Interpreting Grades for the
Graduate Seminar in Cultural Anthropology
“ It is most distressing to us to be the agents
whereby our erring fellow-creatures are deprived of that liberty
which is so dear to us all – but we should have thought of that
before we joined the force…it’s too late now.” --The Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance.
It’s no great pleasure to grade papers.
However it’s my duty to evaluate what you write carefully and
seriously. You’ll see that my grading of your papers reflects
that. Here’s a guide on how to interpret your grade. Please
remember that your grade is not a moral statement or an evaluation
of your worth…it’s just a grade on a single paper. Don’t take it
personally. Do read my comments VERY CAREFULLY and take them into
account on your next paper. Grades on a first paper are not
destiny.
In departmental evaluations, we judge that
students exceed expectations, meet expectations, or fail to meet
expectations. Grades basically map to these evaluations (though
there is quite a lot of wiggle room). Grades from 90-100 exceed
expectations. Grades from 80-90 meet expectations. Grades below 80
do not meet expectations.
In graduate grading, the maximum grade you can
receive is 100 (very rare in my classes). The minimum grade I will
normally assign is 70. Keep in mind that grades below 80 are failing grades.
My grades are based around mid-points. That is
to say, I consider an A to be equal to 95, a B to 85, and a C to
75. Points above or below the “5” point can be considered pluses
or minuses.
So here’s what the grades mean:
95 to 100: Really really excellent. Your paper
was probably better than what I would have written. These grades
are rarely given (most of the time I’d give my own writing a 95, no
more). If you get one of these, it means you’ve really impressed
me.
90 to 95: (yes I’m aware of the overlap).
Exceeds expectations. Your paper shows great promise. Your writing
is excellent with very few mistakes in referencing, grammar or other
mechanics. You show outstanding command of the assigned
literature. Your ideas are creative and insightful.
85-90: Meets Expectations. Your paper shows
substantial competence. Your writing is good (though perhaps not
inspired). You may have a few mistakes in grammar or referencing or
other mechanics, but I’m not worried about them. You cover your
topic reasonably well, though probably without any particular flash
of insight. You have considerable command of the literature, though
not true virtuosity. These are good, respectable grades.
80-85: Minimum Standards. You’ve
completed the assignment in an acceptable manner. Your paper
is readable, though it might have some significant language issues.
You’ve demonstrated that you have a general sense of what’s going on in the
literature and in the class.
75-80: Light Fail. This might have been a
passing undergraduate paper but doesn’t represent acceptable work on
a graduate level. There are meaningful mistakes either in the
mechanics of writing in your understanding of the literature and
material of the class or both. You probably have some organizational issues
(though this will not be true in every case). A trip to the writing center is probably in order.
70-75: Deep Fail. You almost certainly have issues
both in the mechanics of writing and in your understanding of the
class material. Your writing may be so bad that I can’t really tell
if you do or do not understand what you’ve read. You certainly need
a trip to the writing center and you might need to hire a professional editor.
Please keep in mind that grading essays is a
subjective thing. I can consistently tell the difference
between an 82 paper and an 88 paper but the difference between an 84
and an 86 is more of a matter of opinion and may be the result of a nice lunch or a bad burrito. In other words, I would
guess that my accuracy in grading these papers is probably plus or
minus about 2 or 3 points.
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