Ralph’s first essay of the year left something to be desired.
Your sentences are full of comma splices, I wrote. The revision is due next week. Please stop by after school before then so we can work on fixing them.
The class was Honors English. Ralph was a junior, and by that point he really shouldn’t have been mashing sentences together with commas as if periods didn’t exist. My remark and the many “CS” circles on his paper should have prompted him to accept my help.
Every day that week I waited for Ralph after school. He never showed.
The next week I collected the essay revisions. Ralph turned in his … without a single correction.
I didn’t bother grading it. Instead I wrote: Customarily I deduct 5 points for every comma splice. Your paper has 23, which makes your top possible grade a -15. I will write this score into the gradebook for you unless you see me after school today to work on fixing comma splices.
As luck would have it, Ralph’s afternoon was free.
August 20, 2007 at 7:02 am |
If I remember correctly, his final score ended up as a B. And Ralph isn’t his real name — I wouldn’t do that to someone.