Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

I wrote a very shoddy paper and emailed it to my professor yesterday. It's not like I can't write good papers, but I was under the impression that the write-up was not the important part of the project. Clearly I was wrong. I got it back with some of the following comments:

In the he email he wrote that I would have to do more for a passing grade. Fine, whatever, I take no offense. In the attached document he left the following comments:

"Did you read what you wrote?" (in response to a left out word)
"All of what? in Africa? Las Vegas??" (in reponse to me saying he pooled all the census data (he used U.S. census but i didn't say that explicitly)
"CAN YOU READ?? DO YOU WANT TO FLY WITH A PILOT WHO LEAVES THINGS OUT?" (in response to a left out word 'to')

I rewrote it and will send it back to him shortly (fortunately I turned it in early) but now that that's over:
what's my response? Once the semester is over I figure I have four options.

1) Ignore it
2) Write him a calmly worded email explaining how nonconstructive his criticism was.
3) Write the email and CC it to the department chair
4) Send the letter directly to the department chair
5) Have sex with his wife.


I'm not sure if it matter but he is truly a terrible teacher. He's disorganized, long winded and obtuse. He never rarely gives feedback and never gives clear instructions. Perfect example is my partner (who's a much more diligent student than me) had the same thought on the importance of the write-up and signed off on the crappy version without hesitation.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

I wouldn't be offended by any of the things he wrote, so I would just choose number 5 for fun.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

your overreacting... his comments may not have been choice.. but he probably got pissed at spending a half hour grading shoddy work.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

2 & 3 (Calmly worded email to him and department chair, making sure you keep his original reply in your email)

5 if you have time

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

Do you not have student reviews at the end of the semester? At my school we got more than one prof fired with our feedback.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
5) Have sex with his daughter .


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FYP

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

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I wrote a very shoddy paper and was told the non-sugarcoated truth

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a rare TIE fyp

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

you're totally overreacting. if you write a crap paper, you deserve to be called on it. no biggie. learn your lesson and move on.

I wish there were more teachers out there like this...

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

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you're totally overreacting. if you write a crap paper, you deserve to be called on it. no biggie. learn your lesson and move on.

I wish there were more teachers out there like this...

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I agree. I might understand a reaction if you told us that you tried really hard, and gave your best effort, but to be offended when he calls you on your admittedly shoddy work is lame. The best professor I ever had was "rude" (by your definition). In the margins of the introduction to the first paper I ever wrote for her, she commented "this intro. is horrible; I hope the rest of the paper isn't like this." I took her for three more semesters, and never worked harder for another professor.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

5 if you can. 1, otherwise.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
I wrote a very shoddy paper and emailed it to my professor yesterday.

1) Ignore it
2) Write him a calmly worded email explaining how nonconstructive his criticism was.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wrong. His criticism was constructive. It clued you in to the fact that you [censored] up. Could he have had a bit more tact? Sure, but he also could have just graded it as is and [censored] you over.

Suck it up, he did it in private; the only reason anyone knows about it is because you're sharing it here. Be thankful he let you redo the paper.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

comment I got on paper last year: "You might
want to check those brownies you've been scarfing before hitting send."

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

Try editing your paper or maybe reading what you write.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

you turned in a paper that you probably never even proof-read. why do you expect him to spend a ton of time giving you thoughtful criticism?

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

i dont understand how u can complain at the end of your post he never gives feedback and then cry when he does give you feedback. write him back an email thanking him for looking at your paper early and you not having to take the class over, why would you be a retard when he went out of his way to help you?

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

6) Send an email thanking him for giving you a second chance on a paper you did a horrible job on your first try.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
5) Have sex with him for a passing grade .


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FYP

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FYP

also, don't send in work with poor punctuation and grammar. It is a clear sign of no effort.

Welcome to the real world, where no one owes you anything. Wait until your boss calls you an f'ing idiot one day...or just buck up a little and don't send in crap work

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

Seriously, I think you're lucky he didn't just fail that part of the project or whatever for wasting his time.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

i think the haters are a little out of line on this one.

the professor is obviously an [censored] who sucks at life.

but its not worth fighting the fight imo, just ignore it and walk away.

finally, apparently it sounds like you had a baddish paper. i can sympathize somewhat since i have a hard time catching really basic typos, my brain just doesn't parse english well (probably in large part because i spend nearly zero time studying it). ultimately though, you need to fix the typos or be willing to take some flak for it.

if the professor flat out dismissed the content due to some typo, he is a huge nit. content should come first when evaluating ANYTHING, people who get caught up in the minutia by default are either nits or very dumb people. since he is a professor, i am guessing he is just a huge nit.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

Goofy,

I don't like it when professors call me dumb, but if I turn something in knowing it's crap and they tell me it's crap, I don't mind at all because I know it's true. I've gotten a few rude comments ( [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]), but I've always deserved them.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Goofy,

I don't like it when professors call me dumb, but if I turn something in knowing it's crap and they tell me it's crap, I don't mind at all because I know it's true. I've gotten a few rude comments ( [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]), but I've always deserved them.

[/ QUOTE ]

foshoooo

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

I think his comments were a bit harsh. I don't think it warrants any sort of action on your part though.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

My guess is this paper read like it was written at the last minute, without much thought, and without much proofreading. Yeah, prof was annoyed to have been given that. It's not his duty to pat you on the head and pleasantly tell you that perhaps you should proofread what you write, and ask if maybe you didn't give him your best effort. He just gave you his unedited thoughts.

Thicken your skin and realize this prof just shoots from the hip with his comments. Complaining about the phrasing of the prof's comments isn't going to gain you much except further ire. If his complaints have merit, ignore how he phrases them and do better next time. And now you know that this guy seriously hates getting papers with obvious typos and structure errors--don't send him any more such work and you may avoid receiving further scathing commentary (and honestly, none of these comments sound all that bad to me.)

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
comment I got on paper last year: "You might
want to check those brownies you've been scarfing before hitting send."

[/ QUOTE ]
lol, awesome.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

i had a professor last semester who would write comments like that, but not in a mean spirited way. he was a real nice guy that just was honest about things that needed improvement. everybody, even those who did really well, got comments that would seem "rude" on their face, but really he was not being rude at all; it was just his (semi)sarcastic style.
for example, i did really well on one assignment (i think i got the top grade in the class for that one), but there were numerous times when when he'd circle a sentence that was poorly worded and write something like:

"this really sucks"
or
"haha this sentence is soooo confusing. are you trying to torture me?"

obviously if i didn't know they guy i'd think "what a dick!"...but if you knew him, you'd know not to get offended by the comments at all. (it helped that he would also give plenty of positive feedback for things that you did well.)

anyways, i don't know if OP's prof is the same. it's very possible he's just a dick, but i would ignore it...sex w/ wife or daughter is an intriguing option, however

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
i had a professor last semester who would write comments like that, but not in a mean spirited way. he was a real nice guy that just was honest about things that needed improvement. everybody, even those who did really well, got comments that would seem "rude" on their face

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Which reminds me of a paper I did for a Fiction into Film english class (gotta hate having to take humanities to become a well-rounded person in college--dammit, I just wanted to learn engineering!) Got back the first paper and my heart sank. It was COVERED in red marks. Every other sentence the prof had found something to dislike. Just a sea of red. I turn to the 2nd page hoping he'd get tired of ripping on me and no, it's equally bloody. Crap. Turn to the third page and on the bottom is "A+ EXCELLENT!!! Can I distribute a copy of this to all the students to read?"

That's a good kinda prof. I'm always happy to have constructive criticism, long as you ultimately acknowledge at the end that I do indeed rewl. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

does no one else proof read papers and read out works
I mean serisouly sometimes my mind automaically puts them there but I still do good school

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

1 or 5 or both, and don't write [censored] papers... even if you don't think they're very important, it takes all of 30sec per page to proof read a paper, and looks awful if you have stupid mistakes...

That said, I've turned in poorly written papers in the past as well, but they are usually later in the semester, when I am sure of my grade, and the expectations of the prof...

That said, good job getting it in early, it sounds like you're on the right path... the prof might have flamed you bc he is happy that you got it in early, and is hoping that you write a good paper and get a good grade deserving of your work/ planning ahead ability etc.

-J

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

<3 how OP seems to have vanished!

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

dude, you're not in high school anymore. suck it up.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

TIEdup14,

I didn't disappear, I decided people were right and I was overreacting. OMG DRAMABOMB.

LittleFishy,

And others who said 'omg just edit it.' I did but to really effectively edit a paper I need time away from it, I just don't see missing words when reading through something I've just ridden. Anyway, I rewrote it for an A, whoo.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

goofball,

Ever heard the trick of reading the paper from end to beginning?

Helpfully,

RunDownHouse

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
5) Have sex with his daughter .


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FYP

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do this and ignore the comments, u deserved it i guess...move on...

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

I'm a college teacher, and I write VERY blunt comments on students' papers. I do tell them so before I hand them back -- and tell them NOT to take it personally. I tell them I am here to help them get better, not to coddle them and improve their self esteem.

I will often bracket portions of the paper and write things like "this is complete gibberish," or "this doesn't make any sense at all," or "this contradicts a point you made earlier." Sometime I will write in the comments at the end something like "You really need to work on your writing skills."

In short, I believe in being honest, and if honesty stings, it stings. But there is a line between harsh, blunt honesty and hostility. Saying "CAN YOU READ???" is a little over the top. We all leave out words sometimes and I try not to be mean -- I just circle common mistakes or add the missed word and move on.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

Obv 1.

Grow a pair.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

[ QUOTE ]
"Did you read what you wrote?" (in response to a left out word)
"All of what? in Africa? Las Vegas??" (in reponse to me saying he pooled all the census data (he used U.S. census but i didn't say that explicitly)
"CAN YOU READ?? DO YOU WANT TO FLY WITH A PILOT WHO LEAVES THINGS OUT?" (in response to a left out word 'to')

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is not that the professor is being blunt, but he is wasting huge amounts of spacing being a dick about mistakes that really have nothing to do with how the paper is written. Appropriate responses for stuff like this is pointing out the mistakes and then at the end saying something like "you completely dropped the ball on this paper. it was full of mistakes and poorly researched. i am giving you the chance to do a rewrite, but i must be clear that this quality of work is completely unnaceptable." There, the student gets the point without personal insults and entirely unconstructive criticism.

The OP was obviously-although maybe understandably-in the wrong in turning in crap, but professors are professionals (ha!) and should act appropriatly.

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

he did it because he cares. not sure where you go but i would hazard a guess thats a rarity. be thankful

Re: Professor gives rude comments on paper, my response?
 

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I wouldn't be offended by any of the things he wrote, so I would just choose number 5 for fun.

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Yup. Not really a big deal man. After all, you wrote a [censored] paper to begin with.