Dr. Michael Platt
Although the written exercise, be it journal, paper, or examination, is the paradigm of work in a class, “work” embraces all that you do in a class, such as listening, discussing, questioning, and answering, all that you do for a class, such as reading, or preparing a journal, and all that you do after class, such as pursuing some point, in a journal or in conversation with friends, and perhaps also in pursuing your life. All of this is work and in all of it your powers of mind, and heart, and soul are at “at work.” What is true of all these parts of the student’s activity, his work, and being at work, can be seen in the paradigm, the paper.
The quality of paper, as a piece of shared inquiry, is to be judged in the following ways:
1. Its clarity of thought: its style, coherence, and logic: that is, the way in which the paper uses our clear, supple, tangy English language to communicate your understanding. Sentence structure, paragraph organization, smoothness and logic of transition, breadth of vocabulary, mastery of diction, employment of idiom, vividness in metaphor, use of other figures of speech, are but some of the elements in this artful science. It’s effects stretch from clarity to brilliance. At the higher reaches it includes the very rhythm of the sentence and the orchestration of sentences into paragraphs. (For a list of deficiencies in clarity and more see the separate “Corrections” sheet.) Finally, there is that difficult to describe “speckle” of individuality (haecitas) that appears in the prose of an accomplished writer. If your name were not on the paper, could the reader, nonetheless, recognize it is by you? This is a grace added to works. If deliberately sought, it usually results only in mannerism. Keep your eye on the truth, on your purpose; persever toward those, and it will added unto you.
2. Its fullness of thought: the way in which the student gives evidence of having steeped himself in all the relevant “facts” of the topic, including those that go against his bent, so that he is utterly at home with his material. The author could say much more on any topic treated in the paper, each part was chosen from much more, and much had to be discarded to reach this result. On the way to his last-glance view, the student will have been open to all that is evident, flexible in treating it, rather than on the defensive, trying to “prove” a point, or staying immovably with a first or second impression; and thus more interested in following the path of truth, delighting in its plenty, and glorying in its radiant warmth, than in convincing a reader. (Winning an argument, you might still lose the truth.) Having reached his last-for-now view, the fully thoughtful student will also have understood what might be said against it and, beyond that, how very much more there is still to be found out. It is far better to acknowledge (if it is true) that one recognizes the complexity of a topic than to claim to have understood it. (For more on this point, read my remarks on the “Inquiry.”)
3. Its depth of thought: when a student has pondered something deeply, has “taken it to heart,” lived with it day and night, and even wrestled with it, as Jacob did with the Angel, then there is likely to be a break-through in imagination, in argument, in thought, and even, we might say, in soul. The writer must surely have become better, stronger, happier, through making these discoveries. In such papers the student learned something he did not already know, and from such papers the teacher might learn as well. The joy of such learning is often evident in its beauty. And upon such meetings of student and book, student and question, the mature student may well look back and say “that changed what I think,” even “that changed my life” as Kant said of reading Hume, and even betimes “that changed me” as Augustine said of a passage of the Gospel he heard a child saying aloud.
In truth, if there has been a break-through in the paper, it will most likely have happened first in the mind and in the heart of the student. Nothing is more important in a student’s life, more lasting, more happy, and thrilling to others watching.
Of course, the merit of any paper may be diminished by “extrinsic” considerations; e.g., it may be late; it may be on the wrong topic; or it may be diminished by “subordinate” things; it may contain so many typographical, spelling, or other “mechanical” errors that it cannot be read without impediment or vexation. Such errors obscure the merit the author may see in his paper. (And of course a moral offence such as plagiarism obliterates it utterly.)
Remark: Grades are compact signs of judgments, which the student by entering the class (college, university, etc.) has asked the teacher to give, first to them, perhaps to others as well. Since they are judgments, not gifts, they cannot be “given.” Since they are not gifts or even rewards, there is no reason to “thank” anyone for particular ones. Thanking your teacher for teachin is, however, appropriate.
Grade Scale (based on the above considerations):
D The paper is not on the college level; is immature, or superficial, or careless, or hasty; does not grapple with the subject. (F is all of the above together, or one pronouncedly.)
C The paper is on the college level, is a respectable piece of work, clear, without error, shows evidence of learning; “decent” but in no way remarkable.
B Above the average piece of college writing, worthy of honor. The paper is competent, logical, solid, giving evidence of a clear intellect, a mastery of prose organization, and sufficient thought to make the substance of some worth. It is a pleasure to read. The writer cares for worthy things.
A An outstanding thing: brilliant yet reliable, beautiful yet true, good and yet thrilling, and thus a joy to read. Such work cannot be predicted beforehand. Something surprising, original, and fresh occurs in the writing of the paper, so that it rises above the ordinary good literate writing of the college-educated person. In such a paper the writer enters the ranks of those who care about the life of the mind and speaks with the authority that is visited upon those who give themselves up to the study of something lofty and splendid until it becomes a part of them and speaks to others through them. From such papers the teacher learns too. Commonly such papers will have touches of wit and grace as well.
The powers of the soul cannot be known until they are exerted into existence by the desiring soul working hard and long and joyous.
Dr. Michael Platt
Then, for those with ears that need to hear:
Reflect on this truth: If a patient brings a doctor x-rays he says are “his,” but they are not, nothing the doctor says or does can do the patient good.
All work must be your own, all helps declared, and all quotations acknowledged. There is also the matter of deceit. All cheating, all plagiarism, all false claims are an offense against the ethic of study, a confession that one is not a genuine student, and a resignation from the company of honest human beings. They are also academic crimes, meriting punishment, including expulsion, severance (no right of readmission), and expungement (erasure of record). At a minimum, they will become a part of the student’s record.
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