| Dr. Alex E. Blazer | Curriculum Vita | Teaching Portfolio |
Here are my grading do's and don'ts. While I don't give extra credit, I do grade everyone in the class based on the same scale and assignment goals. While I don't heed grade grubbing, I am happy to discuss assignments at any time. While I don't change grades based on after the fact discussions, I do change a grade in the unlikely event of mathematical miscalculation.
Only a few students will earn a straight A in the course, for I consider an A to represent suberbly written work of surpassing analysis. A handful of students in the course will earn an A-. On the other hand, no students will fail unless they frequently miss class, turns in assignments late, and/or plagiarize.
Revision is not afforded in survey and genre courses (English 311, 312, 382, and 491). I only offer the opportunity for revision and resubmission in my WC or WR courses (English 101, 102, 310, 319, and 322). If you earn a "C" on a first draft and make the changes I suggest, don't expect necessarily to earn an "A" on the second draft. Revision involves re-seeing the entire argument and analysis, the complete insight and interpretation of the paper. My suggestions for revision strive to make you re-see the big picture of your paper, but they can never give you the insight into the subject that an "A" paper merits; that insight must come from you.
A/B A paper or exam that earns an "A" or a "B" does not just satisfy the requirements of the prompt; it composes an original response that demonstrates careful thought about the issues of the course in a voice that clearly exhibits the writer's point of view and purpose in an fine-tuned and appropriate style. The appropriately organized paper not only provides both a clear controlling purpose and coherent argument that balances general support with specific evidence, but also critically comments on the subject matter in intriguing and thought-provoking ways. Grammar and style are not only sound—even virtually flawless—but are also aware of the English language's nuances. Although the difference between an "A" paper and a "B" paper is ultimately subjective, for me, an "A" paper surpasses my expectations of analysis and argument by responding to the assignment in truly original and/or exceedingly insightful ways. While a "B" paper correctly represents and analyzes the content, an "A" paper exhibits a writer's penetrating perception and sagacious sensitivity to the material.
C A paper or exam that earns a "C" responds to the prompt in a general way, constructs a controlling idea or thesis, and employs suitable organization for its purposes and rhetorical purposes. Argument may suffer from a lack of development or evidence. It contains minor and recurrent errors in style, grammar, and mechanics.
D A paper that earns a "D" shows evidence of attempting to respond to the assignment but does so in ways that are convoluted and unclear. It often lacks a controlling thesis and is usually difficult to follow.
F A paper that earns an "F" shows little or no understanding of the assignment or the conventions of standard written English.
If you're taking 102 or 310 with me, you'll note that I give numerous informal writing and peer response assignments. Because the assignments are so brief and designed primarily for you to keep up with the material or practice particular writing skills, rather than for extended evaluation and accessment, I don't give letter grades on informal writing. Instead, I use the check system: check minus, check, and check plus (/-, /, and /+), which roughly corresponds to C, B, and A, and give zeros to those who don't complete the assignment. For each assignment, the vast majority of the class will receive a check, while a few who need to put more thought or effort into one particular response will receive a check minus and a few who are doing excellent work and making superb connections in one particular response will receive a check plus. You can make a rough determination of what your informal writing grade will be by averaging your scores, including peer response.
First, convert from the check scale to the numerical scale according to the following chart:
Grade |
Value |
0 |
0 |
/- |
2 |
/ |
3 |
/+ |
4 |
(If you turned in an assignment late, subtract its value by one.)
Second, average the numbers.
Third, use the chart below to determine what your letter grade roughly will be.
Note: Because the vast majority of informal writing grades are checks, with one or two check pluses, the average grade for those students who turn in all assignments usually hovers between a B and B+. Because no one receives all check pluses, no one can receive an A at this point. In order to make sure that the consistently best work receives the best grade, I utilize a curve. I determine the difference between the highest informal writing average in the course and 4.00, then add that difference to all students' informal writing averages. For example, if, at the end of the term, the highest informal writing average is a 3.45 (B+), I add .55 to each and every student's informal writing average, thus bumping up the highest average to a 4.00 (A) while bumping up the rest at least one-third of a letter grade.
You can determine your final grade in the course by using the following method.
First, convert your individual assignment grades into numerical values using the following scale:
Grade |
Value |
A |
4.0 |
A- |
3.7 |
B+ |
3.3 |
B |
3.0 |
B- |
2.7 |
C+ |
2.3 |
C |
2.0 |
C- |
1.7 |
D+ |
1.3 |
D |
1.0 |
| D- | 0.7 |
F |
0.0 |
Note: If I you receive both a percentage and letter grade on an exam, use only the letter grade to calculate your final grade.
Second, weight your assignment grades. Multiply the numerical grade for the assignment by the percentage of the final grade. For instance, if you earned a B on a paper that was worth 25% of the grade, you would multiply 3.0 by .25, which equals .75.
| Assignment | Grade | |||
Third, total the weighted grades. For instance, if each of the four graded assignments in the course are worth 25% of the final grade, and you earned a B, B+, A-, and A, respectively, on them, then your final, numerical grade would be 3.50
1.00 |
||||
FINAL GRADE
|
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Fourth, use the following numerical range to determine your final letter grade in the course. For instance, 3.50 equals an A- in the course.
| Grade | From | To |
| A | 3.85 | 4.00 |
| A- | 3.50 | 3.84 |
| B+ | 3.15 | 3.49 |
| B | 2.85 | 3.14 |
| B- | 2.50 | 2.84 |
| C+ | 2.15 | 2.49 |
| C | 1.85 | 2.14 |
| C- | 1.50 | 1.84 |
| D+ | 1.15 | 1.49 |
| D | 0.85 | 1.14 |
| D- | 0.50 | 0.84 |
| F | 0.00 | 0.49 |