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which is not at all the case.
I am a professional writer and editor, and I have taught English in both high school and in business college. I have found that people who aren't comfortable with their writing skills, and especially people who are left-brain dominant (logic over holistic assessment) don't "trust" the writing instructor, because they think the instructor is judging essays arbitrarily, based on his or her opinion of writing style, opinion of the student, or, as you say, whether they have included the "right" answer in the essay according to what the writing instructor believes is the "right" answer.
But writing is not a left-brained, right/wrong, yes/no pursuit. We writing instructors are not looking for the "right" response when we read an essay; instead, we're evaluating whether the writer's essay has met the following criteria:
- Complete sentences - Correct grammar - Correct structure - Clear presentation of subject - Proper opening, body, and conclusion - Clearly stated thesis
It may be disconcerting to left-brained students to receive a grade that they can't trace back to specific elements that were done correctly or incorrectly; for those students, some instructors provide a mathematical breakdown of the grading process, assigning a number of points out of 100 to the various facets of "what makes a good essay". If your OP is about a writing class that you're taking now, you might want to talk to your instructor to find out how he or she evaluates the essays assigned.
As for the "one essay only" issue--well, if you take a math test, do you get a couple of tries to get the answers right? If a student in a writing class is paying attention and has learned the proper format of various types of writing, he or she should be able to reproduce that style/format in their completed essay--only one shot required.
However, when I taught high school seniors, I found their writing appalling, yet they had been given high marks for what was, in essence, utter crap, before entering my class. Instead of continuing this terrible practice that would soothe their egos and placate their GPA but would do them no favors when they started college (most of them were planning on going to college), I graded their essays honestly, but gave them the opportunity to improve their grade by sitting down with me to discuss what they needed to do better, heeding my advice and comments on their paper, and then rewriting it. Grading it a second time was more work for me, but I was willing to do it if the students were willing to put forth the extra effort to improve their writing. The best part of it was it was up to THEM whether they wanted to accept a lower grade or do the work better. They were being treated like adults, and their grades were in their hands, leaving them no room to complain.
Sorry for the long-winded response. Hope it clarifies things "from the other side", though. :hi:
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