This section includes several samples of my evaluation of student writing, taken from the First-Year Writing Seminars that I have taught at Cornell. My usual approach in marking essays is to employ a mixture of marginal notation and end comments. The end comments are generally accompanied by a letter grade. In cases where I have had multiple interactions with the student over the course of their writing process (such as when I have reviewed several drafts), my end notes will often be relatively brief. If I have not already had significant engagmenet with the essay, the comments will usually be longer.
For this part of the portfolio, I have selected representative samples from each class that I have taught. They are ordered here by length, from shortest (4 pages) to longest (20 pages). All authors have given permission for their essays to be presented here, along with my comments. I have removed all identifying information — including grades — to preserve the authors’ anonymity.
〉 The Role of the Supernatural in Bede and Geoffrey of Monmouth
〉 Moral and Religious Geography on the Ebstorf Map
〉 Claiming Territory in the 1507 Waldseemüller Map
〉 Origins of Dualism in Anglican Christianity
〉 Increasingly Unruly Exegesis From Bede to Chaucer
〉 Medieval Artists’ Relationship with Venerated Pigments
〉 Defining the Nation in Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities
〉 Divine Will and Time in Medieval English History Writing
