At Cambridge University one professor asked us regularly for 100 word summaries instead of the usual long essays. This appealed to our lazy resourceful sides while, more importantly, going half way to giving us a skill actually useful in the real world: precis.
The ability to summarise an argument in as few words as possible forces you to understand the material in the first place so that you can make it clear to your audience. Who might actually read it for once.
So thank you, Adrian (and this time, with words to spare).
I like this. enough said.
(Slightly off topic: Why is commenting on blog posts such an etiquette minefield for the English? I think the perceived need to be witty and correct is especially hard when the subject and readers are all concerned with writing proper)