friggin english professor

1. 59

   kbowlingtigerposted 15 years ago

   WHY MUST ENGLISH PROFESSORS BE SO HARSH ABOUT PAPERS?!

   replyreport
   1. 58

      Sab Ohposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      A) That's there job
      
      B) It makes them feel important
      
      C) They hate you

      replyreport
      1. 59

         kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         well my professor has the mindset that if what you write is not what she believes then you fail!

         replyreport
         1. 58

            Sab Ohposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            A lot of them have that mindset.

            replyreport
         2. 0

            Madame Xposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Is she a liberal?

            replyreport
            1. 59

               kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               i dunno

               replyreport
               1. 58

                  Sab Ohposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  99% chance

                  replyreport
         3. 60

            Jane@CMposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            My literature professor was the same way, if you didn't write the paper in the same way HE interpreted the book - too bad for you!

            replyreport
            1. 0

               Madame Xposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               These people have no business being "teachers"

               replyreport
         4. 61

            megs78posted 15 years agoin reply to this

            A lot of teachers are bitter, bored, annoyed and/or stressed to the max, and thats when things get ugly.  I had a philosophy prof who failed my every exam because I took things from a point of view he could not accept.  Nothing like being objective eh?  And the worse part was that I had taken those exams to a reputable english prof after and he told me that apart from my views, which in philosophy, should be ok, my grammar, style, flow, etc was really good.  So I knew it was personal.  sucks, because I paid 10,000 dollars to go to university and I just scraped by that class which brought my average WAY down.  Sorry to hear youre having trouble.

            replyreport
      2. 67

         1974posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Oh the irony in that reply......
         
         Anyway, I agree with Daniel.  Just give the prof what they want and be done with it.  If it is an issue you feel strongly about, go talk to your Dean, that is what they are there for.

         replyreport
      3. 80

         mega1posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         THEIR job!   

         replyreport
   2. 0

      cosetteposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      i agree with other posters, they want you to succeed, and will call you out for the smallest minutia. she is challenging you to think and to express yourself eloquently with the written word. don't take it personally. some of the best teachers i had were the ones who pushed me hardest!

      replyreport
   3. 59

      kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Ok thanks for everyone's advice! :-) I had a meeting with her today and she was truly AMAZING! She helped me with the whole paper and I saw the light shining in her eyes. I didn't mean to sound harsh. I honestly like her. She really is a great person! :-)

      replyreport
   4. 38

      pjfbncylposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Im going to be teaching a professor to blog, Blog (dot) AidenBreen (dot) com he teaches Latin. Have you noticed all web templates are in Latin? Should be fun. btw its TheYearOfTheTiger (dot) net. Its my feel good site. inlocoparentheses.wordpress.com might help

      replyreport
   5. 0

      LegendaryHeroposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      *Shrugs* Such is college. Luckily I'm in engineering and I got dual credits so I could get out of college english completely.

      replyreport
2. 76

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   Because they are trying to teach people and want them to put their best forward.

   replyreport
3. 60

   Jane@CMposted 15 years ago

   My daughter hated her calc4 teacher last semester.  They like to weed people out as early as possible!

   replyreport
4. 60

   peptalkposted 15 years ago

   People beat them up when they were in school.

   replyreport
5. 74

   Hauntyposted 15 years ago

   You could possibly read this hub to know how your professors perceive the world. Also, it's pretty straightforward on how to be a good student.
   http://hubpages.com/hub/good-student

   replyreport
   1. 59

      kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      thx. I'll check that out :-)

      replyreport
      1. 66

         Daniel Carterposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         If she's really that petty, then play her game and win by writing the most technically correct papers that you can. If she calls you out about your opinion, tell her that it's your understanding that you are being graded for technical quality and content, not for your opinion.
         
         But believe me, if you have an axe to grind with her, you better write perfect papers. The easier route is do everything the way she wants it, and put your own opinions aside.

         replyreport
         1. 59

            kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            hahah exactly. I have learned that in order to pass I better just do what she likes... I have a meeting with her today so I'm going to pay careful attention to what she says about my essay. :-)

            replyreport
            1. 74

               Hauntyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               You can have the upper hand her by giving her what she wants. It won't change you.

               replyreport
6. 59

   TLMinutposted 15 years ago

   QUOTE: well my professor has the mindset that if what you write is not what she believes then you fail!
   
   The kids in my son's class had to write a utopia paper; the teacher didn't like one boy's ideas and so she failed him for it! And she's apparently super feminist so no one is allowed to have any other opinion. This is a teacher?

   replyreport
   1. 59

      kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Ahh exactly!!! That's what happens. She'll asks questions in class and before we even utter a word, she starts talking, stating her opinion. She basically failed me because what I wrote was not how she likes it. What she says is the "truth" and everyone else's opinions are WRONG.
      
      And yes, this is a teacher.... Well, a college professor. So I can't complain about her. I must face it and deal with it. Sad, I know...

      replyreport
7. 61

   confused barbieposted 15 years ago

   They just want to push you to do your best. 9/10 are like that its just life!

   replyreport
8. 60

   tobey100posted 15 years ago

   Because most of them are anal retentive mamma's boys who couldn't get a job doing anything else.

   replyreport
   1. 59

      kbowlingtigerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      hahahhahahaahahh that's funny :-) i'll keep that in mind.

      replyreport
      1. 60

         tobey100posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I'm serious.  My uncle Harris is an English Prof. and he fits the bill to a tee.

         replyreport
   2. 74

      Hauntyposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Ok. But there are some that start teaching after they have proved themselves in life.

      replyreport
      1. 58

         Sab Ohposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         College professors? Not many.

         replyreport
9. 74

   livewithrichardposted 15 years ago

   Well it seems that you have identified the problem and now are equipped with the knowledge to remedy your problem.  It's just one semester so write what she wants you to write whether you agree with it or not.  Next semester, choose another Prof's class.
   
   If you are focusing too much on the content of what you are writing you lose focus on the structure of the way it is written.  Maybe this is what she is trying to teach you.

   replyreport
10. 77

    Shadesbreathposted 15 years ago

    Often a professor's criticism FEELS like they are bashing on you for standing against them, but in my experience, it's usually more a matter of the paper having not made the case it is trying to.
    
    English professors, the good ones anyway (I'd have to read the paper and the critique in question to comment directly), are grading the paper on the rhetorical choices made.  If fallacies are being employed, if argumentative structure is unsound in any way, not to mention various stylistic and grammatical concerns, the paper and its arguments are rejected.
    
    Students often take this as a sign that, say, a liberal professor has rejected a conservative argument (or vice versa), on principle.  I've looked at many papers that the authors from both left and right wings have claimed received biased grading and found the arguments to be unsound and the prof's comments in the margins saying as much, but the student just refused to believe it.  It just HAD to be a political F or D rather than a deserved one. 
    
    (sigh)

    replyreport
11. 60

    Jane@CMposted 15 years ago

    My daughter is a technical writer - black & white - not to many of her college (or HS teachers) English professors liked her writing style.  She went and talked to them and explained she is technical, majoring in a technical field and she actually got through to most of them, but not all.

    replyreport
    1. 0

       china manposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Risking anal retention - a degree or whatever will be for the ability to write - of which technical writing is just one aspect. If it wasn't then there would be a technical writing degree specifically. Your daughter is not a technical writer at college, she wants to be a technical writer when she has a degree that says she can write.

       replyreport
    2. 60

       tobey100posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Good for her.  She obviously knows what she wants.  Other than getting a grade it doesn't matter what the prof thinks about her writing.

       replyreport
       1. 60

          Jane@CMposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          She is thankful, she is done with her college English classes, yes, she has classes that are writing intense, but in a technical sense, except one.  Her Intro to Physician's class does require keeping a journal - but its written her way

          replyreport
          1. 60

             tobey100posted 15 years agoin reply to this

             She sounds like my favorite kind of child.  One with a very good head on her shoulders.  Congrats.

             replyreport
12. 0

    Jared in Vegasposted 15 years ago

    I was an English major in college and thought the professors were difficult sometimes. When it comes down to it, they're trying to prevent you from writing like a high schooler so you can take your skill to the next level.

    replyreport
13. 60

    Teresa McGurkposted 15 years ago

    It's better to know more, than less.
    It's better to understand your language, than not.
    It's going to make a difference for your career if you can write competently, confidently, and concisely. 
    English really is a beautiful language: cast in Anglo-Saxon, derived through Latin and later French, it's a hybrid, growing, living language that deserves our attention.
    Not very many professors enjoy grading papers, for a variety of reasons: 1) assigning a grade to someone else's efforts, especially when that person has obviously worked hard, is not the best way to encourage learning; 2) most professors want you to do well, and wonder what they are doing wrong when you make the same mistakes again and again; 3) many of your papers suck; 4) most professors understand that high schools have let you all down by omitting English from the curriculum completely (at least, that's how it appears); 5) most professors know that the better you do in English class, the better you will do in your other classes, too.
    Students don't need to suck up to their professors in order to do well, or agree with their professors' every word, or even look interested during class.  What they do need to do, however, is understand what a university is and should be, and the responsibility of each student to herself (and not to anyone else) to take her education seriously.
    
    Of course, some professors are just bitter, twisted bastards. . .

    replyreport
14. 0

    Pani Midnyte Odinposted 15 years ago

    I think we've all felt that our teachers were unfair to us at one point in our lives. For me, it was my Creative Writing teacher. She was more of a technical writer than a creative writer so I have no idea why she was a Creative Writing teacher. She didn't like my style of writing even though it followed the assignment's guidelines to a T. I got an F in her class so I went to another English teacher and had her rea d my paper. She said she would havegiven me an A. So we held a meeting and they settled on giving me a C+. I transferred into the other teacher's class the following semester and did very well.

    replyreport
15. 60

    EnglishChickposted 15 years ago

    My suggestion as I have a fabulous literature professo is tell the man or woman that great liturate allows for more than one interpretation. 
    
    On a side note, not all English professors are bad.  But there is always away to figure them out.  I am a literature major with a minor in creative writing myself so believe me I have had my share of negative ones it's a matter of when you do find the right one.  Don't let the bad ones hold you back!

    replyreport
    1. 66

       Aley Martinposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Interesting posts...
       
       I am an English professor and teach World Literature online. I ask my students to do Creative papers to show their understanding of what they have read. I have seen some of my colleagues who are burnt out  from teaching become very bitter. I am an older woman, but started my teaching 10 years ago and it is my passion! I also continually remain humble by taking courses and learning more and more every day. I know I am unique, and I wonder why there cannot be others who have the same pedagogical approach I utilize. There are all kinds of people in my field, and there is no category to fit us all into.
       
       Do you realize that public education is horrific these days? By the time you get to college, we instructors are dealing (many of us) with students who cannot write above an 8th grade level. And the abysmal lack of critical thinking taught in the lower grades leaves a lot to be desired. There is a propensity to "teach to the test" in public school, and this does not serve the student.
       
       All professors are not "liberal"...they are just well educated and many want their students to "think for themselves". There are many profs who do not allow this, and this is a travesty for the student. But to stereotype and categorize profs is unfair. And I do not mean you 'kbowlingtiger'...I mean some of the other respondents.
       
       Labels are a form of discrimination, and in order not to remain a "victim" you must see your part in the big picture. It seems many people wish to blame others when things are not as they expect. Expectations and entitlement need to be eradicated! If we see ourself as a victim we remain a victim. Please become empowered and grow wise!
       
       My best to all of you on your educational journey's!

       replyreport
16. 59

    LadyRavenSkyeposted 15 years ago

    I have loved almost every single one of my English teachers 10-12th grades. The teachers were all insanely supportive of my writing style, and one of them who was retiring told me I was the first student he ever had that made him happy he became a teacher. My 11th grade teacher got several poems printed, and my 9th grade teacher got me into writing.
    Going now to university, I had my first English class, and I was disheartened to find that my own professor was more into HIMSELF and his horrible poems than working with the students. If you didn't conform to his liberal ideas, he wanted nothing to do with you or you work. If he did, it was just to belittle you in front of the other students.

    replyreport