Bitching about a Paper

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2004-02-19 06:26pm

Ok. So I just finished my midterm assignment for my Fiction class, and it was probably one of the worst papers I've ever written. I say this not because I feel I am an incompetent writer; quite the opposite. Nor do I say this because the paper was technically unsound. The reason why this paper was bad is simply because the questions asked DEMANDED that the responses be vague and nebulous. Here were the questions:

1) Discuss the central theme in any two stories we have read.
2) Discuss the significance of the title of any two of the stories we have read.
3) Discuss setting in any two stories we have read.
4) Discuss the difference between dynamic and static characters, using characters from any two of the stories we have read as examples.

Theme? Title? Setting? Character development?! What, am I back in 6th grade all of a sudden? This is my second year of college! I'm an English major, as are 85% of my classmates! Give me something more than "argue and support," PLEASE!!

What ever happened to, "How can character X be seen as a Jesus figure," or, "Provide a Marxist critique of the social implications of works X, Y and Z." Hell, even give me something like, "Compare and contrast the roles of women in three stories we have read." Anything but simple structure analysis!!

[/rant]

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-02-19 06:31pm

...Maybe you should pursue a history major...?

Really, though, think about what a person with an English major might do - usually teach. =\

Besides, (a) you're in a fiction class, and (b) you're only a sophomore. Then again, it IS your fourth semester, yes?

Anyhow, if the questions were more specific, I would be happy, same as I am sure you would be.. but damn, those ARE vague.

I'ma stop thinking now, cos it's leading to rambling. -nodnod-

~ver

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2004-02-19 07:01pm

NEver had to write any paper for university, but those topics sound like those we had to do in our final exam in school

A Big Flying Fish · Post by **A Big Flying Fish** » 2004-02-19 08:12pm

Believe me its better they be vague than stupid.
An excerpt from my GCSE final exam(!)
"Explain the symbolism of the buildings of the farm in Of Mice and Men." The only one you could talk about was the bloody bunkhouse, and maybe the barn.

The days of English evaluation essays, how I miss ye.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2004-02-19 08:58pm

Almost every essay I've had to right in high school have been about the nature of evil in fiction in one way or another. It gets a bit monotonous after a while.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-02-19 09:06pm

Those are vague?

Heh, you don't know what vague is.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2004-02-19 09:32pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Those are vague?

Heh, you don't know what vague is.

Vague....

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2004-02-19 11:39pm

I thought the story was very interesting because the guy at the end got to save the world but there was this problem with ADN and the ship exploded but he survived and then he got the chick but the bad guy followed him and told him "I am your father" and he was all sad and stuff.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-02-19 11:42pm

That's what you get for being a *ahem* English major.

Mayabird · Post by **Mayabird** » 2004-02-20 02:11am

English II, my last English class ever (barring a technical paper writing class, which isn't quite the same thing) consisted of the following: read science fiction, watch science fiction, and maybe talk about sex and science fiction. For our final paper, we just had to watch a movie and "describe its vision of the future." And we got to work in groups. I only wrote two pages.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-02-20 02:35am

So you make your thesis more focused, but still related to the questions. Just because the question is vague doesn't mean your argument has to be.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-02-20 06:49pm

I love university-level English courses because they're so easy to write for. I ghost-wrote a couple of essays for people in university, and "they" usually got B's. Not stellar, but not bad considering the circumstances.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2004-02-20 08:55pm

English essays don't have rigorous standards, of course-if a person can just BS for the required number of pages they're bound to get a decent grade, as I have personally found many, many times.

TheDarkOne · Post by **TheDarkOne** » 2004-02-20 11:03pm

Mayabird wrote:English II, my last English class ever (barring a technical paper writing class, which isn't quite the same thing)...

no, technical writing classes are far far worse

Cornelius · Post by **Cornelius** » 2004-02-21 01:20pm

university-level English courses

What other ones are there? HS? Im confused

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2004-02-21 08:28pm

neoolong wrote:So you make your thesis more focused, but still related to the questions. Just because the question is vague doesn't mean your argument has to be.

No no... I understand that. Perhaps I should have explained a little better. Our professor has told us on numerous occasions that he would rather us understand many little nuances vaguely than two or three nuances completely. What he's doing is reading the papers for keywords, and grading based on the number of keywords per paper.

Is it me, or is this just a shitty way of assigning work?

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2004-02-21 08:29pm

Darth Wong wrote:I love university-level English courses because they're so easy to write for. I ghost-wrote a couple of essays for people in university, and "they" usually got B's. Not stellar, but not bad considering the circumstances.

Trust me, in a mostly-tech institute such as Northeastern, paper-writing skills are quite lucrative.