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I need some advice
Topic Started: Jun 9 2006, 01:17 PM (891 Views)
schindler
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Fulla-Carp
I just turned in the first draft of my first college writing assignment. It's supposed to be an "identity essay", an assignment that I consider useless, pointless, and several other words along that line. The class split up into groups of three and four to read and comment on each others papers. Every one in my group said that I didn't follow the assignment, that I was writing over their heads, and that I needed to dumb it down. They also said that I was supposed to tell them, not make them interpret it. What I did was connect a series of anecdotes that I felt to be key moments in my life. It was titled "Nothing is Sound" but everyone missed the point. I thought it was a decent paper, and that it covered the assignment, which was supposedly to show, not tell. Every other paper was absolutely predictable and filled with obvious grammatical errors. Now, the question is: should I break down, and write a totally normal and stupid paper, should I leave the paper be, and take what's coming to me, or should I rewrite the first one?

As an aside, I'm really ticked about the attitude of the professor and students. They're aiming for mediocrity. :veryangry:
We're all mad here!
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***musical princess***
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HOLY CARP!!!
Don't lower your standards.

Be who you are.

That is all the advice you need.

:hug:

x
x Caroline x
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LWpianistin
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HOLY CARP!!!
Don't ever "dumb" anything down :rolleyes: If they can't figure it out, they shouldn't be there.
And how are you today?
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justme
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HOLY CARP!!!
What does your professor say?
"Men sway more towards hussies." G-D3
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
Welcome to the real world, Schind. It just gets worse.

(Would you like to share the paper?)
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Steve Miller
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Bull-Carp
Schindler, it depends on your goal.

What is your goal?
Wag more
Bark less
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!

Quote:
 
I just turned in the first draft of my first college writing assignment. It's supposed to be an "identity essay", an assignment that I consider useless, pointless, and several other words along that line.


:biggrin:

I concur.

And as for dumbing it down, you'll find this a lot. I hope I don't tick anyone off by saying this, but professors who don't care about writing and students who don't know much about writing LOVE the traditional "Describe Yourself in 3 Adjectives/How I Spent My Summer Vacation" assignments.

Main theme sentence! Supporting sentence. Supporting sentence. Supporting sentence. Transition sentence!

And so on. It's watered down crap writing, just above washing machine instructions, IMHO.

As for what you should do?

I've felt the same way you do on a number of projects and assignments, both in school and out. You may be right in your opinions (and I think you are), but the way to get an A in any class is to Play The Game.

The Game sucks. It's stupid and there is no point to it, other than to manipulate the system to get something you want out of it. However, the Game doesn't stop when you're out of school unfortunately, so my advice would be to do what they want to get yourself a good grade. Gotta make the system work for you, I guess. It stinks, but it's true. In a way, this would probably be good practice for the crap in the Real World we all have to put up with (which is meaningless mediocrity on steroids).

So yeah, get yourself an A by any and all means necessary, and be content in the fact that you know what that grade really means. :smile:

(Schindler, my first assignment in college was a writing assignment. I received a 63% on it. :lol: )
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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***musical princess***
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Will you please share it...? I would really love to read it. :smile:

x
x Caroline x
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
Which, Shindler's "Who Am I" assignment, or my 63? Because the funny thing is, I'm certain I still have it. ^_^
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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***musical princess***
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:lol:

Both!!

:D

x
x Caroline x
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
If you value your GPA, and your professor is such an idot that he tells you to "dumb down" your assignment, then dumb it down for him - and write as intelligently as you can here, for us, until you get an actual professor who's worth more than a bucket of spit, and who values compositions that are well written and at appropriate education level.

When a college-age person is taking a college-level course, and is writing for a professor and other college-age people, and he's advised to write his composition on an eighth-grade level, there's something wrong.

"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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schindler
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Thanks for your advice, guys. Especially yours, Aqua. Unfortunately, I don't have the paper on this computer, so I can't post it. My goal, Steve is to. . . well. . .I have to decide between writing the paper I want or "playing the game". And as Aqua so nicely put it: the Game sucks.

Justme: I talked to my professor. She hadn't read it yet, because I just handed it in today, but I let her know in very nice words that I think that the assignment was a waste of time, and so I had livened it up a bit. I explained what I did, and she suggested. . .well, it was basically a cop out. Yuck.

If this is the real world, I think I prefer the Coffee Room . . . :P
We're all mad here!
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schindler
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Dewey
Jun 9 2006, 05:02 PM
When a college-age person is taking a college-level course, and is writing for a professor and other college-age people, and he's advised to write his composition on an eighth-grade level, there's something wrong.

Dwain: The professor, a women, said that the average college student read at an 8th grade level and that one of the aims of the course was to raise the critical reading level. PLEASE! I was reading at an 8th grade level when I was 10. I was almost hurling in my seat. And now everyone thinks I'm a know-it-all because I was disgusted at the academic level of the class.

You're right. There's something wrong.
We're all mad here!
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DivaDeb
HOLY CARP!!!
Is there any possibility that you could test out of this "For Dummies" class and get into a class that would fulfill your requirement that would be a little more challenging? Do people take CLEPs anymore? I only ask because classes have just started...used to be that you could transfer pretty simply the first couple of weeks of school.

If not...just pretend you don't care and think of it as an easy summer break thing. Spend your intellectual energy on something worthwhile, and not on how stupid this class/teacher is.
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
is this a critical writing/ reading sort of english course?

Why not kiss a little butt and tell your teacher that you want to stretch yourself, that you are not really interested in writing to a middle school audience, that you're there to learn, and want to benefit from her critiques of your work.

I doubt she'd give you a bad grade for that...
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Kincaid
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HOLY CARP!!!
I thought you got into College of the Ozarks?
Kincaid - disgusted Republican Partisan since 2006.
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***musical princess***
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HOLY CARP!!!
ivorythumper
Jun 9 2006, 11:32 PM
is this a critical writing/ reading sort of english course?

Why not kiss a little butt and tell your teacher that you want to stretch yourself, that you are not really interested in writing to a middle school audience, that you're there to learn, and want to benefit from her critiques of your work.

I doubt she'd give you a bad grade for that...

Very well said.

IT's a smart guy, schind, i would listen to him if i were you...

x
x Caroline x
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DivaDeb
HOLY CARP!!!
Kincaid
Jun 9 2006, 02:33 PM
I thought you got into College of the Ozarks?

he is there eventually, but is starting the summer term in Texas, I think Kincaid
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schindler
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DivaDeb
Jun 9 2006, 05:54 PM
Kincaid
Jun 9 2006, 02:33 PM
I thought you got into College of the Ozarks?

he is there eventually, but is starting the summer term in Texas, I think Kincaid

That's correct, Deb.

IT: :lol:

But her butt is. . . well, nevermind. :P

The class is Composition 1. I wasn't aware that one would be allowed to test out. And the school does CLEPS or the Tx equivalent of.
We're all mad here!
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Yep.. just discuss it with the professor.. you may find a different attitude entirely.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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DivaDeb
HOLY CARP!!!
schindler
Jun 9 2006, 03:22 PM
DivaDeb
Jun 9 2006, 05:54 PM
Kincaid
Jun 9 2006, 02:33 PM
I thought you got into College of the Ozarks?

he is there eventually, but is starting the summer term in Texas, I think Kincaid

That's correct, Deb.

IT: :lol:

But her butt is. . . well, nevermind. :P

The class is Composition 1. I wasn't aware that one would be allowed to test out. And the school does CLEPS or the Tx equivalent of.

Back in the dark ages, I CLEP'd out of all the math and English stuff for my undergraduate program. Check on it. If that class is aimed at 8th graders, that sounds about right to me for college Comp 1, given the level of literacy of most graduating American seniors. You really shouldn't have to take it at all. If you can test out, that's one more space you can fill in with something you really want to take.
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schindler
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Fulla-Carp
Ok, I'll check on it. Thanks, Deb. :)
We're all mad here!
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Kincaid
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HOLY CARP!!!
Is this a community college?

"Remember, Community College is still a college".
Kincaid - disgusted Republican Partisan since 2006.
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schindler
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Yes, it's a community college.
We're all mad here!
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Rick Zimmer
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You are a fresshman? Just started college?

It sounds as if you have not gotten any feedback on your paper from the Professor yet...just coments about your classmates.

So, why not wait to see what she says before dissing the entire thing?

And why did you choose a community college in the first place?
[size=4]Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul -- Benedict XVI[/size]
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