Essays and policies in contemporary governance

¶ … Worst Composition Class Policies

The Editing and Review Process:

The editing and review process of the English Composition I class was the most helpful aspect of the class for me. On our writing assignments, we submitted essays that the instructor reviewed and returned to us with editorial suggestions and comments. We were allowed the opportunity to review those comments and to resubmit a second draft incorporating the instructor's suggestions and comments.

That process fulfilled at least two specific roles for me. First, I benefited greatly from the opportunity to consider the instructor's comments and to incorporate them into a second submission through this process. Second, it also taught me that my writing can be significantly improved without the help of anybody else. That is because I noticed that some of the instructor's corrections and suggestions were things that I could (and should) have noticed on my own through a more thorough editing process prior to any formal submission, much less for a grade. The instructor also pointed out several (necessary) corrections about which I would be embarrassed if anybody thought that I was unable to correct them independently.

Among other things, that taught me the importance of doing a careful enough proofread to make sure that any mistakes corrected by my instructor are genuine mistakes on my part instead of careless oversights that I could have avoided in any piece of writing submitted formally. Similarly, I learned that it is impossible for me to perform an accurate proofread immediately after completing a draft. In that regard, when rereading my work after having not seen it for several days, I noticed additional changes that could have improved my writing (even apart from my instructor's comments), that I clearly missed before my initial submission simply because I overlooked them because I proofed the essay too close to the completion of the draft.

For that matter, the editorial process in this class changed my perspective about when a piece of writing is ready for submission in the first place. I realized that previously, I considered an essay substantially complete as soon as I had satisfied the required length. The editorial process in this class taught me that this is actually just the starting point for the editing process. From now on, instead of doing only an automated spell check and a quick read immediately after finishing my first draft, I intend to complete my first drafts with enough time left over to wait at least 12-24 hours before re-reading my work with a critical eye.

The Grading System:

My only complaint about the grading system is that it did not include a letter grade component but only a numerical grade. On one hand, everybody is aware of the approximate letter grade that corresponds to numerical grades; on the other hand, a letter grade helps provide a better indication of where my performance ranks among my classmates.