Summary Of Marks By Linda Pastan

In his article “College Students Need to Toughen Up, Quit Their Grade Whining”, Robert Schlesingner addresses the emerging issue of grade inflation, and more specifically, the greater sense of entitlement that seems to prevail in the modern scholastic realm. Mr. Schlesingner begins his address by presenting his background and what standards and expectations were common during his time through both lower-level education and college. During his time [time in what?], a grade of C represented “adequate” or average work, B correlated with “an above average job”, and obtaining an A required “spectacular” performance by the student. [more concise] However, as cited by Mr. Schlesingner, an investigation by the University of California-Irvine seems to indicate that the values of each letter grade has changed, at least in the mind of the modern student with more students now believing that A’s and B’s should be more easily obtained and that the amount of effort put into a task should be considered when grading. Next, Mr. Schlesingner presents his opinions on this topic of grade inflation and the proper influence of student effort on grade. To conclude,

On February 2, 1992 Maggie Lauterer, a local television news celebrity quit her job and signed up to run for the United States Congress as a democrat. Maggie was asked to run by the Democratic leaders of her district. They thought that her celebrity appeal was their ticket to congress. Maggie was from the 11th congressional district in North Carolina. She was the very first women to run for Congress from her district. Maggie was a moderate on issues like crime, abortion, and the economy. Her district though, had a very conservative attitude. Although, Maggie was a Christian she supported abortion and because of that she lost many voters. Maggie believed in running a clean campaign. She was running against Charles Taylor, who was a seasoned

Chapter 3 "Critical Thinking and Argument" of Andrea A. Lunsford's book Easy Writer, covers how to critically understand and make an educated argument. Lunsford first explains how to critically read and analyze the meaning or purpose of a text. Lunsford gives the reader a method to do this which includes previewing the text, taking notes, writing a summary of the text and the making an analysis of the work. Next Lunsford explains how to identify different types of appeals in a texts argument. These appeals include emotional, ethical and logical appeals. Emotional appeals center around personal values and human emotions. Ethical appeals deal with personal morals and the goodwill of humans. Logical appeals are based solely on facts and research.

These are the automatically computed results of your exam. Grades for essay questions, and comments from your instructor, are in the "Details" section below.

In Marked Women, Unmarked Men, Deborah Tannen discusses the nature of marked women and its consequences. Tannen, a female writer, points out the “marked” aspects of women by first giving an example of three differently clothed women, named No. 1 through 3, in a meeting. She allows readers to visualize the distinct difference between men and women’s appearance. Then she shifts to explaining in depth about the definition of “marked” and how it appears on the daily lives of women. She spends most of her article discussing the conference meeting example and the definition of “marked”. Although Tannen indicates many contradictions surrounding the “marked” female aspects like clothing and surnames, she does not reach to a conclusion. Because the

the question, what do grades really measure? Obviously, good intentions or the amount of work

Assisted suicide is an ethical topic that has sparked up many controversies. Individuals have heated disputes on whether or not patients who are suffering should have the right to die. Some worry that legalizing euthanasia is irrational and would violate some religions, while others argue that it provides a peaceful death towards terminally ill patients who are suffering from pain. Physician-assisted suicide is a contentious matter, in which there are many positive and negative aspects, whether or not it should be committed is a complex decision.

Pragmaticism, indeed, will dictate that schools, assessments, and organizations long-established will not be altered for light and short-lived causes. Hence, a gradual shift in culture and method must occur which reforms the quantitative nature of grading systems. However, let the negative effects of the current grading system be known in a direct way:

In “Making the Grade” by Kurt Wiesenfeld and “In Praise of the F Word” by Mary Sherry, both authors establish an issue with the grading system in schools. Somewhere along the line, love for knowledge died and a generation of indolent students were born. They both however, point the finger of blame in different directions. Wiesenfeld claims society has molded the student to believe he/she can simply charm their way to good grades, whereas Sherry holds complete liability in the pampering of high school teachers.

While many believe that the grading system has a concrete standing in the success of education, other’s believe that it actually can inhibit or at least lessen the effectiveness of learning. In “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System,” Jerry Farber states that for the longest time, many have dismissed the fact that grades could be harmful to the learning process. He argues that grades lack the ability to bring about self-discipline within the students learning the content. While the educational system has rendered changes throughout the years, the grading system maintains its virginity and has been fairly untouched. He insists that many educators are in strong belief that grades are the only way to ensure that learning is to take place within the classroom. Most of society would dictate that the system has been fairly effective in getting individuals through their schooling. But as Farber points out, students tend to focus more upon the grades they are receiving and less upon the content itself. Throughout his writing, Faber uses many forms of rhetoric to persuade the reader to believe the fact that the grading system is corrupted and should be changed, and offers a solution which is referred to as the Credit System. With this being said, it can be stated that Farber effectively conveys his argument through his appeal to a younger

The biggest issue with Sherry’s plan to stop grade inflation is that she didn’t account for the fact that there is no universal grading system in the world. Grades are based on a criterion set by a particular teacher, and the teacher is the final person to decide what grade the student receives. An A

Kurt Wiesenfeld's article, "Making the Grade," presents the social issue of grades. The author explores the extent of this problem by examining the social environment in which these students were raised. Wiesenfeld also addresses the changing attitude towards what a grade represents and the true value of a grade. The author effectively uses several writing strategies to engage the reader, influence the audience and illustrate how much thought he has given this issue. The essay is organized by a logical progression from thesis to individual claims and the author provides real-world examples for the issues. With those real-world examples, Wiesenfeld explains how serious the problem can become and demonstrates why the issue should be addressed.

High school grades are a better way of looking at a student’s work progress than through only an standardized test(s). High school grades give a better idea of how the student will look in their future education and career. Standardized testing can shock and freak some students out and make them worry and not do so well, where as high school grades can be looked at through an extent of time on the student. Also the test scores have been categorized by the students work ability, and there are many other problems with the tests for example with the questions and how the results come out. “High school grades reflect years of effort and are a more reliable assessment

Education is without a doubt one of the most significant factors in our society. We spend twelve years of our lives in the schooling system, and our system has been the most accurate technique for assessing students for decades now. Lately, there has been controversy over the traditional grading system that we currently use in our classrooms across the United States. There is a multitude of individuals who believe we should alter our grading system, and begin using a recently developed system which involves working on a long-term assignment throughout the semester to show what students have learned during the length of the course. There are many benefits to our traditional system that people often seem to overlook. We should be

Throughout the ages, women have been graded on their performance and instructed on what is supposed to be their purpose. In the poem, “Marks,” by Linda Pastan, the speaker expresses her distaste for being graded on how she performs her “womanly” tasks. Likewise, in the poem, “Women,” by May Swenson, the speaker seems to be comprised of a contingent of people from the time the poem was written – around 1978 – likewise, the speaker of “Marks” is a wife and mother of two children – a boy and a girl. The poem, “Women,” details how the people of the time feel about women and who they should “serve.” Since both poems seemingly depict the purpose of women, the poem “Marks” could be incorporated into the class discussion to show conflicting perspectives between women and the public about the treatment of women.