As child I was glad that I didn’t have to do this. Now I’m just as upset that I wasn’t forced to…
“You can’t just wing it with a ramble around the subject. Like most French disciplines, structure and method are vital. The reasoning has to follow rules and you must cite the appropriate great thinkers as you set out your argument.

The baccalauréat has demanding equivalents in other countries. But the continuing rigour of the system helps explain why the average French person is more articulate, more able to express him or herself on abstract subjects, than, say, average Britons or Americans.”

Charles Bremner – Times Online – WBLG: Stress test for France’s young philosophers