Over The Top

For existentialism, we had to write a 5 page paper on a topic of our choosing. The assignment was to pick a topic and think about it existentially for a month, writing down ideas every day, and then composing the paper at the end of the month. They stressed the everydayness as an absolute necessity. But of course it turned out to be all hype. I wound up writing it in a couple of hours before class with the only previous thought being the quizzes in class where we reported the progress of our thinking. And I got a solid A - a 95. I'm fairly used to that by now, and though it really bothers me that a terrible paper (compared to what I'm capable of) gets such good grades, I just shrug it off these days. It's frustrating because of the lack of standards I think the grading system implies and because it doesn't reward better work. If I really put a full effort into doing this right - if I keep a journal every day and put 30 hours into it over the course of a month - how is that going to affect my grade? It'll go up maybe 2, 3 points?

But I'm digressing. What really pushed me to post about this paper was the comments that the TA returned with the grade. He typed a third of a page, single-spaced, 10 point font. It's a great example of what constructive grading should be. He commented on the style, specific points, and the potential to improve certain aspects. There are legitimately good, thought-provoking questions brought up by his reading of the paper. And I really appreciate it.

But... I think the compliments for the quality of the paper are a bit overstated. I think this is the single best comment I've ever gotten on a graded work. The first line reads, "This is an unpretentious, organized, coherent, interesting, and truly existential paper."

I'll take it.