1. Why do we do text responses?
This is the answer:
http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.htmlI'll sum it up for you though.
A real essay is about taking an idea you are interested in and journeying with the reader through your thought processes, eventually arriving at some sort of conclusion. In short, you start at A (Nerds are unpopular in high school) and talk about everything that comes to mind then end up at B (High schools are unnatural environments which cultivates an unrealistic culture for teenagers.)
So how did we end up writing about English literature that no one cares about?
Let's go back a thousand years or so. In about 1100, peace was settling around Europe and as a result, people had the luxury of becoming things called 'Scholars'. Instead of being farmers or soldiers. It was at this time when we rediscovered 'the classics'. European scholars were beset by a frenzy of exploration and assimilation of knowledge. Ancient texts (by the romans, greeks, etc) gained a whole load of prestige, and the essence of being a 'scholar' lay in their ability and skill in interpreting and discussing these texts.
Within about 200 years, we'd all but finished understanding all these texts, and scholars were moving onto bigger and greater things, like making their own discoveries and writing their own texts. But the school system itself was taking a lot longer to change. By the 19th century we were still forcing bored english students to interpret irrelevant ancient texts.
At around this point someone had the great idea of studying modern texts because we'd already done the ancients to death. There were some objections but they were quickly stomped out.
You write text responses because they descend from an age old tradition that no one has bothered to change.
2. Why should I get passionate about English?
On the upside, essays like text responses are nice, safe vessels upon which you can practice your ability to express opinions and ideas.
Instead of arguing in the dangerous, controversial area of say... abortion, or gay rights, you can comfortably direct your passion and rage towards whether or not Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy of fate. Your english teachers don't have to fight biases to mark your technique and you don't need to come under fire from classmates when you present your oral presentation about why terrorism has been the key to the advancement of modern society.
On a more serious note - if English is your first language, you will be using it for your entire lifetime. You want to master this language and be able to express yourself clearly in it. Expressing yourself is vital to relationships and relationships are vital to life.
3. Why should I get passionate about English as a subject?
It's a bit hard to get passionate about English if you are an honest person who prefers answers to be 'yes' or 'no' instead of 'maybe yes or no'.
The focus of English is having ideas and expressing them, not having an answer and saying it straight. For English pros, this can probably wind up looking like a game of 'what's the most bullshit thing I can convince you about?'. ('This image was printed in black and white, which represents the black and white manner in which the writer sees the matter. The black shadow of the tree demonstrates the dark future of our natural environment, which will become all but a shadow if we don't start focusing on environmental issues')
English can be fun, you see, when you stop holding onto the 'what if I'm not right?' aspect of your mindset and start thinking 'how can I make other people think I'm right?'.
/end rant
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