WRIT 140: Good Riddance
May 1st, 2009 | Published in ALL, EDITORIAL | 4 Comments
by Corey Arterian
Writing 140 has become the bane of my existence. I was not prepared for what this seemingly simple college writing course would entail. As a transfer student, I was frustrated when the writing course I took at Bryn Mawr College was not accepted, but I assumed that this class would be no sweat.
The issue I have with the course isn’t that it is difficult, or that my teacher is bad (she’s actually really nice…please give me an A). The problem is that the grading rubric has clearly been put together by a close friend of the Devil if not the Devil himself.
The first day of class, freshmen and disgruntled sophomore transfers looked at each other fearfully after hearing the spiel of how the grading would work. My teacher tried to calm our fears saying, “Oh don’t worry! I’ve given out a few A… minuses.” I could just see my GPA sliding down sadly and there was no way I could stop it.
After that first class, I frantically ran around, grabbing people, shaking them, “HAVE YOU TAKEN WRITING 140??? HOW BAD WAS IT?? HELP ME!!” And the answers all seemed to be the same, “You will not do well in that class. It is impossible. Accept it.”
One freshman who requested to remain anonymous for fear of her teacher’s wrath stated, “I felt like I did everything I could to get the A, but I still got a B.” This tends to be the overwhelming sentiment associated with this class.
After a couple of weeks, a sort of calm came over me. I just accepted the class for what it is: a scare tactic. The class is made up mostly of freshmen who are lead to believe that this is what college writing entails, thus scaring the bejesus out of them.
I, for one, wasn’t exactly scared, just frustrated. I am in my fourth semester of college, I have written several papers graded by several different people, and never have I gotten the grades that I have in this class. So, considering myself as a C+/ B- writer is a hard pill for me to swallow. In fact, I absolutely reject this dose of supposed reality. Because, if experience is anything to go by, this writing class is not reality. And yes, I completely admit to the fact that I am an ultimate geek who takes her grades far too seriously. But, when we get down to it, I would much prefer a mediocre grade in a substantial course, rather than Writing 140, which is merely a sad shadow of what college writing should be.
May 3rd, 2009at 8:15 am(#)
Required class or silly right of passage – you decide. Some things the university devises to form us and improve us must be endured. Let the school have its fun – don’t let them know you just don’t care about this stupid class – otherwise they will have many meetings and “work hard” to improve the course!
Improvement will torture future students further – don’t be unkind be silent!
May 15th, 2009at 10:06 am(#)
this is the piece i overheard you bragging about? the one tearing writing 140 to pieces? you’re a fucking shitty writer and this does not even begin to touch on the issues writing 140 has within the general education program.
May 20th, 2009at 10:29 am(#)
umm…anon, you need to slow your roll.
September 28th, 2009at 3:56 pm(#)
Maybe I’m a complete and utter anomaly, but I am one of the few USC students to have gotten an A in Writ 140. So yes, maybe that makes me biased, but I totally and completely disagree that the grades given in the course do not represent “reality”. As a graduate of writing-intensive college prep high school, I learned most of the things taught in Writ 140 waaay before I even wrote a single college application, which gave me plenty of time to hone my writing skills before attempting a college-level paper. But after doing peer reviews in that class… yikes. It’s clear that not everyone had that advantage. Writing is not an easy skill to master, and if Writ 140 teachers are expecting you to be writing at a college level, they’re not about to inflate your grade just for trying.