"Favorite" student sentences

[writingprof]

I had a student just write that they really enjoyed Flannery O'Connor's short story "A Good Man Is Hard to Grind."

I don't know if the student has a dirty mind there, but I sure do.  :)

Attempting to locate SparkNotes, a student inadvertently accesses erotic fan fiction. Was the author Flannery O'Boner?

(Sorry, sorry! Mods, please delete this if I've gone too far.)

[mamselle]

From a good student in my lit class:

[Michael Wigglesworth] was a man respected and feared by his pears.

You're supposed to talk to your plants, not threaten them!

Not if you're the demon Crowley!! (Gratuitous Good Omens reference there).

Or if your plant's name is Audrey....

   <...gulp!>

M.

[Golazo]

I had some "public policy" essay writing without the l in public. In once instance something like 12 times.

[apl68]

I had some "public policy" essay writing without the l in public. In once instance something like 12 times.

Those of us who work in public libraries have to be on guard against this all the time in our correspondence.

[mamselle]

Adds a new layer of meaning to "Special Collections"...

M.

[OneMoreYear]

Actual favorite.  My LMS stalled when I was apparently trying to run too many applications through it (too many  = 2).  I had to leave the synchronous session and come back in.  As I was rejoining, I could see the chat.   One student had written "We're unsupervised! Let's run amok!"   

[sinenomine]

Actual favorite.  My LMS stalled when I was apparently trying to run too many applications through it (too many  = 2).  I had to leave the synchronous session and come back in.  As I was rejoining, I could see the chat.   One student had written "We're unsupervised! Let's run amok!"

I love it — thanks for the laugh!

[AvidReader]

I asked my students to describe how their arguments will be structured. 

Student: "The structure of my argument will be a 3.5 paragraph essay."

Student subsequently describes the main point to be addressed in the 3 paragraphs, but does not tell me the plan for the .5.

AR.

[apl68]

I asked my students to describe how their arguments will be structured. 

Student: "The structure of my argument will be a 3.5 paragraph essay."

Student subsequently describes the main point to be addressed in the 3 paragraphs, but does not tell me the plan for the .5.

AR.

It's a four-paragraph essay where you go back and edit out half of one paragraph before submitting the final draft.  Sounds like something they must be teaching in high school now.

[Parasaurolophus]

Not quite sentences, but two darling phrases from a student paper:

fish hunter

suicide boomer

[traductio]

I asked my students to describe how their arguments will be structured. 

Student: "The structure of my argument will be a 3.5 paragraph essay."

Student subsequently describes the main point to be addressed in the 3 paragraphs, but does not tell me the plan for the .5.

AR.

It's a four-paragraph essay where you go back and edit out half of one paragraph before submitting the final draft.  Sounds like something they must be teaching in high school now.

Any idea what the logic is behind that? That approach seems rather arbitrary and ill-suited to most writing situations in any of my classes.

[AvidReader]

Student: "The structure of my argument will be a 3.5 paragraph essay."

It's a four-paragraph essay where you go back and edit out half of one paragraph before submitting the final draft.  Sounds like something they must be teaching in high school now.

Any idea what the logic is behind that? That approach seems rather arbitrary and ill-suited to most writing situations in any of my classes.

I assumed apl68 was being sarcastic/funny. I still don't know what the student intended.

AR.

[OneMoreYear]

Student: "The structure of my argument will be a 3.5 paragraph essay."

It's a four-paragraph essay where you go back and edit out half of one paragraph before submitting the final draft.  Sounds like something they must be teaching in high school now.

Any idea what the logic is behind that? That approach seems rather arbitrary and ill-suited to most writing situations in any of my classes.

I assumed apl68 was being sarcastic/funny. I still don't know what the student intended.

AR.

I've heard the term refer to 3 body paragraphs--5 paragraphs total (because of the intro and conclusion paragraphs, so . . . 3.5 paragraph essay.
I think it's a confusing term, and I'm not sure why we are not just calling it a 5 paragraph essay.

[traductio]

Student: "The structure of my argument will be a 3.5 paragraph essay."

It's a four-paragraph essay where you go back and edit out half of one paragraph before submitting the final draft.  Sounds like something they must be teaching in high school now.

Any idea what the logic is behind that? That approach seems rather arbitrary and ill-suited to most writing situations in any of my classes.

I assumed apl68 was being sarcastic/funny. I still don't know what the student intended.

AR.

That's probably the case -- I'll be honest, I struggle any more to tell the world of the Onion from the world we live in!

[Parasaurolophus]

This gem was just posted to my weekly Q&A thread for logic:

"some of those quiz questions made me feel like I was staring into alphagetti like some kind of canned pasta haruspex."


A bright future in the academy beckons!