October 8, 2021

From Gerald R. Lucas
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

What to Do? covid-19: day 564 | US: GA | info | act

This is an actual email I received this morning from a student in my online World Literature course:

Goodnight professor Gerald, on the test it’s said short answers. I got confuse because I thought it suppose to be short answers. I feel like your class is so difficult because even when I think am doing good, I’m doing horrible. I think I’m following the criteria, but I’m wrong. It’s hard to even keep up with those long novel and remember everything for the test. Even the discussions are difficult, hopefully I can pull through your class because I though this would be a fun class but it’s worst than a science class.

I’m not posting this to ridicule, but WTH? I don’t even know where to begin here. Yes, it’s difficult. It’s a college course. You have to read and take notes and engage in study and review, all of which might be suspect here. My instructions for the test clearly state: “Long Answer: Answer the question in essay form. Support your answer with specific evidence from the primary text. (20 points).” I know it’s just a literature course, and you likely perceive it to have no bearing whatever on your life, but yeah it’s challenging—maybe up to the levels of a science class. Imagine.

Seriously, what is this person expecting? Yes, it’s a core course, and most students who take it are non-English majors. But the resentment here is as palpable as is the lack of rhetorical awareness or, frankly, shame.