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Subject:Re: Teaching kids to write well From:Eric Ray <ejray -at- OKWAY -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU> Date:Tue, 16 Aug 1994 16:53:29 CDT
Shelly said:
>>Ha! Ha! to
>>that teacher I had!
Boy, now that sounds familiar. When I was taking sophomore English and
reading Huck Finn, we had an essay test on the book. I carefully
crafted my 5 page (handwritten) response to a "What was, in your
opinion, the ..." type question. I explained what my premise was and
exactly why that premise was right. I got the test back with a 60%
marked in red at the top. I marched myself right up to the front of the
room and asked for an explanation. She told me that the answer
was well written, but incorrect.
**The damn question started with in your opinion!!**
I stood my ground and argued for a while. She eventually
relented and gave me about an 80%, but at the price of a public
lecture on how I just couldn't handle the work in sophomore English
and with that quality of work, couldn't realistically expect to
pass junior English at all.
Huh. I regret to this day that I didn't mail her some of my grade
reports from college classes. She probably wouldn't even get it,
but it would be satisfying.
Well, at least, "Ha! Ha! to _that_ teacher I had!"