Well, mostly

I have told one student from the 102 that, even though he submitted his essay a little late, I will provide some comments for him. I was going to try to do that tonight, but I am out of gas. I did get all of them done for today's conferences--albeit, in one case, about 20 minutes before the student was due to arrive. One student didn't show up, which is very unlike him, and I'm now extremely worried, as I haven't heard anything from him. I hope he's OK.

Just for the record, Snotty Daughter sent an essay that was two pages under the appropriate length and that did exactly what I said not to do: engaged in lots of unsupported generalizations and almost no actual analysis of the novel. And Manic Mom emailed again, with a half-assed thesis, to ask if that was enough to act as a place-holder just in case she gets a chance to write the essay. I had told her that if she submitted a first version--even if it was very rough--I'd give her the same points on it that I would on the final version, but I had to let her know that two sentences would not be enough to get that deal. She can still do the final version if she wants, however. I came very close to saying, "If you can't make up your fucking mind, I'll make it up for you: you are now not allowed to do the final essay. Period." But I didn't. I did tell her that if she insists on having the perfect thesis before she starts writing, of course she's going to spin her wheels. She needs to have something that's good enough to get her rolling and then actually write the essay--not notes, not research, but actual paragraphs, in order, with evidence. Then she'll likely write her way into a thesis. But I bet she won't do that. I'll be surprised if she submits the final essay. And I'll be even more surprised if Snotty Daughter doesn't again act snotty about "having points taken off" because she did a half-assed job. Another student came in for a conference but hasn't even started writing her essay yet--and didn't really have an idea that she wanted to prove. I honestly will be very glad to see the back of those three.

But the other students were great in their conferences--and with my help, found solid matter to build their essays from. I have no idea what I'll actually get in the end, but I've done all I can do now. Really: I have done all I can do.

By the way, I didn't mention, but one of the students I met with yesterday, a very smart but extremely quiet young man, asked me at the end of his conference, "Do you know a lot about literature?" "Well," I said, "I do have a doctorate." He was looking at the wildly diverse (and over-stacked) books in the bookcase behind me. I told him I'd bring the dissertation to the final class. He wanted to talk more about the novel, too, and was going to meet with me today but then had to cancel.

I know the students are having a miserable time with this final essay--and they always do--but I think they have been more powerfully affected by the novel than they realized. I think it's going to live with them for quite a while. And that's pretty cool, actually.

Shifting gears: three students from today's class want comments on their essays. I'll find out how many in my other classes want comments when I met them next week. Like an idiot, I have now offered incompletes to three students. Two of them I offered earlier in the semester (and wish I hadn't with one of them, as although she's very bright, she hasn't been getting stellar grades). One I offered today. The student, from the 101, has been a good student--and has gone from borderline hostile to very open and friendly--but he didn't get the essay done because of serious life events. He was smiling when he told me what was going on, but his hands were shaking and he was jittering--which only got worse when I was kind to him about it and offered him the lifeline of the incomplete. I think he was trying not to cry. In any event, not only will I have a significant wodge of grading to do next week, I will now have three essays to read and evaluate, and three final grades to calculate, in January. I reckon it's just going to take a while for me to let go of this job.

I'm on the fence about whether to take record cards home with me over the weekend so I can input the numbers. I think I will, just in case I get a wild hair to do some work. It's working without really working, if you know what I mean. It would save me a little time next week, but wouldn't tax my brain. But grading? Nope. Not doing any. Not until next week. Then I'll be a madwoman, but what else is new? It's end of semester as it ever was.