danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

Recently I remarked about the contrast between writing for pleasure and writing for school. At the time I was composing an essay for a course I am taking called History of Consumption. I found the assignment to be daunting, particularly considering how little I felt I knew about the subject of my paper, namely, mercantilist sugar production utilizing slave labor in the 18th Century, and the British abolitionists whose boycotts not only helped end the practice, but also wrought social change at home in England. I managed to write five pages, and actually felt proud of my work when I read it to myself.

But in class last week, the professor, Dr. Kroen, remarked how seldom she gave As, though there were a couple she wanted to share with us so we could get an idea of what an A paper sounded like. She proceeded to read back a paper involving Marx and Smith and aristocratic social reform and so on, and seemed genuinely pleased with it. But my heart sank after she finished a particularly baffling paragraph of the A-student’s paper and said, “wasn’t that a clear presentation of the argument?” I was about as clear to me as if she had been speaking Estonian. Indeed, she had been speaking English, but the words she said made almost no sense to me at all. (In some subjects–math or physics, for instance–I expect to be dumbfounded, understanding nothing; but this was not a course in which I expected that to occur.)

Yesterday I had a conference with Professor Kroen in her office in the wonderfully restored Flint Hall, completed in 1910. She had my paper on her desk, which sits before a fantastic, tall window, and though she seemed happy I didn’t want to assume anything; she usually seems happy. To my surprise, she said the paper was wonderful, and was one of those very few A grades that she gave. In fact, looking through the notations she left in the margins I see complimentary remarks.

I am thrilled at this development, not merely because an A is an A, but because it means that my anxiety is unwarranted. She told me that the reason that other paper she read had so confused me was because it wasn’t what I had written about, and the sources weren’t as familiar to me. Her next appointment was a no-show, so she and I had some extra time to chat about the course, and about the subject of consumption and consumerism in general, and it was all fascinating. I really cannot praise Dr. Kroen enough. Even if I hadn’t gotten a good grade, I am still in awe of her grasp of the subject and her enthusiasm.

So, if you were just dying to know about the politics of sugar production in the 18th Century, read my paper.

Filed under: School on February 20th, 2008