Why keep taking language arts classes once you're literate?

My brother found a summer job with the company I am working for, and we live in the same city, so we carpool to and from work each day. It's been great for sibling bonding time -- we've talked TV shows, meditation, politics, you name it. On one day this week, the topic became language arts classes. His question: Why does the school system ask students to continue in language arts after they already know how to read and write?

I thought it was worth discussing here, too, so here are my thoughts.

My brother. Except he isn't Leo, obviously.

In elementary school, people are taught the basics of how to read and form letters. By the fifth grade, I was being taught how to write essays. In middle school, classes read books together and learn more about literary devices such as similes, alliteration and rhyming. I was also introduced to reading and writing poetry in middle school. By high school, students are focusing on essay writing and book analyzation (I wrote another post about analyzing books a while back. Read it here). We are told that writing essays teaches us how to form arguments. It is also an avenue for teachers to help improve writing skills -- grammar, sentence fluency, that sort of thing.

Along the way, teachers select books for their students to read. Sometimes, these books are part of a bigger, government-dictated curriculum. Other times, teachers choose books they think will interest their students or help them through a particular stage in life. This is why so many middle schoolers find themselves reading coming of age books like Bridge to Terabithia or The Outsiders. Some teachers will also select books they loved themselves and want to share with the students, since the books are age appropriate (if your child's teacher has them reading Harry Potter, this is what happened). The other three factors I can think of that would affect book selection would be current or recent events, genre introduction and cultural aptitude (this is the main reason for all the Shakespeare, I'm sure of it).

Teachers guide youths' reading up until they are set free by the school system and either re-enter by going to college or go off on their merry way into the work force. Recreational reading outside of the assigned books is encouraged, of course, but you have to admit that teachers do a lot of book introducing for youth.

As for college, those language arts classes teach specific aspects of the language or writing in it. After all, even though you know how to read and write, you can still improve. This is why we continue taking language arts classes.

Note: Philosophy can be taught using
literature and film, too.

However, language arts classes should also teach more forms of writing than essays. Philosophy classes (in high school) can take over on the essay front, since one major purpose of the discipline is argument formation and presentation. A philosophy class, or at least a language arts class with a strong philosophy component, would produce deeper thinkers and people who can express themselves well.

As for what else people would be writing in those language arts classes, the only times in real life when essays are used are in the justice system, book introductions and academics, so far as I can tell. Adults write in other formats: blog posts, articles, press releases, business correspondence, letters (cover letters, query letters, others), creative writing, memoirs, reports (which aren't written in MLA format!), speeches, contracts, and more things I can't think of right now. Imagine how much better these communications would be if we had classes in how to write them well!

The main problem with this is we don't have teachers trained to teach all these various forms of writing.

But alas, I am not a teacher and would be scolded for telling other people how to do their jobs. So I'll step off my soapbox with one last sentence: Brother, language arts classes should continue, but with a stronger philosophy component and varied writing instruction.