For some students and some classes the formal essay has precisely the same advantages as in other fields of education. Rigid and unimaginative questions will get rigid and unimaginative answers. The strength which adult education has gained through its traditional separation from the formalised system of examinations and qualifications are valuable here. Subject material may be as idiosyncratic and personally chosen as any student wishes. The voluntary nature of adult classes makes a fair degree of motivation and interest likely, even taking into account the many social and non-educational factors which lead students to join. Hence if, eventually essay writing becomes acceptable to students, it is worth exploiting the opportunity to develop powers of argument and linguistic skills.