“Good afternoon, Misha.”
“Hey.”
“Would you like to tell us why we’re here Mr. Nesti?”
“I actually don’t know what you’re speaking of,”
“Oh, really? Well then, Augustus? Edward? Lillian? Do any of you know why the eight of you are here?”
“Is it because of our study group?” Olivia twittered apprehensively, “Yes, thank you Miss Ave, it is because of your study group,” Mr. Mulder replied, putting air quotes around study group, his smile tightlipped. “Any reasons why that might pop into your head first?” None us wanted to answer because none of us wanted the answer to be known, even to be true. We didn’t mean for this to happen, at least I didn’t.
It all started at the beginning of the year, junior year. We had just started touring universities, and while the anxiety of senior year college apps and admission had overwrought our minds throughout the past three or four years, it was this year it became real, on the forefront of our consciousness.
Gus was arguing with Mr. Miller about unfair grading of his AP English Lit Comp paper.
“Odour of Chrysanthemums” is clearly about isolation of the soul, with the devastation of Walter’s death to his mother, as well Elizabeth’s knowledge that she never knew or will know her husband.” Gus pointed out to Mr. Miller. I often had to stay in class ten to fifteen minutes longer to wait for Gus, because if he got anything less than the highest score on the curve he would debate the teacher for hours upon hours until satisfied with his grade. He is of small stature, but his argumentative air makes everyone else diminutive in his presence. I am the exact opposite.
“Well, Augustus, I don’t disagree with you there, but the assignment was about Elizabeth’s character development, and while is...
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...!”
“Well, I’m sorry Mr. Pontiki, but just because a few of you think you were graded unfairly does not mean its true.”
“Yes, but then I drifted upon a pattern of you grading high ranking students lower, so as not to wreck the curve.”
“How do you know that? Where is the proof?”
“If you look in the records of all of the high-ranking students from years past and compare them to those of the average student, you tend to grade the high-performing student more harshly.”
“This is not appropriate, I don’t know where you think you got this information, but it is wrong!” Mr. Miller retorted, flabbergasted. Gus was quite proud of himself. The day digressed as normal until I got a headache and felt dizzy right before physics, causing me to go to the nurse’s office. I was able to go back to the rest of my day soon after science and I went to the office for student assistant.
In her article, Talbot makes use of contrast in order to advocate her position. She describes the GPA of students today and compares it to the GPA of students twenty years ago; the grades of today’s students are about 0.26
Within Steinbeck's story, "Chrysanthemums," the main character, Elisa Allen, is confronted with many instances of conflict. Steinbeck uses chrysanthemums to symbolize this conflict and Elisa's self-worth. By examining these points of conflict and the symbolism presented by the chrysanthemums, the meaning of the story can be better determined.
Renner, Stanley. “The Real Woman Inside the Fence in ‘The Chrysanthemums’.” Modern Fiction Studies. Vol. 31. No.2. (Summer 1985). 305-317. print; reprinted in Short Story Criticisms. Vol.37. eds. Anja Barnard and Anna Sheets Nesbitt (Farmington Hills: The Gale Group, 2000). 333-339. print.
Steinbeck, John. “The Chrysanthemums” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V Roberts and Robert Zweig. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 416-422. Print.
In Paul Toughmay’s “Who Gets to Graduate,” he follows a young first year college student, Vanessa Brewer, explaining her doubts, fears, and emotions while starting her college journey. As a student, at the University of Texas Brewer feels small and as if she doesn’t belong. Seeking advice from her family she calls her mom but after their conversation Brewer feels even more discouraged. Similar to Brewer I have had extreme emotions, doubts, and fears my freshman year in college.
The start if college is like the end of one’s childhood. Yet I had no intension of letting that go when I woke up yesterday at 7:00 am. Still, like high school, my mom dropped me off and picked me up; copping almost the exact same routine from the four years I spent in high school. Just as I thought this ought to be the easiest way of transportation, my mom proved me wrong once we reached the University of Washington’s parking lot.
In today’s society we feel the need to be graded in order to learn. The topic of the grading system has sparked three essays, by three different authors, about the pros and cons of the grading system. First, Jerry Farber, professor at University of California at San Diego, wrote A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System (333). Next is Steven Vogel, professor at Denison University, who wrote Grades and Money (337). The last two authors in this compilation are Stephen Goode and Timothy W. Maier. They both are journalists for Insight on the News. While each of these authors have their own point of view on the grading system, all three essays talk about how being graded affects learning.
In John Steinbeck 's “The Chrysanthemums” an American short story, is presumed to be his most known work. A lonely woman in a garden is visited by a handsome drifter. She explains her flowers as an allegory to her life. Steinbeck’s uses strong characters, symbolism of the Chrysanthemums and the blooming life of women, her sexual desires, in a man’s withering power during the Great depression to produce a central idea. The central idea revolves around freedom to escape from the norm.
For the spring term, the faculty made changes and Philip got assigned to Miss Narwin’s homeroom class. Things got worse when Philip was assigned to her homeroom as if being in her English class wasn’t bad enough. When Philip got back to school he found out he was assigned to counseling. Philip was furious and still wanted to get out of Miss Narwin’s English class.
In “Life Is Not Measured by Grade-Point Averages,” H. Bruce Miller asserts that college students should enjoy and appreciate their education rather than worrying about grades. The article commences with a story about a student was accused of plagiarism. Miller then states that the purpose of college is to increase one’s knowledge so that they are able to obtain their degree and move higher towards their education. According to Miller, students are more focused on getting into the best universities rather than receiving a better education. Miller wants students to enjoy college and to not worry much about grades. Instead, students should focus more on the material that they are learning. Finally, he finishes off with the idea that we should take more courses that will be beneficiary instead of
Professor Aird to compromise and allow more students to pass; but he doesn’t believe that lowering his grading standards is truly going to help students succeed.
College for an incoming freshman is exciting, however, it is often focused on the social aspect such as the connections that can be attained through Greek life, parties and independence. Due to the social interactions, freshmen tend to drop out of college after their first year. Focusing on what college is meant for can prevent these situations. The pressures of college such as impressing parents, and maintain a high standard GPA-wise can lead to stress and freeze a student from achieving the proper academic performance. During the mid 1900s, college was considered more of a luxury than anything; people would attend college exclusively to acquire knowledge in hopes of obtaining a career after graduation. People in the twenty-first century, however, attend college to get away from home and enjoy freedom at parties. Education is taken lightly, and those who feel that education isn’t the main focus of college should not apply for sakes of the greater good.
...e sense alone. This idea reflects people's deepest fears, or perhaps evokes new ones. "Odour of Chrysanthemums" is not successful and shocking because of particularly beautiful writing, realistic characters or even a surprise ending. It is shocking because of a surprise thought.
“Yep,” I responded, “I just studied for a little bit longer.” Feeling more confident that I was going to pass the test, my stress levels started to fall. Then the day of the test came. The first test I had to do was piano technique or playing the piano. The test was located at another teacher’s house, which was about half an hour away from my house. During the drive, my heart rate started beating faster and faster, until it felt like my heart was going to burst. My dad, who noticed that I was stressing out said, “Calm down Andrew, there’s nothing to be worried about.”
Having spent twelve years of my school life in just one small red brick building, the years tend to fade into each other. But the year I remember most clearly and significantly is my senior year of high school, where I finally began to appreciate what this institution offered to any student who stopped to look. Before, school had been a chore, many times I simply did not feel motivated toward a subject enough to do the homework well, and seeing the same familiar faces around ever since I was 5 years old grew very tiring soon enough. But I began to see things from a different angle once I became a senior.