The first essay: a note on grading

I am beginning to send the first essays back to you right now; they should be in your inboxes in the next hour.

You might notice that I haven't included a grade on your essay. I find that even though I put hours and hours into writing comments, students are inclined to skip the comments and focus instead on the grade, although the grade isn't going to tell them anything they need to know to improve their writing or analysis.

So, if you want to see your grade alive, you just need to answer this little ransom note:

1. What was your greatest strength in this essay?
2. What was your principle weakness?
3. What will you do in writing your second essay to capitalize on your strength and to avoid the problems presented by your weakness? Be as concrete as possible.
4. What questions do you have for me? Do you have any responses to my comments?

Check back here later today for some general remarks on this batch of essays.