Sol

Ah Bree I feel for ya. Several thoughts come to mind.

You can conform for the rest of the semester. Eliminate the language simply by having someone else proof your work prior to turn in. You could go as far as to give this instructor exactly what they want. I know you aren't liking the sound of that, but I do get the impression that you know exactly where this person lives (metaphorically speaking). This approach would elevate your sagging grade enough to earn a pass. The instructor maybe smug enough to think they have obtained the upper hand and control, but if you remain clear in your thinking and the goal it represents, you will have achieved something through this exercise. Consider it a life lesson in how to deal with a situation with the least investment of personal energy in order to manipulate the outcome in your favor. I know it sounds like a sell out, but it can be a smart thinking plan.

If it's not too late you could drop the course and find a substitution on down the road to fulfill the requirement. Another class that is more in tune with your sensibilities.

Of course you could rally round and fight this thing all the way. The choice really is ultimately up to you. How much do you want to invest and is the principle of the thing worthy of the efforts? How much do you know about this instructor, what is their reputation on campus and how much pull do they have in administrative circles, what is the general climate like on your campus? Only you can decide your course of action. Let us know and best wishes.

Godless Dave

I know at University of Toronto they will mark you down for using American spellings.

pz

Shhhh. If Bush gets wind of that, he'll be launching cruise missiles at Canada.

Bree

Well, I got my last essay back this evening. Grammar/spelling - 2/10 points. Clarity - 2/10 points. Grasp of concepts read - 10/10. Apparently she can see I comprehend just fine, but somehow at the same time CAN'T read because I spell incorrectly? Sheesh. Keep in mind that I wrote and submitted this essay BEFORE she emailed me this afternoon and said my spelling and grammar was incorrect. She never even gave me a chance to correct the error.

I think I'll write my essays at exact post-secondary level standards. The same as all my classmates do - I'm not above asking to see their fully-graded papers and then inserting a phrase like "anit wasnt good enoug for him wass it" (quote from an Asian girl's paper - she is second-generation but can't speak English). However, the final essays - on Malcom X and someone else (I'm leaning towards Margaret Sanger or Lance Armstrong) - will be in MY English, goddamn it.

Is it a double-standard if the teacher gives As to people who don't speak English?

Edited to add: I've always been a straight-A student so this is a real, low blow. I feel bad backing down in my conviction, but I need the A so I can speak at graduation. Mother and dad will be so proud (snort).

Acinom

Bree, I'm sorry that your teacher's such a psycho. But I think the best course of action in this circumstance is to drop the class, because obviously neither you nor her really enjoys having you in this class. While I certainly cannot justify her giving you "D"s just because of a few spelling errors, I can understand her being annoyed and frustrated that you are in her class and that you keep spelling things contrary to the way she wants them spelled even though she's made it clear to you exactly what she wants. That of course, on top of the fact that you've already objected to reading material that she's assigned in her class.

You could probably talk to the Dean about this situation, but if it comes up that you stayed in the class and that you kept making these errors basically just to annoy her, it's not going to make you look very good either. Twisted as it is, it just may be her way of teaching you how to spell. (Honestly, "colour" is not the way you spell that word in the U.S.) Her fault is that she did not explicitly state this in the syllabus but arbitrarily took off points on an ad hoc basis.

AquaVita

Hmm...here in Texas, a D is failing. At least in the public school system, not sure about colleges.

Loren Pechtel

I've encountered plenty of stupid professors over the years. Tried complaining, it never did any good.

Any class with potentially subjective grading can be a real problem. I've gotten a couple of class grades of D for disagreeing with the teacher--and one of those was an engineering class! (Hint, teacher: When you specifically state that the economics are part of the problem you should consider interest! Nor should you be upset when a major project gets a one-paragraph answer saying that the project is uneconomic and should not be done--not when that was a valid and the only correct answer. You should also realize something is wrong with your lectures when you have 8 people show up out of 400.)

ju'iblex

You should also realize something is wrong with your lectures when you have 8 people show up out of 400.)

KoopaFanatic

Much as I'd like to suggest fighting it, it really doesn't do too much good.

A few years back I had a prof tell me that English has no plural possessive form. I said Huh? He dropped me another point for questioning him. Still hate that fuckhead. (His argument, BTW, was that contemporary genocide was justifiable because the countries that are doing it now never had the chance to do it before. Like usual, the western countries were trying to spoil everyone else's fun. )

Jimmy Higgins

Well from looking this, I see a huge problem, both with you and the prof.
#1, you do need to get off your soapbox with the spelling. While learned is a legitimate word, if she wants you to spell color without a 'u', just do it. Not trying to be harsh, but its college.
#2, I think she'd have an extremely difficult time explaining to the dean why she judges you with a 10 on concepts and 2's in grammar and clarity, with clarity being the biggest point. I'm not too sure what clarity is supposed to model, but if she believes that you are understanding the concepts, it must mean you are explaining these concepts very well. And therefore if you are explaining them perfectly as the 10 of 10 shows, she must be able to understand what you are saying and therefore the grade in clarity is a farce. You can't be explaining your points to perfect satisfactory without being clear and precise in your writing!

You'd need to show this with many upon many of examples to show the dean or supervisor the correlation.

Its college. You've got to do what the prof's ask, in most cases. I had to read Song of Solomon in my Classics of Engish Literature class. I hated the book. It was awful, and not in a boring sense, but in a literary sense. Oprah can kiss my ass. But I read the book and did the assignments. In my final, where I had to answer on the book, I finalized with my opinion of the book, but I DID read it, even though I didn't really want to. There is a time and place for disagreement. Don't mess that up. What is happening is a pride war between you and her. Remember that both sides feel that they are justified in their actions.

If you can talk with your academic advisor, I'd recommend him/her first. Your situation sucks for sure, but don't let it screw you. I know I couldn't afford to drop a class, so don't do anything that will cost you money in the future at school! Get the problem resolved, but try to make it so that she is happy in the end as well as you. She'll be more likely to give a more adequate grade than a C.