My English class is retarded. Its professor, its methods, its whole setup is achingly obscure, bloated with a facade of professionalism, and discouraging of any innovative thought despite heralding a misaligned (and unattainable in its current state) goal of inspiring critical analysis.
Know that this outburst is not from a bad grade or two, as I care very little about grades, but a history of utter bullshit. Each assignment (even 5-page papers) is graded by a teaching assistant who is exactly as old and on the same level of education as I am. Each assignment is graded according to a strict written response from the professor, provided to the TAs. If two of the six necessary obscure points of reference are not covered in a quiz or online response, major points are gone. Every single assignment is forced into a grading curve, ALTHOUGH many class averages come out below 60%.
The first draft of the major paper assignment is 15% of our grade. The final paper turned in and graded is worth 15% of our grade. But the paper can only go up 9 points from the draft to the final stage, meaning, if a paper got a 50% on the draft, corrected everything so that the paper would get a 100% if turned in for the draft, the final paper grade for it would only be a 59%, at best.
Retarded.
On multiple occasions, I have read the appropriate passages and teacher powerpoints and responded with a considerable effort only to get less-than-desireable responses. At least twice, after getting a crappy grade, I've put in NO effort on the following assignment, and gotten premium grades.
Retarded.
Undergraduate studies are designed to weed people out (and, admittedly, useless). Go get a doctorate.
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