Hello, I'll attempt to answer your answer with some of my opinions.

Though I'm currently majoring in civil engineering, my other choice was going to be English. It's polar, but there was that one brilliant out of class teacher that inspired me through tenth and twelfth grade. I believe that English, or any language primarily used in a person's work, is worth studying because if taught well, it's not just metaphors and dissanence, but rather points us to how to truly analyze a person or situation. It opens discussion, and alternate views because there really isn't a correct answer in analysis. Essay writing allows students to practice something fundamental to every day life: communication, whether it be complex rhetorics to an article on Philae's discovery. We, humans, are social creatures. In the end, we still rely on communicating with each other to get around. When there's a breakdown in communication, things can get really nasty. That is why it is important for us to be able to concisely, but elegantly, convey our ideas to other people. Too blunt, like a boulder rolling down a hill, will elicit negative responses. Too confusing, like English translations of French texts (sorry), and no one will pay attention to your words. To sum it up, language teaches analysis and communication skills.

I believe (though I'm only 20) that as society and technology advances, more and more emphasis will be placed on being 'human'. That is to say, what we have over machines, such has empathy, creativity, and 'connecting the dots'. Empathy requires similar experiences, relatable events, and one can perhaps draw upon a charactet's tragic demise to understand another person's feelings. Creativity and connecting unlike thoughts both require critical thinking, analysis skills, and the ability to be unlimited by what is 'right'. Furthermore, being able to quickly select key points in a lengthy text will be very important as well, if they are to be deft at connecting the real critical factors in many situations.

For me, reading should always be coupled with writing. From my personal experience, no input, no output. We absorb ideas and form our own opinions. The reality of a school system is that without a given structure of an essay, there can't be a schematic to evaluate students. I don't have a better idea yet of how to promote creativity but still be fairly graded. My two cents. Apologies for brusque sentences, on mobile.