Mean Comments on Coursework Drafts.

I'm all for constructive criticism, but reading some of the comments I've gotten on my Hamlet essay draft, I wonder what my teacher was aiming to do - help me, or make me cry. :frown:

I honestly don't know how I'm meant to better the essay. :s-smilie:

Has anyone else got this problem?

Reply 1

becky.fm

18

My english teacher sometimes writes sarcastic comments on my coursework... but i normally just laugh it off. Any examples? :smile:

Reply 2

Epitomessence

OP

12

Well, I got... "Your poor style intrudes on making an useful analysis", which kinda stung.

Reply 3

Flash6289

3

Not much of an English teacher if he/(most likely)she puts 'an' before 'useful'...

Reply 4

Epitomessence

OP

12

Lol, I think that was a mistake in my paraphrasing. :biggrin:

Reply 5

kellywood_5

17

Awww, that's really harsh :hugs:

Not helpful at all either- just telling you your style is poor doesn't tell you how to improve it. Maybe you should ask your teacher what exactly s/he meant and how your style could be improved.....and try to avoid the temptation to tell him/her their marking is poor :biggrin:

Reply 6

dans

12

I prefer to be told harshly on coursework drafts as it makes me the more determined to improve it considerably to prove them wrong. This is for the wrong reasons, but hey!

"Poor style" - if I had this comment then I would do the complete opposite of what I'd done in the first instance.

As can be seen by my grades, AAABC, I achieved a C grade at AS. This was in French, in which they were not too harsh on us.

Reply 7

Excalibur

15

I think I've got the opposite problem: my teachers are far, far too generous in their marking and I'm worried that I'm not getting enough constructive advice on how to improve. I guess it matters less with me as I'm not doing essay subjects, but for stuff like German it's really annoying that they hardly give me useful feedback...

That comment is harsh though, I sympathise :hugs:

Perhaps it'll help if you go and ask the teacher in person how to improve?

Reply 8

AisAis

13

Be thankful you can read your teacher's handwriting!

However in sociology I had written an example along the lines of, 'If I was a builder and I married Prince William I would go from working class to upper class and be upwardly socially mobile,' and when I got it back my teacher had writen, 'nah, you're too good for him!' in the margin. :laugh:

I found it funny anyway.

Reply 9

Epitomessence

OP

12

AisAis

However in sociology I had written an example along the lines of, 'If I was a builder and I married Prince William I would go from working class to upper class and be upwardly socially mobile,' and when I got it back my teacher had writen, 'nah, you're too good for him!' in the margin. :laugh:

I found it funny anyway.

Once, in a Spanish essay, I wrote something about how I saw a cat with three legs, and my teacher wrote "what's all this about?" I just thought, "what it says, of course, a cat with three legs!" :wink:

Reply 10

Ywiss

15

Epitomessence

Well, I got... "Your poor style intrudes on making an useful analysis", which kinda stung.

What a stupid comment. Speak to your teacher face-to-face, and keep very civil, and just say, trying not to let any emotion escape into your voice, "Sorry, I wonder if you can help me - I don't quite know what you mean by 'your poor style intrudes on making a useful analysis'." If they've got any self-respect, they'll bluster and fumble a bit and try and give some examples of "poor style". At this point, carry on being very calm (try and think of it as a means to get the best mark on your coursework possible) and say something like, "Oh okay, so I wonder whether you could possibly tell me (a little subtle sarcasm) how to improve it then." With an unspoken addition, "instead of just criticising me". That'll make them work. With a ridiculous comment like that, they probably just wanted to make you lose hope in your work so that they wouldn't have to do anything with it - but if you take the initiative and go and talk to them with a slight reproach in your voice, they'll have to help you. Remember, the teacher is paid to help you - you're not paid to be insulted by them.

Good luck!

Reply 11

username43584

8

My teacher gave me a ridiculously low mark for my AS english lit coursework draft with criticism all over it. However I was able to pick holes in all her comments which drove her mad - it's fun to watch teachers get a taste of their own medicine.If you *know* they've marked up down for a particular comment, don't be afraid to challenge it.

Often they overcriticise drafts because they want you to really work hard on the final piece. I barely changed my draft for my final piece yet it jumped up a band and I got near full marks.

Reply 12

RobJonesxx

8

As far as coursework draft comments go I think I win with "rough sex" written on top of my Outside Dog coursework.

Reply 13

wackysparkle

14

my english teacher was always mean to me - she predicted my D's -- and she picked on me sometimes
and she announced to the class when handing back assignements that i would get a D with stuff like that
she even had favourites--- it was bad!

but thennnn mwhahahaha -- i got an A* and another A [3 marks off an A*] -- needless to say she came to me on results day to personally congratulate me - and i was like :redface:

h thanks --- that was it!

lol - don't be so harsh to your english teacher like i was! i regret it at times :rolleyes:

-- yeah at times!

i suggest that you filter out the sarcasm and what not and look for the pure criticism that is most beneficial to you and work alongside that - don't dwell on those mean comments -
just work well and write your essays well -- that'll show her! :smile:

Reply 14

Chubasco

1

That sounds really harsh, it's not exactly constructive criticism! However, the fact that your teacher's bothered to criticise your work in that way means that they think you could improve it - if they thought that your draft was the best you could do, then they wouldn't bother. Probably a good idea to talk to your teacher and try to find out exactly what you could do to improve - make her be specific. I can sympathise, as my GCSE science teacher nearly made me cry because she gave me a 15 min lecture about my coursework, telling me how 'awful', 'dreadful, 'terrible' and 'appalling' it was but I got an A for the coursework eventually and A*A* overall.

Reply 15

Epitomessence

OP

12

wackysparkle

my english teacher was always mean to me - she predicted my D's -- and she picked on me sometimes
and she announced to the class when handing back assignements that i would get a D with stuff like that
she even had favourites--- it was bad!

but thennnn mwhahahaha -- i got an A* and another A [3 marks off an A*] -- needless to say she came to me on results day to personally congratulate me - and i was like :redface:

h thanks --- that was it!

lol - don't be so harsh to your english teacher like i was! i regret it at times :rolleyes:

-- yeah at times!

i suggest that you filter out the sarcasm and what not and look for the pure criticism that is most beneficial to you and work alongside that - don't dwell on those mean comments -
just work well and write your essays well -- that'll show her! :smile:

I'll do that. And thanks for the advice everyone! :tsr2:

Reply 16

vector

15

Some of my teachers mock me in comments, but it's all in good spirit :smile:

Reply 17

bertarina219

One of my friends got told her A2 English coursework was a 'trainwreck' which I thought was slightly harsh- especially as the next sentence said it was currently at C/D level! Surely if an essay can get a C, it can't be completely horrific?

In terms of comments to me, my Psychology teacher seems to enjoy irritating me... On my Psychology coursework he took a mark off for 'unusual presentation' (I put the whole thing onto multi-coloured card and sellotaped it so the whole thing had a slightly 3D feel to it- not quite a scientific report, although as I argued 'The mark-scheme says 'report style, and my report has style...') and in my homework on soap operas, when I used Hollyoaks as an example he put a '-1 (only joking)' in the margin. I don't take any of it seriously though.

Reply 18

plopSDCSDC

14

Yes, i believe that this is one of the main areas that teachers should consider about because even tho some teachers may be good at teaching, their feedback to their pupils and students are incredibly vital.

I had a new English teacher for about a year after my good one left and i absolutly despised her as i remember quite harshly no even wrote but CROSSED out half my Prose essay and had written ' Totally not relevant and a load of nonsense' which of course i was very angry about. To me, that really gets me vexed and annoyed greatly because not only did i spent so much time on it but teachers like these don't even realise how important productive feedback back to you is and that a student does well becuase of producing good work, but how would you know if you done well or not with comments liek these? Plus, the critisism isn't even at all constructive - but perhaps even psycologically damaging too, the way it was all crossed out and bluntly written over in red pen ' a load of nonsense'

It's harsh - and it got me very de-moralised, less confident and unmotivated in teh subject.

Absolutly hated her, she wasn't a good teacher and she didn't even care about what you say in class too.

absolutely awful teacher. :mad: