Nukewarm
May 30, 2009
Essays / Unclear Writing Instructions? [13]
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll make sure to heed them during my meeting.
Thanks for the suggestions. I'll make sure to heed them during my meeting.
Nukewarm
May 30, 2009
Essays / Unclear Writing Instructions? [13]
The class is English Writing Composition 300. She didn't include any additional info besides the instruction page. The title of the reference essay was "The F-Word" by (I think) Merry Sherry, and the final exam instructions were very close to, "What does 'The F-Word' mean? Do you agree or disagree with the author's opinion? Support your position using personal experiences, observed experiences, and/or the assigned reading 'The F-Word'".
The "F-Word" was "failure", and it (and the whole reference essay) eluded to the author successfully motivating her students by threatening to fail them. I therefore interpreted the assignment to be "Do you agree or disagree that motivating students with the threat of failure is effective", or something to that extent.That would mean the essay would have to be about a single type of motivation, and whether or not that kind of motivation is effective.
My paper was about how I believed threatening students with failure is ineffective, and as per the instructions, I used personal, observed, and referenced facts to support that opinion ("It didn't work with me, it didn't work with my peers, and Sherry herself experienced only limited success with it") . The basic format I used thoughout the paper was:
1. Basic Intro
2. The author thinks "this"
2a. I disagree for "this" reason
2b. Some may think my perspective isn't legitimate for "this" reason
2c. They're wrong because of "this" reason.
(repeat 2 for all topics that compose body paragraphs)
3. Basic Closing
Again though, the professor marked me more than 20% off because I didn't make alternative, positive motivational methods a key speaking point. If my interpretation of the assignment was correct, though, doing so, at least to such a large extent (I did touch on it occasionally), would have gone far off topic of the main point (How motivating people with failure does not work), so I'm at a loss.
Thanks again,
Chris
The class is English Writing Composition 300. She didn't include any additional info besides the instruction page. The title of the reference essay was "The F-Word" by (I think) Merry Sherry, and the final exam instructions were very close to, "What does 'The F-Word' mean? Do you agree or disagree with the author's opinion? Support your position using personal experiences, observed experiences, and/or the assigned reading 'The F-Word'".
The "F-Word" was "failure", and it (and the whole reference essay) eluded to the author successfully motivating her students by threatening to fail them. I therefore interpreted the assignment to be "Do you agree or disagree that motivating students with the threat of failure is effective", or something to that extent.That would mean the essay would have to be about a single type of motivation, and whether or not that kind of motivation is effective.
My paper was about how I believed threatening students with failure is ineffective, and as per the instructions, I used personal, observed, and referenced facts to support that opinion ("It didn't work with me, it didn't work with my peers, and Sherry herself experienced only limited success with it") . The basic format I used thoughout the paper was:
1. Basic Intro
2. The author thinks "this"
2a. I disagree for "this" reason
2b. Some may think my perspective isn't legitimate for "this" reason
2c. They're wrong because of "this" reason.
(repeat 2 for all topics that compose body paragraphs)
3. Basic Closing
Again though, the professor marked me more than 20% off because I didn't make alternative, positive motivational methods a key speaking point. If my interpretation of the assignment was correct, though, doing so, at least to such a large extent (I did touch on it occasionally), would have gone far off topic of the main point (How motivating people with failure does not work), so I'm at a loss.
Thanks again,
Chris
Nukewarm
May 30, 2009
Essays / Unclear Writing Instructions? [13]
Thanks for the response. I actually just contacted the professor and asked to schedule a meeting, though my justification for doing so is still hazy.
For future reader's references, I'd like to clarify the situation. The author's opinion was that "threatening students with failure motivates them to succeed", so when she asked "Do you agree or disagree with the author's opinion?", I interpreted the question to be "Do you agree or disagree that threatening students with failure motivates them to succeed". I took the position of "It does not motivate them to succeed", and I supported that position with different experiences and facts.
Even after rewording it to you and to myself, it seems unclear. As for now, though, I'm leaning more toward the possibility that the instructions were, in fact, asking a different question than the one she wanted us to address, in that apparently she wanted a key speaking point to be about alternative methods for motivating students.
Thanks for the response. I actually just contacted the professor and asked to schedule a meeting, though my justification for doing so is still hazy.
For future reader's references, I'd like to clarify the situation. The author's opinion was that "threatening students with failure motivates them to succeed", so when she asked "Do you agree or disagree with the author's opinion?", I interpreted the question to be "Do you agree or disagree that threatening students with failure motivates them to succeed". I took the position of "It does not motivate them to succeed", and I supported that position with different experiences and facts.
Even after rewording it to you and to myself, it seems unclear. As for now, though, I'm leaning more toward the possibility that the instructions were, in fact, asking a different question than the one she wanted us to address, in that apparently she wanted a key speaking point to be about alternative methods for motivating students.
Nukewarm
May 30, 2009
Essays / Unclear Writing Instructions? [13]
Hello everyone. My name's Chris, and I'm new to these forums. While I had only planned on posting this one question here in search of help, after seeing the resources this forum has for a college writer, I plan on making this one of the websites I frequent.
On to the problem: I finished writing my final exam/essay for my English Composition 300 class a few weeks ago, and just got the grade back. It was not what I expected, to say the least. The low grade was largely caused, in my opinion, by vague instructions, and I'd like to know if this opinion is justified or not.
The instructions for our essay outlined that we should state whether we agreed or disagreed with an authors opinion (Of using negative reinforcement to motivate students to excel), and support our position. The author did not mention possible alternative teaching methods, but rather reinforced her own with her life's experiences. The "position" I had, was that I disagreed, and I supported that with previous examples of why her method for motivation would not have worked with me, or with others I have observed over the years.
The problem arose, however, when the professor docked me (at minimum) 20% because I didn't propose alternatives to the assigned reading's mentioned methods (Such as "While the writer proposes that to inspire success in students we must threaten them with failure, I would rather submit that a more positive method, such as offering them extra credit, may be more effective for the following reasons"). Note, however, that the instruction did not mention proposing alternatives, or any variation of the sort.
Note also that the instructions did not state something along the lines of "Would you use negative reinforcement or positive reinforcement to motivate students? Support your position". This statement of cause would have, in my opinion, justified the writer, me, mentioning and weighing several methods of motivation and their possible alternatives. The instructions, however, simply said "Do you agree or disagree with this author's opinion? Support your position". That doesn't seem to warrant mentioning alternatives at all, as I can disagree with someone, and legitimately support that position without actually forming a countering opinion of my own. If, for instance, I was watching "Mad Money", or some other hyperactive economy show, wherein they propose that success can be achieved by saving your money, I can disagree because after saving money all my life, the crashing economy hurt me and my efforts badly. If the question was, "Does saving money help or hurt people?", listing alternatives to saving money would be vital. If instead, however, the question was, "Do you agree or disagree that saving money helps people?", listing reasons for disagreeing would take vast precedence over listing alternatives to saving money.
Furthermore, in the past our class has gotten many (many many many) points deducted for straying off topic in the least. Don't these instructions place the writer in a kind of catch 22? He can assume the instructions only want him to support why he disagrees, and risk getting dinged major points for not mentioning vital alternatives, or he can assume the instructions are hinting at a more general question, which subsequently wants him to mention and weigh alternatives, and risk straying far off topic.
Thanks for reading,
Chris
Hello everyone. My name's Chris, and I'm new to these forums. While I had only planned on posting this one question here in search of help, after seeing the resources this forum has for a college writer, I plan on making this one of the websites I frequent.
On to the problem: I finished writing my final exam/essay for my English Composition 300 class a few weeks ago, and just got the grade back. It was not what I expected, to say the least. The low grade was largely caused, in my opinion, by vague instructions, and I'd like to know if this opinion is justified or not.
The instructions for our essay outlined that we should state whether we agreed or disagreed with an authors opinion (Of using negative reinforcement to motivate students to excel), and support our position. The author did not mention possible alternative teaching methods, but rather reinforced her own with her life's experiences. The "position" I had, was that I disagreed, and I supported that with previous examples of why her method for motivation would not have worked with me, or with others I have observed over the years.
The problem arose, however, when the professor docked me (at minimum) 20% because I didn't propose alternatives to the assigned reading's mentioned methods (Such as "While the writer proposes that to inspire success in students we must threaten them with failure, I would rather submit that a more positive method, such as offering them extra credit, may be more effective for the following reasons"). Note, however, that the instruction did not mention proposing alternatives, or any variation of the sort.
Note also that the instructions did not state something along the lines of "Would you use negative reinforcement or positive reinforcement to motivate students? Support your position". This statement of cause would have, in my opinion, justified the writer, me, mentioning and weighing several methods of motivation and their possible alternatives. The instructions, however, simply said "Do you agree or disagree with this author's opinion? Support your position". That doesn't seem to warrant mentioning alternatives at all, as I can disagree with someone, and legitimately support that position without actually forming a countering opinion of my own. If, for instance, I was watching "Mad Money", or some other hyperactive economy show, wherein they propose that success can be achieved by saving your money, I can disagree because after saving money all my life, the crashing economy hurt me and my efforts badly. If the question was, "Does saving money help or hurt people?", listing alternatives to saving money would be vital. If instead, however, the question was, "Do you agree or disagree that saving money helps people?", listing reasons for disagreeing would take vast precedence over listing alternatives to saving money.
Furthermore, in the past our class has gotten many (many many many) points deducted for straying off topic in the least. Don't these instructions place the writer in a kind of catch 22? He can assume the instructions only want him to support why he disagrees, and risk getting dinged major points for not mentioning vital alternatives, or he can assume the instructions are hinting at a more general question, which subsequently wants him to mention and weigh alternatives, and risk straying far off topic.
Thanks for reading,
Chris