Well-Earned Minus

DURING MY freshman year I took an English literature course on Nathaniel Hawthorne from Professor Henry L. Terrie Jr. I spent hours in the library on the term paper, created copious notes and references, and wrote what I thought was an excellent paper, beautifully typed and full of all the footnote Op. Cits and Ibids I could throw in.

Needless to say, I was crushed when I received the paper back with a grade of D... ...... (that's a D with 13 minuses after it). The explanatory note said, "This was a failing paper, saved only by the obvious effort you put into it."

He was right, of course. The paper was a continuous string of quotes, without a single thought of my own. Today, 35 years later, I frequently re-tell this tale to my own college students to help console and encourage them as I return a similarly graded paper.