plato's allegory of the cave
Today someone came in with an assignment to analyze Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." The Greek philosophers are already difficult enough to understand (I will forever despise them), but the essay prompt was equally vague (asking you to "consider this" and "consider that," but never spelling out what to do). I think it's unfair to assign subjectmatter like that to a class level that doesn't have the foundation necessary to build on it. But then, this is the same teacher assigning an article that critiquing psychoanalysis to freshmen in an English class, and expecting them to deliver senior-level critical responses. As someone trying to help, it's frustrating!