22 February 2007

Reports from the Grading Front

Highlights from the pile of midterms I've been burrowed under for the last few days (done -- yay!). Their assignment was to go "back in time" to 19th century Rosista Argentina and view it from the perspective of a character of their choice:

1. One student quoted a fictitious character named "Ima Whiteman." This is what I get for referring to certain Supreme Court Justices as Whitey McWhiterson and Straighty McNotASodomite in one particular law school exam (I really hated the teacher giving that test). It was cute, though, and really, I'm the last person to mark someone down for that kind of attitude.

2. Another student stated twice on the first page of the paper that: "I am independent, I am violent, I am a gaucho!" Then she used the word "violent" about twelve more times in the course of a four-page paper. After the lecture the professor gave complicating the typical stereotypes of gauchos, it's nice to know the students paid attention.

3. Finally, many many many of them decided to become the late-teen sons or daughters of powerful landowners. So, basically, they decided to play themselves, only in Argentina. Sigh.

I actually find these creative assignments painful to grade -- if they get too creative and get really into character and tell a whopper of a story packed with dialogue and description but without the key historical facts from the text...well, the point of the assignment isn't really that. It sounds like a creative task, but really, like any other undergrad lecture course, the point is just for them to prove they did the reading. So I always feel kind of underhanded when the assignment seems to be giving them creative license but the grading is still about whether or not they can regurgitate the information effectively. I wish we could just flat-out tell them -- for a B, prove you did the reading, for an A, prove you understood it.

Congratulations to F. on his awesome funding! And welcome to J., bringing an ancient history perspective to our little blog circle. With V.'s good news, it looks like we will have two UO alums in Southern California. Slowly taking over...

1 comment:

Cassandra of Troy said...

My goodness gracious. You had me and the Kiwi laughing out loud literally at this post. HI-larious. Ima Whiteman seems to be the heir apparent to Whitey McWhiterson and Straighty McNaughtASodomite. That reminds me of Dave Chappelle's sketch about the racial draft in which he plays a white man and when he gets up to take their draft picks all the minorities boo him. And he goes, in Whitey form, "Excuse me. Excuse me. A White Man is talking. Thank you." Also reminds me that the Judge in Futurama is names Whitey. Hi-larious. Ar you surprised that they decide to be themselves? being someone else would require that thing - what do they call it? Like empathy. Right dude. Ah well.