tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post116697358189380228..comments2024-03-26T18:28:06.391-04:00Comments on Evil Editor: Why I Got Bad Grades in CollegeEvil Editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03879826770199639420noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-24932936075802941562010-08-31T22:33:46.266-04:002010-08-31T22:33:46.266-04:00I know this has been posted too long ago but...you...I know this has been posted too long ago but...you my friend are a godsend. You have inspired me :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167276704943974832006-12-27T22:31:00.000-05:002006-12-27T22:31:00.000-05:00I used to irritate the hell out of one of my two c...I used to irritate the hell out of one of my two creative writing professors by writing poetry that A) rhymed and B) usually included bloody murder or insanity. She asked me one time why I couldn't just write a free verse poem about a tree.<BR/><BR/>So I wrote about a lumberjack accidentally cutting off his own leg while cutting down a tree and bleeding to death. She wasn't amused.<BR/><BR/>But she did give me an A.<BR/><BR/>My favorite professor, though, forced me to write shorter papers. He'd ask for a paragraph, and I'd give him a page. I needed two blue books for my first final in one of his classes. Thus, he gave me a word limit on ever paper he assigned. It made me stop and think about the relative importance of each word in an assignment/project/story.<BR/><BR/>Mind you, I think I've forgotten that lesson....CantBreathehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03437573082331382512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167250383795727202006-12-27T15:13:00.000-05:002006-12-27T15:13:00.000-05:00I spent most of my two years of English courses at...I spent most of my two years of English courses at Junior College staring at a certain young man's tattoo and wondering how hard it would be to lick it off his arm? Needless to say I didn't average much more than a C in the course work but I sure got an A+ for imagination!(in my book...)<BR/>Wonder what happened to old tattoo arm? I didn't mention but he had great bisceps! Really really great....sigh...never mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167229245668840122006-12-27T09:20:00.000-05:002006-12-27T09:20:00.000-05:00Thanks for the insight into your genius, EE.My alg...Thanks for the insight into your genius, EE.<BR/><BR/>My algebra teacher walked up behind me and confiscated the poem I had just written about her and before reading it asked me if I would like to switch to the (remedial) math class. I said, "Hell yes!" I caught a glimpse of her smile before she admonished me about the foul language. She kept the poem. I guess she was into erotica. -JTCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167228165655623642006-12-27T09:02:00.000-05:002006-12-27T09:02:00.000-05:00Laughs. See, if you'd taken "honors" courses, thi...Laughs. See, if you'd taken "honors" courses, this kind of work was encouraged! In the honors "history of theatre" class, I wrote some Clan of the Cave Bear version of finding fire for how "theatre" might have began and got an A. In honors political science, we didn't even use the appallingly boring text book, but read Seven Days in May, watched Henry Fonda's Fail Safe, and got bonus credit for both reading and seeing The Hunt for Red October. Sean Connery and extra credit. I was in seventh heaven. :-) I don't think I ever turned in a sonnet for an assignment, though. That's priceless!<BR/>JoelyJoely Sue Burkharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17895058332587825648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167215687060205302006-12-27T05:34:00.000-05:002006-12-27T05:34:00.000-05:00ROFL. And I just kept getting comments like, "If ...ROFL. And I just kept getting comments like, "If you would have just taken the time for a second draft, I could have given you a better grade." But A- and B+ grades worked for me, seeing as I was working full time midnight shifts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167181911639363472006-12-26T20:11:00.000-05:002006-12-26T20:11:00.000-05:00EE,I enjoyed reading this, and the comments left b...EE,<BR/><BR/>I enjoyed reading this, and the comments left by your minions.<BR/><BR/>Eons ago, I, too, attended college. I started as an English major because I wanted to be a writer. I too had ridiculous teachers--one was an older woman named Carolyn. (She had a last name, but we never used it and I've forgotten it now.) The class was the 19th century English novel, and after having us read hundreds (thousands) of pages of Bleak House and stuff like that, Carolyn would ask questions on the exams like how many times did Miss so-and-so's lavendar gloves appear in the novel and what was the significance of each appearance. <BR/><BR/>I too exacted my feeble revenge--I figured out how to take these stupid tests, got A's, then changed majors (to Sociology, of all things).<BR/><BR/>I ended with a liberal arts degree--I took math classes to raise my grade point average, and had more credits in history (where there was a host of interesting teachers at my university) than in either of my majors. <BR/><BR/>Ah, those college days.<BR/><BR/>I changed focus to become a lawyer. <BR/><BR/>So now, eons later, I am back to my goal of being a writer. Perhaps I should write a sonnet about mittens, huh?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167179695770181162006-12-26T19:36:00.000-05:002006-12-26T19:36:00.000-05:00I had a similar, though less confrontational and l...I had a similar, though less confrontational and less amusing, experience at Berkeley. An engineering major, I signed up for a classics class--Greek mythology--and wisely selected the pass/fail grading option. I went to all the lectures because--well, because of a girl. But I never read a word. On the midterm, I wrote my own myth because I had no clue what the questions were about. I made sure to use all the devices the professor had discussed in class... but still he had the audacity to give me an F. He even wrote, "See me" on it.<BR/><BR/>I ignored the "see me" (400+ students in the lecture) and decided to read the material for the final. As long as the final grade was "P" I did not care.<BR/><BR/>My sonnets in college were never written for such a pedestrian cause as a grade, though. Mine were all written for girls.<BR/><BR/>The best classes I took were these: (1) ballroom dance, (2) creative writing with Robert Pinsky, (3) library studies 1, and (4) Victoran novel. Looking back now, girls figured prominently in all of them. I suppose the Victorian novel class wouldn't even have made the list, though, if I hadn't married one of the girls I met there.PJDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05028687955957107957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167178751807034612006-12-26T19:19:00.000-05:002006-12-26T19:19:00.000-05:00Dear Anonymous, Richard Wells was a Dean at the Un...Dear Anonymous, <BR/>Richard Wells was a Dean at the University I attended. He taught the two semester agonhy called English Composition for Engineers and various esoteric graduate studies. Other instructors I had were Gladys Schmidt and Dick O'Keefe. <BR/><BR/>Richard Dean Anderson and his incarnation McGyver have nothing to do with it. <BR/><BR/>{bronx cheer}Dave Fragmentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985158361431606939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167178507811112682006-12-26T19:15:00.000-05:002006-12-26T19:15:00.000-05:00I agree with Chumplet - I delved into mathematics ...I agree with Chumplet - I delved into mathematics and chemistry and learned that I passed out cold whenever I saw real blood gush from a human being.<BR/><BR/>So, I've worked at everything else...had a job in an engineering office and hated it.<BR/><BR/>I enjoyed technical writing but composing in fiction will always be best for me because many do not read, or believe, the written word.<BR/><BR/>You should hear my esteemed relatives read newspaper headlines.<BR/><BR/>LpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167178016093254862006-12-26T19:06:00.000-05:002006-12-26T19:06:00.000-05:00Heh. I flunked out of university twice. Always hat...Heh. I flunked out of university twice. Always hated being told what to do all the time. My grades averaged out in the 3 range (out of nine), but my English courses were always up there at 8.5 or more. Not because I read much of the material, but because I was good at faking knowing what I was talking about. You can't do that in biochemistry, though. Curse you, scientific method!<BR/><BR/>Oh well. After two half-assed tries, I figured I'd wasted enough of my parents' and the Canadian taxpayers' money and took up the always fresh and exciting field of food service. If I never see the inside of a classroom again, it'll be fifty billion years too soon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167175806292035702006-12-26T18:30:00.000-05:002006-12-26T18:30:00.000-05:00What a treat! I often wonder about what set you o...What a treat! I often wonder about what set you on course to become THE EVIL EDITOR! (And I soooooo would have dated you in college)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167175555306363502006-12-26T18:25:00.000-05:002006-12-26T18:25:00.000-05:00Dave said..."Was it perhaps, Dean Richard Wells?"S...Dave said...<BR/><BR/>"Was it perhaps, Dean Richard Wells?"<BR/><BR/>So you're saying he's done something else besides playing McGuyver?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167170214137411492006-12-26T16:56:00.000-05:002006-12-26T16:56:00.000-05:00I had a class in differential equations (Mathemati...I had a class in differential equations (Mathematics) that had a lecture and three recitation sections: <BR/>i) one taught by a chinese student who sort-of didn't speak english. He'd only been in the USA four weeks. <BR/>ii) a Texan who's favorite epithet was shit-for-brains-has-to-ask-a-question. <BR/>iii) the lecturer who only let 25 students into his recitation. <BR/><BR/>You think you got it bad bucky, well, let me tell you...Dave Fragmentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985158361431606939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167168096102746702006-12-26T16:21:00.000-05:002006-12-26T16:21:00.000-05:00I suppose your esteemed alma mater didn't offer a ...I suppose your esteemed alma mater didn't offer a major in doggerel? <BR/><BR/>I got a C in the only English class I ever took -- the professor was a raging Pinko, you see, and since I am a flaming Red, we were at each others' throats the whole time. <BR/><BR/>He did, however, succeed in imparting to me a lasting affection for Coleridge.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167165275129273292006-12-26T15:34:00.000-05:002006-12-26T15:34:00.000-05:00It's always puzzled me why we have a system where ...It's always puzzled me why we have a system where if you want to teach K-12, or even pre-school, you have to have extensive knowledge of both the content you want to teach, and the pedagogy of teaching in, plus training in educational psychology, assessment and evaluation, classroom managment, and the good ol' bloodborn pathogens workshop, plus in our district, to teach secondary school, you also need at LEAST a bachelor's degree in the subject you want to teach, plus a master's in education, and ongoing professional development training to keep your license updated...<BR/><BR/>... yet to teach college, to teach at the very highest educational level, you need an advanced degree in the content area you want to teach. Nothing else. You don't need any training at all in how to teach it: no pedagogy, no assessment and evaluation, no nothing. Whatever the hell you feel like doing, that's the class.<BR/><BR/>So here I am teaching college science, with a bachelor's and masters in the subject area, and a masters and nearly a Ph.D. in science education. Does the pedagogical content knowledge make a difference? Well, there's got to be a reason why, when we did a pre- and post-test of the beginning students this last term, students of all the other professors made a tiny little pre-to-post increase, while my students blew everyone's socks off.<BR/><BR/>Teaching matters.<BR/><BR/>Now, if someone wrote me a sonnet about Mendelian inheritance, he might get a decent grade, but only if he got all the facts right, thoroughly explained the concept, and didn't misuse the word "dominant."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167164119016093392006-12-26T15:15:00.000-05:002006-12-26T15:15:00.000-05:00Very cool, EE. That's the most I ever learned abo...Very cool, EE. That's the most I ever learned about what goes on in the English and /or Literature department.<BR/><BR/>I think I got worse grades than you, and I wasn't trying to rebel at all. I'm just dumb!<BR/><BR/>...dave c.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167157895718496882006-12-26T13:31:00.000-05:002006-12-26T13:31:00.000-05:00I went to 'Community College' for Graphic Design (...I went to 'Community College' for Graphic Design (quit after a semester) and then for some obscure program called Visual Arts Instructor Training.<BR/><BR/>Then I went to work in a camera store, and ended up doing their ads.<BR/><BR/>Then I ended up at a newspaper, writing sports articles.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes I wonder why any of us go to college.<BR/><BR/>That was an entertaining read, EE. Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167154112016180552006-12-26T12:28:00.000-05:002006-12-26T12:28:00.000-05:00Is this really true, EE? No wonder I have a crush ...Is this really true, EE? No wonder I have a crush on you. :-)<BR/><BR/>In my honors English class in high school we had to do extemporaneous writing every Friday. We'd be given a poem or piece of prose and told to analyze it.<BR/><BR/>One week Mr. Becker gave us a poem called "Ogun". It was about this woodcutter, and how he felt so in touch with the wood, but how the world was passing him by and moving into materials like formica and steel and nobody wanted his wood pieces anymore (ludicrous, when you consider the prices solid wood furniture goes for these days.) And he had a back room where he kept a special carving, that was "the face of his anger".<BR/><BR/>I hated the poem and I was bored. So I wrote an essay about how the woodcutter should take up poker if he's lonely, and maybe he should expand his business or get a subscription to Playboy, too.<BR/><BR/>I got an F. But Mr. Becker refused to give it back until the next day, because he had to read it to all of his other classes and show his wife and the other teachers, too. He told me it was the funniest essay he'd ever read (and it actually was quite funny, much funnier than I've described it here.)<BR/><BR/><BR/>--December Quinn, who is tired of re-logging into beta Blogger all the stupid time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167149432121074952006-12-26T11:10:00.000-05:002006-12-26T11:10:00.000-05:00And to think I muddled along writing all those fac...And to think I muddled along writing all those factual papers for my history major, when I could've just written some poetry and squeaked by in lit class! <BR/><BR/>Then again, considering the quality of my poetry, maybe it was for the best. My poetry only sounds good when I write it in another language. And then it's only due to the "whistling dog" factor-- one is amazed I can do it at all.<BR/><BR/>So did you encore by going to grad school, EE? I can see it how-- EE in a room full of snooty creative writing MFA candidates. Hilarity ensues. Also, a bitter prof.Ann (bunnygirl)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04938134750150653386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167149241213735112006-12-26T11:07:00.000-05:002006-12-26T11:07:00.000-05:00Hilarious. I would have chosen writing sonnets ov...Hilarious. I would have chosen writing sonnets over papers any day of the week, too... :D<BR/><BR/>RhondaRhonda Helmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11855833088957182413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167147657630859042006-12-26T10:40:00.000-05:002006-12-26T10:40:00.000-05:00I studied engineering. Lots of math. You can't m...I studied engineering. Lots of math. You can't make that stuff up.<BR/><BR/>In one course, I had a Japanese professor. His final exam was so easy, I worked the problems in my head. All I wrote down were the answers.<BR/><BR/>I got every answer right, but he gave me D. When I asked why, he said, "Mathematics like story. Don't tell half story."<BR/><BR/>(That was back when EE meant Electrical Engineering.)<BR/><BR/>j.c.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167146844271248222006-12-26T10:27:00.000-05:002006-12-26T10:27:00.000-05:00Was it perhaps, Dean Richard Wells?Was it perhaps, Dean Richard Wells?Dave Fragmentshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17985158361431606939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167146609439582162006-12-26T10:23:00.000-05:002006-12-26T10:23:00.000-05:00LOL. An interesting insight into EE.I remember in ...LOL. An interesting insight into EE.<BR/><BR/>I remember in a high school Lit exam making up at least one fake quote from 'Wuthering Heights' to justify an assertation in my essay. The teacher didn't notice it was fake, so I invented some fake quotes for my University entrace exams, too.<BR/><BR/>At University I got away with doing as little as possible and took 10 years to finish my undergraduate degree (I would have taken longer, but 10 years was the maximum time allowed). In that time, the English course underwent an entire facelift. I started off studying Shakespeare and Homer. I ended my days writing essays about alien abductions and lobotomies.Angus Weekshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09802204733236506105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26791026.post-1167143848917351782006-12-26T09:37:00.000-05:002006-12-26T09:37:00.000-05:00At least the material was original. I used to just...At least the material was original. I used to just plagiarize some book I was certain the prof wouldn't have read based on his personality, added a few spelling errors, and went back to the bar. I remember one class in particular in which I used Leo Bugliosi (I think that's how his name was spelled) for all of my papers. His writing was such garbage, I knew the prof would never have read it. Got me a "B", and I was drunk and stoned all semester.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com