I call BULL****
12-14-2009, 01:02 PM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Coralville, IA. USA
Posts: 3,802
My argument essay for english was due a few weeks ago. I took alot of time to complete it. Made sure i did verything correct. I got my grad a week and a half a go. 50%. 
. Normaly there is a comment link she adds to the grade page. SO i check nope no comment link. I email her. She tells me she added it so to i should recheck. I did nope not there. I email here no respones. I check on 4 computers nope no link. SO i email her again. She says rudly it is on my end so it must be your computer. Why would it not work on 4 computers. SO i emailed her back and finaily got it. I notice it seemed lacking of corrections. There where 8 out of 2000 words. I did mess up my work cit. page alittle. Then i notice two long comments. One was about how i said if we restrict gun sales fo lawful people only the criminals would have them. She says that is not true that you can control guns without preventing lawful people from having guns.
Then on the bottom of the essay she give a paragraph of why i got a F. she tells me how my citations where done wrong and to quote her ignorant thinking "The technical issues are also a big distraction. Overall, this is not college-level writing." WHAT THE ****
The Technical issues are a big distraction.
I thought a good argument had facts and technical information not just persons opinion.
Seems to me she gave me a F because her opinion is not what mine is. I guess i deserve that as i knew her opinion before i wrote it
Just pisses me off that i went from a A to a C because she is anti gun. No a c or D i could have took
. Normaly there is a comment link she adds to the grade page. SO i check nope no comment link. I email her. She tells me she added it so to i should recheck. I did nope not there. I email here no respones. I check on 4 computers nope no link. SO i email her again. She says rudly it is on my end so it must be your computer. Why would it not work on 4 computers. SO i emailed her back and finaily got it. I notice it seemed lacking of corrections. There where 8 out of 2000 words. I did mess up my work cit. page alittle. Then i notice two long comments. One was about how i said if we restrict gun sales fo lawful people only the criminals would have them. She says that is not true that you can control guns without preventing lawful people from having guns. Then on the bottom of the essay she give a paragraph of why i got a F. she tells me how my citations where done wrong and to quote her ignorant thinking "The technical issues are also a big distraction. Overall, this is not college-level writing." WHAT THE ****
The Technical issues are a big distraction.
I thought a good argument had facts and technical information not just persons opinion.Seems to me she gave me a F because her opinion is not what mine is. I guess i deserve that as i knew her opinion before i wrote it
Just pisses me off that i went from a A to a C because she is anti gun. No a c or D i could have took
While she certainly may be predisposed to an anti-gun attitude, this actually doesn't sound like she's taken an irrational anti-gun position to me. Rather, it seems that she's pointing out that perhaps your argument is too broad and simplistic. She would be correct to say that there are, and ought to be, legal restrictions to the sale and possession of firearms to criminals. Perhaps she supports very strict laws that make it very difficult for anyone to lawfully own a firearm, which is an anti-gun position, but she's not flat out saying that all private ownership of firearms should be illegal. I sounds as though, in her eyes, you stated a position, but didn't adequately back it up with a detailed and persuasive argument. This would have also rightfully contributed to her reducing your grade.
Here she's telling you that your citations were done improperly. Part of any composition/rhetoric class is not just learning how to write persuasively, but also how to provide the reader with references to the source material that back up your arguments. Without it, you're writing nothing more than an editorial fluff piece. These essays are an academic exercise and properly referencing your work according to the standard your professor/department sets (MLA Style, for example) is critical. Failure to do so is clearly grounds for reducing your grade. She then states "The technical issues are also a big distraction. Overall, this is not college-level writing." Clearly she is not indicating that your position is the problem, but rather the technical presentation of it. In writing, "technical issues" is referring to spelling, grammar and punctuation. Technical writing. Poor spelling, grammar and punctuation make your work difficult to read and comprehend, and can lead to misinterpretation. When she states that this is clearly not college level writing, she means that at the college level you should know how to spell and punctuate correctly, and be able to proof your own work. While grammar is part of the coursework in a 100 level college writing class, it is reasonably expected that the student ought to have a basic high school level writing proficiency. If your posts (both this one and others) are an indication of your general proficiency with the written language, I can honestly understand where she is coming from.
The bottom line is that, just given the details you outlined, she had justified cause to fail you on the technical flaws present in your paper. What surprises me is that none of this was caught during the rough draft phase of the writing exercise. In my experience, all college writing professors/teaching assistants require at least one rough draft, and most of the time there would be time taken in class where each student's draft would be read and critiqued by another student before the final drafts were submitted for grading. How such problems escaped notice at these phases I don't know, unless they were detected but you changed the final draft significantly creating more errors. Overall, I think that you probably got the grade you deserved. If you really feel that you've been wrongfully graded, you could appeal either to the dean of the department or the campus ombudsman. However, in my experience, unless you have a obviously cut and dried case of professional bias or misconduct regarding her grading, you're likely not going to get anywhere.
Mike
12-14-2009, 01:40 PM
#12
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location:
Posts: 809
Ok, I'm here to help.
As a professor, the #1 thing you need to do is go to your professor with your paper in hand during her office hours (that should be on your syllabus) and have a face to face meeting with her. Politely ask her to go over the technical aspects of the paper, and how many points off those are from the total. I will tell you that if you screwed up your citiations, you very well could have screwed up your grade. With the internet, students will just cut and paste from different sites, not knowing where the REAL quotes and information came from. Ex. taking a quote from Men's Health, and sighting Men's Health while the author from men's health got that information from a study at University of Indiana. This stinks of plagiarism and sloppy work, and it is very easy to find out about. You see, your english professor's have access to several search engines that are set up just for that. I have failed many, many student papers in the past 5 years because of this, and I'm a Health/Physical Education Prof, not an English Prof.
#2. If you do not feel that she graded the test correctly after meeting with her, ask another english instructor to grade it. Bring him/her an uncorrected copy of the paper and see what he/she comes up with. Do not mention that you think it was downgraded because of content.
#3. If there is a big disparity between the two, ask your professor to reconsider, or at the very least average the two grades.
#4 If she will not do this, you may want to go to the english department chair, and/or to Student Services to appeal the grade. Your professor should not grade on opinion of content regardless of her stance on a subject. However if it was an opinion paper and you didn't express your argument well, she can absolutely down-grade you on that.
#5 if you aren't willing to do #1-4, then you need just drop it, and not complain on hunting forums.
#6 Based on your post, I'm guessing that spelling,grammar and citations were the areas that you screwed up on the most.
As a professor, the #1 thing you need to do is go to your professor with your paper in hand during her office hours (that should be on your syllabus) and have a face to face meeting with her. Politely ask her to go over the technical aspects of the paper, and how many points off those are from the total. I will tell you that if you screwed up your citiations, you very well could have screwed up your grade. With the internet, students will just cut and paste from different sites, not knowing where the REAL quotes and information came from. Ex. taking a quote from Men's Health, and sighting Men's Health while the author from men's health got that information from a study at University of Indiana. This stinks of plagiarism and sloppy work, and it is very easy to find out about. You see, your english professor's have access to several search engines that are set up just for that. I have failed many, many student papers in the past 5 years because of this, and I'm a Health/Physical Education Prof, not an English Prof.
#2. If you do not feel that she graded the test correctly after meeting with her, ask another english instructor to grade it. Bring him/her an uncorrected copy of the paper and see what he/she comes up with. Do not mention that you think it was downgraded because of content.
#3. If there is a big disparity between the two, ask your professor to reconsider, or at the very least average the two grades.
#4 If she will not do this, you may want to go to the english department chair, and/or to Student Services to appeal the grade. Your professor should not grade on opinion of content regardless of her stance on a subject. However if it was an opinion paper and you didn't express your argument well, she can absolutely down-grade you on that.
#5 if you aren't willing to do #1-4, then you need just drop it, and not complain on hunting forums.
#6 Based on your post, I'm guessing that spelling,grammar and citations were the areas that you screwed up on the most.
You are a breathe of fresh air!
This kid needs a lesson in diplomacy!!!
JMO
12-14-2009, 02:53 PM
#13
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,867
I think you guys are right. I need to work on my grammar for sure. Normaly my mom looks over it and it helps alot. I was in LD classes for english in school and I have alittle dyslexia. I choose not to go through all that crap when i went to college it tend to make them look at you different. I did not want that. Guess it might have helped. I know i should not have done gun control. In fact she said i made a good argument and had good facts and information. I think the citations might have hurt more then i first thought. Those are my real issue with things.
12-14-2009, 02:54 PM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,867
If i need a lesson in diplomacy i would have told her to shove her head up her A** but she will be my english teacher for the next english class i need. So lets not get another bad grade out her. I am passing the class so i think i will leave it alone.
12-14-2009, 04:23 PM
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 1,408
Maybe you should buy that overpriced rifle and build a gun room in your parents' basement. With this type of attitude, you are not showing the potential to reach a point where you will have your own house and income to make purchases like that anytime in the near future.
I was trying to be nice in my previous post, but frankly from having read a hundred posts by you, if they are any reflection of your writing ability, you have a LONG way to go in learning to write correctly and I don't think your professor was the one with a problem here. Your grammar stinks.
What you hear may not always be what you want to hear, but sometimes it's what you need to hear. The difference between those who will succeed and those who will fail is not the feedback they get, but how they react to it. The question is, which one do you want to be?
12-14-2009, 04:37 PM
#16
Banned
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 824
Lots of good advice here, lots of good advice. See, even post #13 sounds better. It seems you don't mind asking questions, the proof is on this forum. Problem is you should be doing it in class. Your profs are there to help and will, if you ask. Better learn the lesson now. Take on too much in a job and screw up without asking, and you done. Since you are taking English, you're pretty early in your college career. If you don't get control now, you'll never finish. I learned the hard way about asking for help. Took a lot on my shoulders and suffered through, and without the help of the internet. There is no reason not to know the correct way of citation. Most colleges use "turn it in.com" start cutting and pasting and you're done...
Good luck, now back to our program.....
Good luck, now back to our program.....
12-14-2009, 05:56 PM
#17
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,867
The reason i am having a big deal with the citations is in my first english class we could use resources from any site besides wiki. This class it must be off the schools library site. THey do not give the citation so i must do it up my self. Yes i will admit it i do not know how to do them. I am at the end of my first year.
Lots of good advice here, lots of good advice. See, even post #13 sounds better. It seems you don't mind asking questions, the proof is on this forum. Problem is you should be doing it in class. Your profs are there to help and will, if you ask. Better learn the lesson now. Take on too much in a job and screw up without asking, and you done. Since you are taking English, you're pretty early in your college career. If you don't get control now, you'll never finish. I learned the hard way about asking for help. Took a lot on my shoulders and suffered through, and without the help of the internet. There is no reason not to know the correct way of citation. Most colleges use "turn it in.com" start cutting and pasting and you're done...
Good luck, now back to our program.....
Good luck, now back to our program.....
12-14-2009, 06:09 PM
#18
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 6,867
I might have misunderstood your post. First i see no problem with me taking my own money to buy what I want to buy and using my loan to pay for school. Where does it say i can not do that. Why should i be broke and have nothing just because i am a student. I see no reason why this was not an appropriate post. Maybe i made a mistake by not taking her comment for just a honest review. How am I to learn how to correct issues without asking someone. I value most everyone opinion on here. SO i aksed. How are you to tell me what is appropriate for my budget. I know kids in school who show up for the first month get there loan an fin aid and that's it go buy a nice care 1500 laptop for nursing and never come back till finales atleast i do my work and pass 90% of my classes. I do not see a issue with a person using a ar to learn from. I have had them before and had no issues with them. I think a Ar is a good learning rifle as it is rather easy to shoot out the box with a few tools. I am not ignoring anything. If you mean about the rifle I see no reason to not hunt with a AR. I have not figured out if i am going to go with the bolt or Ar. A good bolt setup will run me close to as much as the Remington r25 is at the local shop. The sass was just something i had been looking at for the last few years. I am sure alot of shooters on here do not undersstand MOA. I asked now i understand so what is the issue now.
I have always said my grammar sucks. I have also explained why a few times. Ask a few on here it is alot better now then it was even a year ago.
The reason i got upset was she has given me 85% or better on every paper up till now. That is what had me wondering.
I have always said my grammar sucks. I have also explained why a few times. Ask a few on here it is alot better now then it was even a year ago.
The reason i got upset was she has given me 85% or better on every paper up till now. That is what had me wondering.
You've come on here and asked a variety of questions...and gotten a lot of good advice. You've apparently ignored almost all of it and instead of getting a sound beginner's learning platform that fits the appropriate budget of a college kid taking out loans, you've looking at a $2000 "tacticool" black rifle and talking about shooting long range when you don't know what MOA is. Now instead of learning from an instructor's feedback and using it as an opportunity to learn and better yourself, you've proven to have a rotten and frankly immature response to it. Do you really think this was an appropriate topic to come on here and complain about in the first place?
Maybe you should buy that overpriced rifle and build a gun room in your parents' basement. With this type of attitude, you are not showing the potential to reach a point where you will have your own house and income to make purchases like that anytime in the near future.
I was trying to be nice in my previous post, but frankly from having read a hundred posts by you, if they are any reflection of your writing ability, you have a LONG way to go in learning to write correctly and I don't think your professor was the one with a problem here. Your grammar stinks.
What you hear may not always be what you want to hear, but sometimes it's what you need to hear. The difference between those who will succeed and those who will fail is not the feedback they get, but how they react to it. The question is, which one do you want to be?
Maybe you should buy that overpriced rifle and build a gun room in your parents' basement. With this type of attitude, you are not showing the potential to reach a point where you will have your own house and income to make purchases like that anytime in the near future.
I was trying to be nice in my previous post, but frankly from having read a hundred posts by you, if they are any reflection of your writing ability, you have a LONG way to go in learning to write correctly and I don't think your professor was the one with a problem here. Your grammar stinks.
What you hear may not always be what you want to hear, but sometimes it's what you need to hear. The difference between those who will succeed and those who will fail is not the feedback they get, but how they react to it. The question is, which one do you want to be?
12-14-2009, 06:22 PM
#19
Banned
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 824
The reason i am having a big deal with the citations is in my first english class we could use resources from any site besides wiki. This class it must be off the schools library site. THey do not give the citation so i must do it up my self. Yes i will admit it i do not know how to do them. I am at the end of my first year.
You have a ton of posts here. Here is $0.50 worth of advice. You're a young fella, quit worrying about buying a rifle right now. Reward yourself the day after graduation with ANYTHING you want. Set a goal to treat yourself to the rifle of your dreams the day AFTER, and the work will be so much easier!! It's only a few years! Make it your screen saver and hang a picture above your desk to remind yourself why you're working. You need to learn discipline and responsibility. That "F" has already taught you a ton.
Try to talk to you like a father with tears in my eyes......
...and capitalize "I" for crying out loud.