the actual meaning of a piece of literature from multiple points of view. As of now, this is the main focus of Romanian classes throughout high school, the final exam being the motif to all that we are studying as early as 10th grade. It is natural for this exam to evaluate the aptitudes formed in the four years of Romanian classes in high school, and since the majority of those consist of these commentaries, it makes sense that the final exam has the same focus.
On the other hand, as mentioned previously, this analysis is what stresses students the most, and for all the wrong reasons. We are preparing have to prepare for nearly three years for a three hours exam, but all these important things we have been learning equate to little to no good in actually getting a good grade. A good deal of the subject based on literary analysis and the way it is graded is based on some nicely worded complicated and unoriginal notions which the students often learn by heart. Furthermore, there is the issue of subjectivity in grading the exam. The expectations of each teacher differ, based on how their own students usually perform. A teacher who has pupils that are interested in Romanian literature and pushes them to learn more and more is bound to have a higher standard than one whose students barely come to class. This subjectivity also comes into place in reference to the style of the composition; it is near impossible to be completely objective when evaluating somebody else’s analysis, which mainly is, or at least should be, based on their opinion.
In conclusion, the exam would be a great deal fairer if the literary commentary were to be removed, but when that ....is... what the curriculum mostly consists of, it is not a practical decision. A better way to help to the students could perhaps be a change in the expectation of them knowing such a large amount of theory.

Last edited by eye_rolls_and_sarcasm (2019-12-08 21:16:14)