ENG 121 Matthews

[Marlin9276]

Okay, so maybe I'm just not understanding the citation guidelines and I'm completely at fault here, which is a reasonable option, but I cannot figure out what Prof. Matthews wants. I've read posts about her and how she wants you to follow the rubric and guidelines to a T. I've read that for some she can be a real nightmare, and for others she's fine. Despite knowing that, and despite getting her as my ENG professor, I've tried my best to keep an open mind. It's going on the fourth week and she still says my first milestone has so many citation errors.

She says that I need to remove all my headers and replace these with transition statements that one, let's my paragraphs flow from one into the next (okay, fair) but then two, its an important way for her to determine originality in my writing? You need me to get rid of my headers for you to determine if the rest of my essay has originality, and not, I don't know, using the rest of my essay to determine originality?? Maybe I'm overreacting about this but it feels very nit-picky from her. 

She doesn't like my use of full-length titles, believes it to be ineffective - and I'm just whinging here - but I use titles that to meet the requirement "identify six scholarly sources within the disciplinary areas written in the topics discussed that you have found using the library’s academic databases" (Matthews para. 1) <- did I cite this in MLA-9 correctly? I guess she wants a more subtle, scholarly way of referencing the sources?

Other more specific issues are fair since I didn't understand some parts of the MLA-9 guidelines and I just winged it and it didn't work.

I also got very passive-aggressive vibes from her second feedback. She began it using my full first name, even though I have a preferred nickname (I don't know if profs can see the preferred nickname), and then said my revision was a "mild improvement". 

At this point I'm re-writing my entire essay at 2 am because she's gotten me so stressed out that I'm not going to pass her class since there are two more milestones, and that I will have better chances taking the Sophia equivalent that everyone says to stay away from.

Look, I'm not exactly looking for advice on what to do because clearly I still have a lot to do for my milestone that I've "mildly" improved upon. I'm working on it. I just needed to rant a bit - sorry if this is not the place to do it. Maybe I'm just not understanding the instructions of this milestone correctly and have spent a bunch of time (that I now know was wasted) writing the wrong thing cause I got the wrong idea. 

Ignore this if you don't think it's relevant, I'm just very frustrated right now.

[sixdegreesandamovie]

I was thinking about taking this as an elective but now I'm not so sure.

[ss20ts]

Okay, so maybe I'm just not understanding the citation guidelines and I'm completely at fault here, which is a reasonable option, but I cannot figure out what Prof. Matthews wants. I've read posts about her and how she wants you to follow the rubric and guidelines to a T. I've read that for some she can be a real nightmare, and for others she's fine. Despite knowing that, and despite getting her as my ENG professor, I've tried my best to keep an open mind. It's going on the fourth week and she still says my first milestone has so many citation errors.

She says that I need to remove all my headers and replace these with transition statements that one, let's my paragraphs flow from one into the next (okay, fair) but then two, its an important way for her to determine originality in my writing? You need me to get rid of my headers for you to determine if the rest of my essay has originality, and not, I don't know, using the rest of my essay to determine originality?? Maybe I'm overreacting about this but it feels very nit-picky from her. 

She doesn't like my use of full-length titles, believes it to be ineffective - and I'm just whinging here - but I use titles that to meet the requirement "identify six scholarly sources within the disciplinary areas written in the topics discussed that you have found using the library’s academic databases" (Matthews para. 1) <- did I cite this in MLA-9 correctly? I guess she wants a more subtle, scholarly way of referencing the sources?

Other more specific issues are fair since I didn't understand some parts of the MLA-9 guidelines and I just winged it and it didn't work.

I also got very passive-aggressive vibes from her second feedback. She began it using my full first name, even though I have a preferred nickname (I don't know if profs can see the preferred nickname), and then said my revision was a "mild improvement". 

At this point I'm re-writing my entire essay at 2 am because she's gotten me so stressed out that I'm not going to pass her class since there are two more milestones, and that I will have better chances taking the Sophia equivalent that everyone says to stay away from.

Look, I'm not exactly looking for advice on what to do because clearly I still have a lot to do for my milestone that I've "mildly" improved upon. I'm working on it. I just needed to rant a bit - sorry if this is not the place to do it. Maybe I'm just not understanding the instructions of this milestone correctly and have spent a bunch of time (that I now know was wasted) writing the wrong thing cause I got the wrong idea. 

Ignore this if you don't think it's relevant, I'm just very frustrated right now.

You'll find many professors stick to the rubric and instructions. Putting the question in your paper isn't a title. You need to create a title from either the question or your response. Professors can't see nicknames. They see your legal name and that's it. Have you emailed her for clarification on the issues you're having?

[anthonyk02]

I actually had to drop from her class and get a W for the exact same reasons Marlin9276 mentioned. She stressed me out big time. Also, you ain't crazy. it did LOOK like she does have Passive aggressive vibes, HOWEVER. A lot can be misinterpreted when writing a response vs oral speech. I am not going to sit here blame her or any other professor for that. Last term, I had her and I didn't know what to do. Being an ESL doesn't help either. Lord have mercy for us foreigners.

[ashkir]

My friend, Braven took this. His citations were perfect. I have an MA and a Doctorate now. I had to learn to perfect citations. She rejected his citations and demanded he change them. He changed them to a worse version she said he had to do it again. He literally copy/pasted his first response and she passed it and said it's perfect. I really think she may be just rejecting people's first attempts. He was so stressed out on this he asked me to check his citations. 

She also kept telling him to look up non-existent webpages on Purdue.

[dcarson5212]

Okay, so maybe I'm just not understanding the citation guidelines and I'm completely at fault here, which is a reasonable option, but I cannot figure out what Prof. Matthews wants. I've read posts about her and how she wants you to follow the rubric and guidelines to a T. I've read that for some she can be a real nightmare, and for others she's fine. Despite knowing that, and despite getting her as my ENG professor, I've tried my best to keep an open mind. It's going on the fourth week and she still says my first milestone has so many citation errors.

She says that I need to remove all my headers and replace these with transition statements that one, let's my paragraphs flow from one into the next (okay, fair) but then two, its an important way for her to determine originality in my writing? You need me to get rid of my headers for you to determine if the rest of my essay has originality, and not, I don't know, using the rest of my essay to determine originality?? Maybe I'm overreacting about this but it feels very nit-picky from her. 

She doesn't like my use of full-length titles, believes it to be ineffective - and I'm just whinging here - but I use titles that to meet the requirement "identify six scholarly sources within the disciplinary areas written in the topics discussed that you have found using the library’s academic databases" (Matthews para. 1) <- did I cite this in MLA-9 correctly? I guess she wants a more subtle, scholarly way of referencing the sources?

Other more specific issues are fair since I didn't understand some parts of the MLA-9 guidelines and I just winged it and it didn't work.

I also got very passive-aggressive vibes from her second feedback. She began it using my full first name, even though I have a preferred nickname (I don't know if profs can see the preferred nickname), and then said my revision was a "mild improvement". 

At this point I'm re-writing my entire essay at 2 am because she's gotten me so stressed out that I'm not going to pass her class since there are two more milestones, and that I will have better chances taking the Sophia equivalent that everyone says to stay away from.

Look, I'm not exactly looking for advice on what to do because clearly I still have a lot to do for my milestone that I've "mildly" improved upon. I'm working on it. I just needed to rant a bit - sorry if this is not the place to do it. Maybe I'm just not understanding the instructions of this milestone correctly and have spent a bunch of time (that I now know was wasted) writing the wrong thing cause I got the wrong idea. 

Ignore this if you don't think it's relevant, I'm just very frustrated right now.

I finished this course with Professor Matthews in the last session. I had the exact same issues. Her requirements for citations are unreal. She would not provide any constructive feedback, only that they were not how she wanted them. When I submitted the final, I cited her Purdue Owl recommendations as a note and said I thought they were wrong, but that's how she wanted them. I ended up with an A-, the only one I have received in 160+ college credits. She is not a competent professor and I feel like the course was detrimental rather than beneficial.

[ashkir]

Okay, so maybe I'm just not understanding the citation guidelines and I'm completely at fault here, which is a reasonable option, but I cannot figure out what Prof. Matthews wants. I've read posts about her and how she wants you to follow the rubric and guidelines to a T. I've read that for some she can be a real nightmare, and for others she's fine. Despite knowing that, and despite getting her as my ENG professor, I've tried my best to keep an open mind. It's going on the fourth week and she still says my first milestone has so many citation errors.

She says that I need to remove all my headers and replace these with transition statements that one, let's my paragraphs flow from one into the next (okay, fair) but then two, its an important way for her to determine originality in my writing? You need me to get rid of my headers for you to determine if the rest of my essay has originality, and not, I don't know, using the rest of my essay to determine originality?? Maybe I'm overreacting about this but it feels very nit-picky from her. 

She doesn't like my use of full-length titles, believes it to be ineffective - and I'm just whinging here - but I use titles that to meet the requirement "identify six scholarly sources within the disciplinary areas written in the topics discussed that you have found using the library’s academic databases" (Matthews para. 1) <- did I cite this in MLA-9 correctly? I guess she wants a more subtle, scholarly way of referencing the sources?

Other more specific issues are fair since I didn't understand some parts of the MLA-9 guidelines and I just winged it and it didn't work.

I also got very passive-aggressive vibes from her second feedback. She began it using my full first name, even though I have a preferred nickname (I don't know if profs can see the preferred nickname), and then said my revision was a "mild improvement". 

At this point I'm re-writing my entire essay at 2 am because she's gotten me so stressed out that I'm not going to pass her class since there are two more milestones, and that I will have better chances taking the Sophia equivalent that everyone says to stay away from.

Look, I'm not exactly looking for advice on what to do because clearly I still have a lot to do for my milestone that I've "mildly" improved upon. I'm working on it. I just needed to rant a bit - sorry if this is not the place to do it. Maybe I'm just not understanding the instructions of this milestone correctly and have spent a bunch of time (that I now know was wasted) writing the wrong thing cause I got the wrong idea. 

Ignore this if you don't think it's relevant, I'm just very frustrated right now.

I finished this course with Professor Matthews in the last session. I had the exact same issues. Her requirements for citations are unreal. She would not provide any constructive feedback, only that they were not how she wanted them. When I submitted the final, I cited her Purdue Owl recommendations as a note and said I thought they were wrong, but that's how she wanted them. I ended up with an A-, the only one I have received in 160+ college credits. She is not a competent professor and I feel like the course was detrimental rather than beneficial.

The end of term is coming up and Bluera reviews are being unlocked. Please note your experience on the UMPI Bluera!

[braven]

I almost quit over her.

[Marlin9276]

Hey everyone, sorry I've been MIA and haven't responded to anyone here. 

Quick update: I decided the stress wasn't worth it, and dropped her class halfway through to pick up another class. Finished my term early so now I'm relaxing. I'm going to complete my requirement through Sophia instead because I read the assignments you have to do for that class and it seems like the same kind I found in Matthews' class only with a better idea of what to do. Once I've completed that, I'll review it and see if it is as much of a nightmare that people here have said it was and I will compare and contrast my experience with Matthews and Sophia. 

To respond to some of the comments: Yes, I did reach out to her, before posting my rant, asking her to explain her feedback - it didn't help. And I do know professors want their students to follow the rubric that wasn't the issue here?. It was that she was particularly difficult and not forthcoming with her feedback, and it seemed like even she didn't know what she wanted.
To those of you who have had her and dropped her - I empathize with you. And those who were able to power through it - I commend you on a job well done. I've had difficult professors before, but Matthews takes the cake with communication. Even if I give her benefit of doubt, because communication was through email, I can't give much since I have communicated with many professors before using email and asking about assignment issues/questions, and never had this much trouble getting a clear and consistent answer.

Thanks for all the responses. It's a bit of a relief that I'm not alone with this.

[ishady]

Thank God, I took ENG 121 from SNHU and transferred to UMPI, it's easier there...