Friday, March 20, 2015

Free For All Friday | Writing Classes

Welcome to the first post of Friday Free For All, a weekly discussion where I pick a random topic to discuss on my blog! 

Today's discussion is going to be focused on writing classes. 

I've taken quite a few writing classes and as a result have written many papers, research papers, "feely" papers, prompt papers, etc. But the subjectivity of a writing class really deters me from loving the subject. 

Are papers graded on content? On grammar? On whether the teacher likes you or not? If I get an A, is it because my paper is actually good or it because the teacher just likes me enough to push my grade up to an A. Consequently, if I get a B, was my content bad or did the teacher just not accept and agree with my opinions. 

Honestly, this is one of the reasons I prefer subjects like math and science. There is one answer, and you're either right or wrong. There not that much room for subjectivity.

Last year, I had an English teacher whose grading system was incredibly confusing. Upon returning our papers, she's make comments about how fantastic our writing was and then we would be presented with a B. If my writing was fantastic, why didn't I get an A? Within the paper, there would be no commentary on any objective things I could improve: grammar, sentence structure, content, etc. That leads me to believe she just didn't agree with my topic, which is mildly annoying. 

I love writing, but the fact that someone else should judge my writing and grade it based on their subjectivity is mildly annoying. 

Do you guys experience the same things with your writing teachers, or is it just me? Let me know in the comments below! 

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