I concur with Mr. Mitchell's comments (and appreciate his delineation of the preferred nomenclature). I also favor the word "essay" (rather than "paper"), and I often remind students of the word's origins, reflecting the sense of an "attempt," trying out ideas, exploring. Essays will never outlive their usefulness as long as written language remains one of the primary ways that humans communicate complex ideas. Ms. Harris also draws an excellent distinction; in any genre, we have to allow for the good and the bad, the inventive and the uninspired.

I'd also like to point out that the word "essay" covers many different kinds of assignments and can describe a wide array of ways to encourage students to think critically and engage intellectually with a given topic, art form, or set of ideas. To write off "papers" as an outmoded tool for teaching in the humanities is tantamount to dismissing wholesale the value of "labs" in the sciences. Both words cover a large variety of educational activities with many different aims and uses.

Needless to say, the essay is not the only tool English teachers use to encourage critical thinking. But it is a valuable one.