What Does Your Grade Really Say About Your
Essay?
The
shock of getting a “bad” grade on an essay is not easy to cope with. Student
after student has come into my office wondering how in
the world they received a D or an F grade. Well, not to worry—it has happened
to me, too! We think as students that we have done the best we could, and
somehow, our professor is punishing us. Now that I am on the other side of the
grading process, I understand that professors are not looking to torment their
students—at least, most are not! Rather, Maryland has what are called “C-Standards,” which state, “The ‘C’ paper
fulfills the assignment, meeting all specified requirements,…has a discernible
and logical plan,…uses reasonable stylistic options (tone, word choice,
sentence patterns) for its audience and purpose,…[and] is substantially free of
errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and mechanics” (“Standards for a ‘C’
Grade in English Composition,” 1998). In other words, a C grade means the
average college-level writing standards have been met. When students receive
grades below a C, it means that one of the aspects of content, organization,
style and expression, or grammar and mechanics, has gone awry. Students can
look at “bad” essay grades and learn how to interpret them more positively by
reviewing their professor’s comments and the grading rubric, and then tackling
revisions.
On
multiple occasions, students have arrived at tutoring sessions wanting to know
why they received a particular grade but did not read their professor’s
comments. Professors do not comment on essays in order to amuse themselves.
Their real aim is to let students know what parts of the essay can be improved.
Therefore, I will help decode a few comments that are often misinterpreted by
students. The first type of comment professors might make relates to word
choice, and quite often I see “vague” or “awkward” written on student essays.
The professor does not mean that the essay is stupid or that the student is a
terrible writer. Quite the contrary, the professor is pointing out her expectations
of college-level writing. If an essay is full of vague words like “really,”
“very,” and “thing,” it generally means that the student did not put enough
thought into his word choice. “Awkward” simply means that the sentence or
clause structure is unclear. Another type of comment students frequently see
relates to the essay’s organization. Professors might write questions like,
“What is your point?” or “How does this support your thesis?” These comments
mean that a student is probably missing topic or concluding sentences,
transitions, or a blueprint. Without clear organization, readers can easily get
lost, which can cause them to stop reading. Remember that the purpose of
writing is to communicate the thoughts in our heads to readers. When writing contains
vague words, awkward sentence structures, and little organization, the reader
is not grasping the meaning that the writer intends. Try to focus on this
watchword: if the professor did not care about the student’s writing, she would
not bother to make any comments at all.
In
addition to comments, students should also carefully review the grading rubric
and ask themselves, “In which areas did I score lowest?” Again, this task is
not intended to beat up the student for making mistakes, but instead to help
the student realize what changes need to be made. Maryland’s C-standards
indicate four basic areas that any essay is graded upon: content, organization,
style and expression, and grammar and mechanics. Most grading rubrics will include
these areas in some way. Assessing which area the student has scored lowest in
will allow the student to know where to concentrate his efforts when revising
and when writing in the future. Firstly, when it comes to content, the student
should know whether or not he followed the essay prompt and requirements. For
instance, if the essay directions said to write a four page paper and the
student wrote three, the content area would be downgraded. Secondly, if a
student scored low on organization, he may need to show more clearly how the
supporting details relate to the main points, or how the main points support
the thesis. Poor organization can often be traced back to a weak or missing
thesis statement or blueprint. Thirdly, style and expression mean that, “The
writing is clear” (“Standards for a ‘C’ Grade in English Composition,” 1998).
This includes sentence variety, clarity, and structure, as well as an
appropriate use of tone, formatting, and academic language. For example,
students should not use colloquial terms like “This is really cool,” begin
multiple sentences with the same words like “There are,” or ignore the rules of
the formatting style their professor has specified. Finally, scoring low in the
grammar and mechanics section would equate to an essay rife with errors in spelling
or word choice, subject-verb agreement or verb tense, punctuation, and sentence
boundaries. Again, if students are not familiar with the errors that have
occurred, how on earth can they revise them? Looking over several essays at
once can give students an idea of where they went astray and where patterns
have emerged.
To
restore a student’s faith in his professor’s grading technique, the student
must undertake the revision process. One technique suggested in the textbook, Grassroots
with Readings (2011), is to fill out an error pattern chart (see above). Filling
out this chart demonstrates what kind of errors are repeating. Many students I
have met with have a grammar or punctuation rule memorized incorrectly, which
is terrific because all they have to do to prevent the mistake from repeating
is to re-memorize the rule. If a student does not understand a rule, he can
seek the help of a tutor in the Writing Center or his professor. Furthermore,
textbooks from entry-level English classes often detail these rules and provide
examples and exercises. If the student no longer has such a textbook, he can
refer to a reputable web source such as the Purdue OWL. Knowing a couple revision
techniques is also helpful during this process. For instance, do not revise the
whole essay at once; go in stages or categories. This will prevent students from
overlooking revisions and from becoming overwhelmed. Use a dictionary and a thesaurus to revise
word choice errors. Do not simply plug in a synonym and expect it to work; those slight differences in meaning can have a huge effect on a sentence’s
meaning. Look back at the outline for help with organizational revisions.
Chances are, not following or not creating an outline will cause huge problems
when writing an essay. Use the grading rubric as a checklist for the necessary
revisions; this way, revisions are less likely to be overlooked. Lastly, if the
student did not follow the essay prompt, the entire essay may need re-thinking;
try examining the thesis statement first to see if it fulfills the assignment.
If not, then it is time to return to the drawing board, as the saying goes. No
matter what the revisions are, it is the process of revising that teaches
students how to write with more clarity and fewer errors.
Writing is a
skill born over time. While some students may be more gifted writers than
others, no one writes a perfect rough draft. As Robert Cormier puts it, “The
beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first
time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” To me, this is the best part about
writing. As long as I give myself enough time, I can revise as much as I like
until I get a satisfying final product. While it might not be perfect, it is at
least worthy of a C, and a C is average. College students, do not fret
endlessly over or wish secretly to harm professors for D and F grades. Try to think
of these grades as individual learning experiences. Most people do not hop on a
bicycle and ride it correctly the first time. More than likely, they fall down quite
a bit until they learn how to keep their balance. Writing is very much a
balancing act, and to keep from falling down, a good many details need
consideration. Professors are not failing their students as some twisted way of
exacting revenge for not paying attention in class—although that is tempting!
Most of the professors I talk to desperately want their students to succeed,
and in order to do so, professors must identify how writing can be improved. If
a student wants to be above average, he must fall down and skin his knees. He
must learn how to bandage his wounds and how to get back in the saddle. These
are not just Maryland’s standards for the word “average,” they are humanity’s.
We do not award mediocrity in this world; we award excellence. Strive for
excellence. That is, unless, average is acceptable, and in which case, wear
that C proudly.
