Any teachers here to maybe help explain a perplexing problem?

I wrote two essays for my college English class. The first one I half-assed on revising and editing. I'll admit that because I was really rusty. I've been out of school for about 11 years and trying to adjust to 8 week courses in an academic setting was stressful at best. I rushed that essay. The result was 7 points being deducted from a perfect score.

Then I wrote the second essay. I did refine it, even incorporating other skills I've learned through self study because I know I was capable of doing better. I listened to my professor's desire for a more lively voice versus the typical flat academic paper. That is definitely something in my wheelhouse because I write narrative prose, and that's an element of writing that's transferable. Also, I took special care in applying the three different type of appeals in this essay. The first one lacked pathos and ethos, so I was sure to add that in. Guess what? 7 points deducted.

I compared the rubric for both essays looking at the margins.
Body development: -3 points.
Structure & organization: -2 points.
MLA format: -2 points.
All of these were the same for both! I'm not entirely sure why the format didn't change because I did correct things in the second essay. This was after I skimmed through the 14 pages in the MLA handbook. Some stuff did not apply to the paper, others did. Otherwise, I copied the format mostly from the textbook example of an academic paper in MLA format.

I would've thought that the quality of the paper improving would reflect in the grading. I mean, it should have considering how raw the first essay was compared to the second. I'm perplexed. I already know what I'm going to do for my final one to get more insight. The university has resources for that. I just wanted to get people's opinions.

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joe438 · 61-69, M

It’s good that you broke the 7 down into components, and it’s not that unusual for a writer to decide to change something (for points in this case) into something parallel. For example, if the body development is lacking, perhaps you changed things in a way which made them lack differently - if that makes sense. The MLA issues ought to be more black and white. The margin comments didn’t point out where you got the deductions?

I try not to give out perfect scores for subjective writing. It suggests that the paper is perfect and can’t be improved. No paper is ever perfect.

RedGrizzly · 26-30, F

@joe438 Right? That very well could be a possibility that the raw draft and the refined essays may have been looked at as two completely different styles, and we're still blundering in the same rubric criteria. My instructor always leaves feedback, and there wasn't anything in there saying what is it that needs improvement or what could I change. If anything, it was a lot of praise about the paper. The rubric just shows me what general areas the points were deducted on.

As you've pointed out, she may not be giving perfect or near perfect scores because no paper is perfect. My grades didn't tank, I'm still averaging a 97.5 in that class. I just wanna optimize things. But I'm going to send off the last essay of the class to the uni's writing center, maybe ask my instructor about what has been the roadblock.

joe438 · 61-69, M

@RedGrizzly I should think that you’re entitled to feedback. Even if the point deduction isn’t significant, a comic explaining why any deduction was made seems fair. I would hope that if you politely ask her what the problem was, that she ‘d tell you.

RunTheJulz · 46-50, F

Perhaps it’s not something that you did but it is the professors way of grading. It could be that no matter how well you write the grading is done without much attention paid to the subject. I don’t want to say that your professor is lazy but it’s definitely possible.

RedGrizzly · 26-30, F

@RunTheJulz True. There's like 50 people in the class. Reading 50 papers on the same subject, across different skill levels, can be daunting for anyone. Especially, if she graded my essay towards the end of it. I'm going to submit my final essay to the writing center because they could point out what specifically about it is causing the road block. If their feedback doesn't match the reoccurring pattern of getting 7 points deducted in the three areas on the rubric, then it very could be the instructor's grading style or the essay doesn't have the same holes as the last two. I'll find out once it's graded. In any case, I'm still doing really well in the class overall. I just always like to seek improvement in my writing.
Whether the rubric recognizes it or not, the quality of the second essay has definitely improved. It's possible it didn't improve in the way the rubric was grading for? Idk. I'm going to send my final essay off to the writing center to be analyzed.

ProfessorPlum77 · 70-79, MVIP

Even with a rubric, grading essays is subjective.

CreyvinMoorhead · 36-40, M

The body of an MLA-formatted paper is structured to present a logical, evidence-based argument, characterized by consistent formatting, clear organization, and precise in-text citations

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CreyvinMoorhead · 36-40, M

@RedGrizzly Assignments in stages and with drafts, I did it because the research is clear that staged work ends in higher quality research and writing . It also prevents people from trying to do all the research and writing at the last minute. There are ways to work within a staged process that doesn't lose the creativity and energy. There are rare people who can do excellent work at the last minute, but they are rare indeed -- there are far more people who think they can, but it is seldom so. The staged process is also far more effective at coming to understand the research process and how different drafts gave different focuses -- and that editing, then proofreading is a separate stage and can seldom be done at the same time as writing. Reviewing proposals, annotated bibs, and early drafts.

Ferric67 · M

@RedGrizzly I've always used writing centers
It's a great help

RedGrizzly · 26-30, F

@Ferric67 Absolutely. I'm going to make time for the writing center to give feedback on the final essay, then go from there. Apparently, there's a need for it since two completely different papers are at the same level according to the rubric. Lol

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