<p>Ok, well maybe I'm overreacting - I take that as a definite possibility here.</p>
<p>My AP English teacher has, throughout the year, been giving me grades on essays and papers which I believe don't do the papers which I write justice. After the first few papers I talked to him and he said that I "wasn't adhering to the given criteria, regardless of how well-written" the essay was. I took this as something which I needed to learn to do and moved on.</p>
<p>After he told me that, I began to pay extensive attention to the guidelines, scrutinizing the prompt/task and even gathering opinions from my peers as to the necessary content for a given essay. With this in mind I worked even harder than before on my essays, delving into more implicit contents of a work and using more careful and refined analysis. My grades were steady, the same as they had been before.</p>
<p>What bothers me here is not that the grades are not as good as I would like them to be but rather that there has been almost no improvement in my grades, even as I continue to work harder and harder on them. When I have my peers peer-edit my essays, they comment saying that they truly are fantastic essays. They are the first to admit that I have put forth more time and effort than they have on theirs and yet they continue to get A's while mine don't do quite so well (C range). Even though I am ranked very high in class rank and do very well in all my other classes, it really isn't the grade that bothers me as much as the person who grades my work.</p>
<p>Also, there was a little issue in the beginning of the school year that we had (which was not actually my fault, but I didn't think it was important enough for me to clarify that with him) which I'm not going to get into but I would like to believe that he has gotten over that by now.</p>
<p>Any advice? Should I maybe get my work graded by the other AP English teacher? My only issue with that is that even if i tell the other teacher not to inform my current teacher that I want him to grade my essay, my cover would be blown because they're colleagues and all.</p>
<p>Ok then I guess I’ll give that idea some serious thought. I just don’t wanna make my current teacher think that I’m disrespecting him, because he might be just immature enough to get revenge for something that i never considered an insult.</p>
<p>I find English teachers doing this often. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not. In my opinion, English, particularly essays, are not graded on a sound, concrete system. Rather, it is more up for interpretation in grading than a subject such as math, or chemistry. This can lead to a bias in style. For the same reason someone may like Dickens over Hemingway, perhaps this teacher favors another student’s style over your own. I’ve had this happen to me throughout high school. There is not much to do, but what I found helpful is to analyze other students paper to become familiar with what the teacher is looking for. After this, do your best to improve. That’s all you can really do.</p>
<p>It must be a thing with AP English teachers…I had to go to the guidance department for my grade bc my teacher gave the WHOLE class the same (mediocre) grade, including me, the highest average in the class by 30 points, and proceeded to tell me that it was actually a mistake, but he wont do anything about it.</p>
<p>Has it occurred to you that maybe you deserved the grades you’ve been getting? If everyone else is getting A’s and you’re getting C’s, there’s something that they do differently than you. Figure it out, there’s not much that people who don’t know you can do.</p>
<p>I think you should go back to your teacher and press for specifics. Don’t be arrogant or even have a hint of entitlement in your attitude when you go. Instead, approach him by saying you really want to understand what you are doing wrong. In other words, don’t accuse him of anything at this point - just put it all on yourself for the time being.</p>
<p>Don’t let him get off easy, though. He cannot simply say “you don’t meet the criteria.” Have him point out specific places you fall short, and have him give you concrete suggestions for what could be better.</p>
<p>Then, for the next assignment, ask him if he would be willing to look at a draft before you hand it in. Go over it with him, and actually make all the corrections he suggests and then see what happens. He may not be willing to look at a draft (he’ll probably say something like "if I do it for you, I’ll have to do it for everyone), but at least give it a shot.</p>
<p>I also thinking asking for a 2nd opinion couldn’t hurt. Just from the quality of your writing in that post I wouldn’t expect you to be getting Cs when most of your classmates get As. Perhaps the teacher still does have a hang-up on that one issue? It might also be that you say what you say well, but he just doesn’t like your argument. My English teacher gives higher grades when you agree with him and what he says in class. If you take the opposite stance, perhaps he marks you down for that?</p>
<p>@SeanPM, this is part of the reason that I believe I am overreacting - he may just find my style of writing irritating or different. He doesn’t use set rubrics, but he does use a set of given criteria.</p>
<p>@hannah, I can definitely see where you’re coming from, but the class as a whole seems to do fine on his essays. I’m the one who is receiving lower-than-average grades.</p>
<p>@eziamm, I would be willing to except that, but the fact that there has been no improvement in my essay grades is what bothers me. Also, my peers often say that I deserve much better and are usually astounded to see my final score. And I don’t want to risk my literary identity for the sake of a single english teacher.</p>
<p>@Got2BeGreen, Yes, I was actually going to do that very soon. I was going to confront him today, but I felt my emotions would take the best of me and resolved to do it tomorrow. I’ll keep everything you said in mind when I do meet him, so thanks!</p>
<p>@quomodo, it’s true that we may argue over certain things during discussion of topiocs, but isn’t that the definition of discussion? Also, we agree as much as we disagree, so I don’t believe that is too much of an issue. I think I’ll get a hint of what he feels about this when i meet with him to talk about the essay.</p>
<p>Many of you seem to agree taht the best thing to do is to get the 2nd opinion, but any advice on how to ask for it? I don’t want to just come up and say “I don’t think my teacher is fair”, if you understand what I mean.</p>