Essays and Evil

Two essays out of the way, and another 1.5 to go! Strangely enough, the longest essay (which was also the first one due) also has the longest extension (this would be the .5 essay remaining). It's also my favourite subject of the four courses (ie, a term paper per course), which are basically two core English courses (Lit. Crit. I & Survey of Brit. Lit. I), Amer. Lit. I, and Second Language Acquisition. Guess which one's my favourite (especially given that I have a parallel blog devoted exclusively to linguistics).

I should really reduce the amount of parenthetical remarks. Anywhoo. Another essay to churn out for tomorrow, to be marked by a passionate prof who unfortunately lets his passion override his rationale. I don't want to get into details, but basically, he seems to have the following hierarchy:

1. Do I agree with the thesis of this essay?
   Yes: go to 2
   No: give a bad mark
   
2. Did I enjoy the prose?
   Yes: go to 3
   No: give a bad mark
3. Does the essay have supporting evidence for its claim?
   Yes: give a good mark
   No: give a bad mark

Clearly, there's a problem with this order. In fact, 1 shouldn't even be on the list. Technically, 1 is closer to the statement "Does this thesis resonate with the literature I've read so far on the topic?" which, as a prof, should be considerable. But if, say, there are two sides to a debate in the literature, this prof has definitely taken one stance, and refuses to entertain a thesis that adopts an opposing view.

The two good things that've come from this experience are my raised awareness of "those" kind of people in the world, and also an acquired list of things NOT to do when I come to be in a similar position of power (ie, an instructor or some other position of authority).

I just want this term to be over.