Grades are in for the semester! SO relieved.
Which means that the well’s rather empty for the moment. I should have more time and energy to write this weekend. But in the meantime, I have wondered: how does one grade creative writing? I’ve taken creative writing classes, but never taught one. One class was graded “pass/fail,” but the standards for the other classes were never quite clear to me.
My composer husband suggested that these classes might be graded as he grades musical compositions: risk-taking, originality, clarity, responses to feedback. I know that feedback is central to the writing process. But as I’ve played with creativity in the classroom through this seminar (both as teacher and student), I have also noted the importance of grounded encouragement in taking risks. The greater the student’s risk-taking, the higher their vulnerability.
How would you grade–or how do you grade–creative writing? Or did my professor have it right: is pass/fail the best option?
I think it’s a tricky question—how does one grade art? Your husband seems like he’s on the right track. I’m not personally a fan of the pass/fail option. I think effort should be rewarded commensurately.
That said, my MFA program gave me straight As—I’m not sure everyone got them but I wouldn’t be surprised. People are pretty motivated in grad school to get as much out of the opportunity as they can. For the most part, their parents are no longer paying the bills:-)
As a student, a pass/fail system would leave me unsure as to where I could improve my writing; as a system, it’s easier for the teacher but it’s a missed teaching opportunity.
@Tea: yes, how does one grade art? I think I am thinking about the issue as a teacher, rather than as a writer/artist. Effort should be rewarded, yes, but what about the student who’s worked SO hard and yet the piece/essay has SO far to go? Perhaps the trick there is to think about how far the student’s traveled. (And I’m not surprised you got straight A’s; I genuinely appreciate your writing.)
@Janet: I can understand your concern. My pass/fail class wasn’t without feedback, however–we got written comments on every weekly assignment, I think. Now that I think about it, the idea may have been to move us away from a single defining letter label: “Aha! You’re an B writer. Carry that with you always.”
To be honest, I don’t have much of a clue as to what a creative writing class actually entails …….. but one thing I would ask if you are reading student’s work is …….. how does the piece make you feel? For as we transcribe someone’s written word in our head, scenarios, thoughts, feelings, wishes and dreams appear ……. just a thought 🙂
Hi Mouse–as I remember, we were given prompts each week, then brought our responses to class and then “workshopped” them. Everyone had copies, and we gave each other feedback, both oral and written. In a few classes we had examples to read from published writers, or we brought in our favorite (short) examples of writing, to introduce them to the other students. I think I became disillusioned with grading when one of my teachers referred me to his own writing as an example of what he was looking for in an “A” piece of writing.