I just finished grading 160 mid-term exams.  These were essay exams asking students to choose a thesis (out of four provided theses) and write an essay supporting that thesis.  The day before the exam, the students were provided with the short story and the thesis selection, and could prepare by writing a practice essay, or re-reading the story, etc., but could bring nothing into the test itself.

The beginning this ordeal happened to correspond to my reading of Blau’s discussion on testing (p.146), and on the thesis test in particular.  I graded few of the exams above a C – not because I am a particularly hard grader but because the students were unable to show applicable evidence for the thesis.  As I went through exam after exam, trying to figure out what the problem was, it occurred to me that because the thesis was provided, the students really couldn’t permit their own interpretation into their essays.  But they couldn’t deny their interpretation either (much like Robb in the think aloud of “Gretel”), and therefore their essays were often rambling, scattered and unfocused.  I concluded that the provided theses were not interesting to most of the students – in fact, they were irrelevant to their reading of the story.  If I had asked the students to identify possible themes in the story, it’s likely few would have seen “a challenge to gender stereotypes”, or “bridging gaps between cultures”.  Instead they likely would have found themes relevant to their own lives and their reading of the story.

What does Blau say about the thesis exam?  While recognizing that students are prepared throughout  in high school to write exams supporting a thesis, when it comes to literature exams, we need to do things differently.  Because we “experience” literature, and we encourage interpretations through the personal/cultural/ideological lens, it is necessary to leave it up to the students to arrive at their own meanings, to figure out how the story is meaningful to them.  To that end, modifying some of the workshop ideas might produce better essays than the ones I just finished.   For example, Blau suggests asking students to select what they think is the most important line (or event) in the meaning of the poem or story and explain why.  This approach would enable students the freedom to explore what is interesting and meaningful to them, rather then box them in with a pre-determined thesis.  The point is to identify the “high points of their experience” (146) and ask them to describe and interpret these points, in their own words.  Another approach might be to modify the “difficulty paper” idea – asking students to exploring the problems of a line or an event that they find difficult to interpret.

Obviously, grading these types of exams is far trickier than the thesis exam, but I think they would be a much more interesting read for me!  And would hopefully be a more satisfying and rewarding experience for the students.