Comments on: Please Grade the Following Essay

By: jo

jo — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:19:41 +0000

Dull, dull, dull

NOTHING innovative

Meets minimum requirements

Has “writer voice,” which is dull!

I wouldn’t want this person teaching my child, although I may have been this dull myself at one time!

By: Education Blogs and the PR Spies Who Love Them at Education for the Aughts - American School Issues and Analysis

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:48:38 +0000

[...] Please Grade the Following Essay [...]

By: Matthew K. Tabor

Matthew K. Tabor — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:20:40 +0000

Julie,

I find the contractions unprofessional, but I’m a bit on the fence since a) there are time constraints and b) the manual doesn’t address this. If the test and question were a bit more serious, I think fewer respondents would resort to those shortcuts.

The repetitive language was a serious hurdle to understanding, in my opinion. By the end, I thought, “If I have to read “the world of work” one more time, I’ll scratch my eyes out.”

By: Julie M

Julie M — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:41:46 +0000

Also eek!! on starting a sentences with prepositions.

By: Julie M

Julie M — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:40:12 +0000

I totally agree with Raina. The contractions were very distracting and made the essay come across as juvenile and informal. I always tell my third grade students to avoid using contractions in their writing, unless they are included as a part of dialogue they have written. I liken contractions to a fast way of speaking, almost slang like. It is as if the writer is in too much of a hurry to spell out proper English. I do not know where I learned this but it was ingrained in m long ago to avoid contractions in formal writing. Repetitive language also kept me from comfortably reading through the essay with out cringing. I would hope he applies to teach math instead.

By: Matthew K. Tabor

Matthew K. Tabor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:42:44 +0000

Jenah and Raina,

It’s weird that you two seem to have just met in the comments of this post, yet you’re posting from the same IP.

By: Raina Padalecki

Raina Padalecki — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:45:38 +0000

thankyou, jenah walsgrove. my mother has a passion for unusual, well strictly speaking, names – my sisters are named aoife, kaienna & zara, and my brothers are named treasean and zaverai. i, myself am from connecticut, but my family reside in iowa – my mother is from south africa and my father is australian. however, i married a texan of polish faternal descent, adopting the unique sounding surname! and yes; he is my husbands first or second cousin, i’m not too sure.
I agree with most, if not all that has been said -work on your technique and you may be alright in an area of supreme shortage, with no humour intended.

By: Jenah Walsgrove

Jenah Walsgrove — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:32:59 +0000

Wow, Raina – I adore your name, it rolls off the tongue. Very unique – where are you from? And Padalecki is fantastic!! Where are your origins – are you related to Jared at all?
Anyway. Yes. I agree with the critique above – I am an english teacher at high school level, and I obviously have great practise marking essay papers which stray from the task, so to speak! This is the grade of something I would expect at this level. I would say a C, perhaps a very low B at a severe push. May I enquire just where you will be recieving such qualifications? Jennifer H. Walsgrove

By: Raina Padalecki

Raina Padalecki — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:26:28 +0000

too many contractions – i feel a migraine coming on! otherwise, the content is pretty good – above mediocre, anyway – if slightly ramble-esque at times. maybe you will improve with time and practise… if a time constraint was offered with this particular essay, i would most probably offer anything from a high c to a relatively low b. good luck, though!

By: James Stripes

James Stripes — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:00:57 +0000

I give out C grades like tootsie rolls. This is a C-.

I hope the author fails to find employment as an educator.