Help grade my English homework! (no, seriously...)

[toppkatt]

Sorry to hear it was your worst score ever on a paper in this class. That said, going so far over assigned paper length was not probably the best idea. Sometimes the assigned length is to help you learn to edit for length. Include only the most important parts and remove the rest. With skillful writing you can allude to the missing parts and peak the readers curiosity to find out more on the subject without boring them with details. Sometimes less is more, as they say. It, in addition, keeps the papers to a length that does not over burden the instructor. Remember they have to read all these papers and mark them for grammar, content, punctuation, readability, et cetera. Also, most but not all educators are to some extent liberal, so attacking their 'mindset' will not make them likely to allow leeway in mistakes. Did your instructor tell you what style to use for the paper? MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian etc., of course I may be showing my age and antiquated training as these styles might not be in vogue any longer, but if a certain style was requested I would make sure I stayed on task using that one. I believe WORD allows you to select the style to use from a drop down menu in the 2007 version. Also, back in the dark ages, when I was being taught, it was considered inappropriate to use contractions in a formal paper. I do not recall if you did or did not but just a reminder for the future.
Lastly, I have not much trust in grammar checkers as I have seen them make many more mistakes than I when checking papers I have written. My best grammar checker is my wife whose father taught English at Baltimore City College. She knows grammar backwards and forwards.
Good luck in your next paper.

[aa1911]

thank you!

I did shoot myself in the foot by turning in a grossly over length paper, I figured that would cost me close to a letter grade by itself. Less is more I think, I have used this to try and compress my thoughts in fewer words to bring home the same point.

MLA is the format for this class btw...

lowest score so far (one assignment left to grade) but overall I learned more from this course than any other I've taken. This is my first delve into college level education, I think I've improved. Certainly learned a lot about format and punctuation.

live and learn!

[toppkatt]

Originally Posted by aa1911

thank you!

...but overall I learned more from this course than any other I've taken. This is my first delve into college level education, I think I've improved.

You're welcome and most courses I've taken have a teacher evaluation at the end, usually 'secret' and I'd make sure the instructor knows how you feel about the course. S/he may not know who wrote the evaluation but it makes the instructor feel appreciated. My father was a teacher as were my in-laws. Heard some interesting stories but I think they enjoyed it for the most part.