But the feedback on the paper was what I would expect on a final assessment. There was a lot of it, too. My professor engaged with the ideas, disagreed or agreed with me, commented on the writing style, called me out on poorly made points, and then wrote a one page explanation of my grade. I'm astonished that he did all that for such a relatively worthless assignment.
The grade also surprised me. My expectations were based on the 200 level (non-honors) classes I've taken at Oregon, and I was expecting an A- or an A, with a one or two sentence explanation. I took two 400 level classes last year and I got almost no feedback that impacted my writing (freshman year was better in that regard). And generally, most of the feedback comes one the final paper, when it is no longer useful in the context of the class.
Here's a class (or a professor, or a university - I don't know) where the entire term is a learning process. Specific critiques he gives me now I can assimilate and use on my final paper. It's completely obvious that this is the way classes are meant to work, and sad that I'm so surprised.
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Tomorrow I'm flying to Hong Kong. I'll meet my parents there and stay through Sunday, though they're leaving Friday. I'd be more excited if I didn't have another essay due (same class) the Monday after I get back. I'll take my laptop to H.K. and pretend I'm on a business trip, like everybody else there.
I'm expecting good Chinese food.
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