As you all know, I teach four courses a semester, and I teach the whole range: composition, gen ed literature, service courses in the major (the intro to the discipline, the survey in my general 200-years and national tradition specialization, as well as the theory course), upper-level courses in literature in the undergraduate major, and graduate courses for our MA program (theory). That’s a lot of different levels of students, and a wide range of students even within the various levels. Probably my least favorite thing to teach is comp, though I think I do a good job at it, and probably my most favorite is teaching upper-level undergrad lit courses. That said, I have a special place in my heart for the students whom I teach in gen ed lit courses, and I actually have the most fun in my gen ed lit courses, in terms of course design. There is something that’s truly energizing about introducing students who are not into “English” to literature that they will dig.
Now, it is the case that a fair few students who enter the university as English majors choose to fulfill their gen ed humanities requirements with my gen ed courses, but usually they are very early on in their undergraduate careers, and a lot of them actually switch to another major after they realize what “English” is really like at the college level. Alternatively, a lot of the ones who enter the university declared in other majors switch to English or declare a minor in English after a course with me, once they realize it’s not like high school English, so it all evens out. But the point is, I suppose, that I do teach gen ed lit courses “differently” than I teach courses aimed at majors, which I think is appropriate, since even the ones who think they are English majors might not be, and the ones who are already declared as other majors might ultimately find their way to English. The point of a gen ed course, I really do believe, is different from a course that is *for* majors. A gen ed lit course is about getting students excited, or teaching them that what they thought was exciting is just a sideline to their true interests. That’s different from preaching (or teaching) to the converted.
Except, this semester, I’ve got this student in my gen ed lit course. He’s a first-semester freshman, and he’s a declared English major. And he is *so* an English major. And he’s a challenge for me, in the context of a gen ed course, precisely because of that fact.
Here’s the problem: he’s brilliant and excited and ambitious and very, very serious. About literary criticism. Why is that a problem, you ask? It’s because I find myself relating to him and grading him as if he were in a course for majors – an upper level course for majors – and it’s not really fair. I’ve crossed the line from trying to excite and intrigue him with the course material and to pushing him really freaking hard, even though he’s a baby first-semester freshman. And he’s asking for it.
Dude, one day he walked into class with a big freaking Wittgenstein book. And that shit does NOT confer any kind of social capital at my institution. No, he just was reading it. Because, you know, it was interesting. And he (who is very shy and doesn’t talk much) stopped me after class to ask me whether there were “any journals that talk about reading literature through philosophy.” And he has been really pushing himself on all of his papers – his ideas are AMAZING and CREATIVE and WELL BEYOND the ideas of your typical first-semester freshman.
I knew I had crossed a line when I loaned him Terry Eagleton’s Literary Theory. You know, to read in his copious amounts of spare time. (And he’s actually reading it. He just sent me an email about it.) After that he asked me to be his adviser in the major.
But so the tough part is that he’s been sort of lame in his papers. And because it’s not a course for majors I can’t teach him what I want to teach him about writing in the major, and yet I am judging him by that standard on the basis of his ideas. Because I want to push him and he wants to be pushed.
Basically, I feel like he’s earning an A+ but his grade looks more like a B. But then I’m worried that if I adjust it then that, too, is potentially fucked up.
Honestly, I have never had this problem before. Students may like me or dislike me, but they never have an issue with the fairness of my grading. I am really good at the whole “fairness” thing, under normal circumstances. In this situation, though, I feel like there is no way for me to be fair. Because based on how I grade a gen ed course, this student is way above the bar with ideas, but below the bar with execution. Frankly, he’d be better off if his ideas were bland and the writing were strong. If he were more interested in “doing well” than in stretching and pushing himself. Dammit.
But WOW I want him to take every freaking class I teach! I haven’t been so excited about a student in years and the last one I felt this way about this early on is now earning his PhD at the state flagship.
I’ll figure out what to do about the grade (probably I’ll split the difference and participation and extra credit on the final are going to help him, so he’ll probably end up somewhere around an A-), and it will all be ok. I just wish in some ways that I hadn’t encountered him in a gen ed course. Because I can’t do for him what I want to do in that context. Though, of course, I’m glad I’m the one who snatched him up with a gen ed requirement, because I feel like if he’d ended up with somebody less challenging he’d defect and be a philosophy major 
We don’t care about your students. We want to hear about your BOYFRIEND!
I respectfully disagree with Comradde PhysioProffe above. I like hearing about this student. I’ve had one like this, too.
Here’s the deal — when I had a student like this, I felt guilty about the grade I gave him, too, but then, in the end, he thanked me for holding him to a high standard. He was a great thinker, but a so-so writer, and he made a lot of really simple, stupid mistakes. He also had a hard time coming up with a thesis in an intro, but he made excellent points throughout his papers. I wouldn’t go so far as to say he had an implied thesis, really. He just had a jumble of fantastic and thoughtful ideas, but no connection between them. Does that make sense? Anyway, I tried to help him shape up his writing a lot through comments and talking to him. It did get better. But he ended up with a B+ — the worst grade he ever got in an English class. And he thanked me. Maybe your student will, too.
It’s always exciting to have one of those students! I assume you’ve told the student what you’ve essentially told us, that his ideas are brilliant and his execution in his papers just needs some work to catch up to his ideas? If I was your student, and was told that, it would mean a lot more to me than getting an A. Also, it probably push me to work on improving the writing and putting the effort in there as well as the ideas.
Sapience and Fie, I like you a whole lot. And yes, I’ve communicated this to the student… I think my bigger issue is that I want to be sure I’m grading him fairly in relation to the *class*, if that makes sense. It’s all going to end up fine: it just frustrates me that I feel like this is a problem, and that I feel like I can’t quite do for him in this context what he really needs, if that makes sense.
CPP: Shut up. You’ve heard enough about my “boyfriend” (which, by the way, I hate little more than being a “girlfriend” so boyfriends freak me out. I think I would be an EXCELLENT boyfriend, however.)
Agree with Fie. Last semester, i had such a student. His performance in class discussion was amazing. His final paper was dissapointing beyond belief, and I gave it a B-. He ended up with a B+ in the class. Today, he walked into my office and asked me if I was willing to direct him in an independent study on Latin American Philosophy!!! He obviously holds no grudges
Blah, blah. Tell us about how handsome he is, and his hairstyle.
He is adorable and he has a shaved head and looks like he would kick your ass, CPP
w00t!
So I basically agree with the others, (except CPP!). I think you need to trust yourself on your grading. If the match between his ideas and his writing isn’t great, then he needs to get the writing up to snuff. I just had a student say he wanted to do an experimental writing project for the final paper — I think he’ll be surprised that I responded by return email “This sounds great!”
Longtime lurker here: I think the advice of folks above is spot on, and I trust your gut and experience to make the right call on the final grade. But I’m more fascinated with the way that you describe your ideas about gen ed at a regional college. It’s an issue that I struggle with in my teaching. How to get students excited about literature but hold them to a high standard? Do students in your gen eds write as much as they do in, say, the survey? Do they read as much? Do you save “hard” novels or stories for upper level seminars or do you introduce them earlier? How does your approach to the same literature differ through this range?
No need to reply here; but, if you are casting about for a topic down the line, I’d love to hear more about this!
I guess I think he should still be graded in comparison to what the class is doing. I mean, mark the hell out of his papers to show where they should be better, but when he’s above the class on ideas, maybe go A- or so. But he’s your student and your call.
We have plenty of smarties in philosophy, but one more wouldn’t hurt
… that said, I’m glad you got him — you deserve him… a word of warning, tho — I’ve had super-enthusiastic want to know it all NOW types in the past, and they’ve burned out or got distracted by physics or something.. so, talk with him about the virtue of thinking about things over a longer period of time… and not taking on too much work or too many credits at once. A Ph.d. in anything is a long haul and he doesn’t have to know everything NOW.
[...] Reassigned Time [...]
Fie & others are correct. You could explain to him that you’re thrilled he’s so interested in ideas, but that one of the key skills he’ll need in order to pursue his interests in literature and philosophy is writing clearly & effectively. So you could say that you’re pushing him to ensure that his writing is able to convey the sophistication and complexity of his ideas, or something like that.
Something I might do, were I in this kind of a situation, is to show some of his written work to a colleague whose values you share and whose judgment you trust. She or he will be able to tell if you’re being either too soft or too hard on the guy.
Many of my students are like that once they hit the major. But it doesn’t show until later, so I am saved from this dilemma. I know what you mean, though.
[...] Remember that student from my course last semester who was a first semester freshman who was so freaking enthusiastic and intense and awesome with the ideas but who gave me pause because he needed to catch up to himself in terms of technique and methodology and all that jazz? Well, the good news is that he is not taking a course with me this semester. The better news is that he’s taking a class with CF, so she will reinforce some of what I introduced to him last semester, as well as introducing him to new and more awesome things for majors, and also it’s the intro to the discipline course, so he’s going to learn a heck of a lot about English Studies and about the ways and means of things that he needs to know to succeed. The totally freaking awesome news is that he wrote a paper over the break – you know, just for fun – using Nietzsche to talk about Kerouac, and he’s meeting with me to talk about it – among other things – on Tuesday, and he’s interested in working up a presentation for the student research thingie that happens every spring. AND HE IS ONLY A FRESHMAN!!!!! Yes, he’s intense, and yes, he has a lot to learn, but I am so excited that I get to mentor him! And I’m so excited that he wants me to mentor him! Huzzah!!!!! If this continues, he’s going to need his own pseudonym, but I don’t want to jinx it by giving him one prematurely [...]