ABSTRACT
Looking forward to reading his students’ first essays, the new teacher of writing pours a cup of coffee and sits down at his desk to grade them. He picks up the first essay, which is printed elegantly on good quality paper. The paper has only one grammatical error, but little content. He moves it to the “later” pile and picks up the next. The second paper has many grammatical and usage errors, but it also has passages that seem to be insightful and poignant. He moves it to the “later” pile. The third is good, almost too good, as if it had been copied out of a book. “Maybe it was,” he thinks. It, too, goes to the “later” pile. He has been at the task more than 2 hours, but he has not written a comment or put a grade on a single essay. In the subsequent papers, he marks spelling and punctuation errors. He rewrites whole sentences and refers the students to pages in the handbook. Time passes, and he still has not written a comment or put a grade on a paper. He pours another cup of coffee and opens a bag of M & Ms. He thinks back to courses he has taken and to what expert writers have said about writing: “What oft was thought but ne’er so well expressed.” “Clear writing reflects clear thinking.” “Easy writing makes for hard reading.” All seem to be true in one way or another, but none are of any help when assessing this stack of essays.
