Oh also: school

[lingua_seele]

So I got a freaking B in my literature seminar.  I'm pissed b/c a B in a grad class is almost like a high D or something anywhere else.  I mean it doesn't do that much to your GPA, I guess, but it raises eyebrows.  You get enough Bs and people start wondering if you should really be there.  I think the thing that was most upsetting was that the

Comments

you're not alone!

[alenaae]

I had the misfortune of having that same prof for two lit classes (one by misguided choice, and one because he happened to be teaching the survey course the semester I needed it). Bs both times. It's not just you. I mean, you walk in to his office hours, ask him to explain something to you, because it seems important to the class, and he responds "well, it's complicated". No shit! That's why I'm asking! The guy might be brilliant, but he doesn't know how to teach to non-lit specialists.

He also gave me the "I don't know why you're not doing better" line. He even said that he could tell that I'd been doing the readings and still didn't get it. That's about when I gave up on my ability to do lit, even though I'd never gotten that sort of message as an undergrad. I ended up getting a B in my other lit class too. Good news is that I'm still up for prelims this year - they didn't decide to kick me out, so I think you'll be fine.

My advice is to do everything you can to make sure that your lit survey class doesn't end up being his by default! I don't know who's better, but I can definitely say that his is worse!

I feel for you!