2004-02-20
English teachers
I knew how angry Ben was when he came over to speak to me this morning. I have never seen him so angry in the years that I have known him. The reason being is our current Honors English III teacher (who's name I shall not mention). For some weeks now, we have been complaining amongst ourselves. The first paper I wrote for that class pertained to the Crucible, and the character of Abigail Williams. Eloquently written, good format, exhaustive breadth, yet, because of the fact that--according to her--I was overanalytical, she stamped a "D" on it (but let me point out the fact that she did not fail to put a smiley face on it--"beautifully written" was what it said).
My question is, why should people like Ben and I get penalized for going into great depth? Essentially, I pointed out that Williams loosely (key word is "loosely") represented Salem's hypocrisy and the essence of its theology. Proctor was representative of something more secular, hence, that is why the author had him living OUTSIDE the village. Either way, that is a good point, and not too terribly off of the topic at hand. Either way, I got a sixty-eight, and the majority of the class (with the exception of Ben and John) did not understand what I was trying to say.
Another incident--Ethan Frome. I do not know what she thinks of my paper, but I do know what she thought of Ben's. The reasons why she chose to penalize Ben and take off points on his paper were the following:
1) He used the word "gravestone" instead of "graveyard", even though there was specific reference in the book in regards to a GRAVESTONE with the name "Frome" on it. Simply, she didn't like it. Too, Ben made the attempt to deviate from repetition of the word "gravestone", therefore, using "tombstone" and other synonymous words. That, she didn't like...despite the fact that we had a twenty-minute conversation in class on as to why we should not use too much repetition in our writing.
2) Ben double-spaced (something which we are supposed to do), and put two indentations at the beginning of each paragraph. Thus, he was accussed of attempting to lengthen the paper by filling in the gaps with spaces. I really don't wish to comment on that...if I were to call it preposterous, then that would be the understatement of the century. Rather, I will say that it is untrue, and that students like that are more than capable enough to cover a topic in depth.
I really do not wish to continue speaking of a woman who has absolutely no experience whatsoever. Therefore, I gave Ben the idea of going to the head of the English department on Monday. We will go, and we will present our argument, and we will bring our papers. If I were lacking confidence in this endeavor, then I simply would not pursue it. However, I do believe that this woman has an inferiority complex, thus, feeling herself compelled to take it out on her students.