gall

Here’s the memo I just typed to staple onto this person’s journals and gave to him while I was handing stuff back before the final exam...

For once, writing something on the spur of the moment while I was still quite pissed off didn’t backfire and I kept things fairly succinct I think – I do regret not reiterating in there somewhere how if he had just done the journals as requested they would probably have taken far less time (even just the copy/pasting is more fucking time-consuming than just doing it yourself in the first place – each individual journal required at most FIVE sentences) and didn’t have to be very good at all (my NFA even ended up with an 8/10 ave b/c the majority of her communication came thru despite language use errors... well I might have amped it a bit but it was definitely in the C range – and he, tho lazy and an asshole and an idiot, writes far better than she does). What I really wish is that I would have had time to scan his journal gradesheet and to print the letter on letterhead but oh well...


Note: this is the third time this person took 222 - all three times with me and both of the first two times he failed b/c of simple lack of fulfillment of coursework and excessive absence. His test average was low C range - plenty to pass if he had just got his act the fuck together.

9 aug 11 James,
 I really don’t know what to say. I’m astounded that the third time through you would have the lack of respect for your work and the course to use online (or perhaps in person) translation for the vast majority of your journals.
 Being very familiar as I am with the styles and pitfalls of online and/or mechanical translations, and comparing with your original writing sample and considering that I have known your writing now for three semesters, I can say unequivocally that it is impossible that you wrote these journals with only occasional dictionary use as the instructions direct.
 If you would like to dispute any of these journals you are welcome to come to the office after the exam and write a few more samples for me to prove that you are capable of writing at the level of these journals.
 Let me know before you leave the classroom if you are going to do this. I will be leaving campus right after the exam otherwise.
 Yours sincerely,
 ES

I resisted mentioning, in the first paragraph, his lack of respect for me in addition to the course and his work... This day and age I finally have stopped presuming they'll have an iota of that in the first place.