Op-Ed: ChatGPT Is Killing The Delicate Art Of The C- Essay
The press is currently lamenting the possibility of ChatGPT and other AI enabling students to compose passable essays without having to think or write. Based on some experimentation, ChatGPT seems to produce solid B papers on any topic. My concern is not that students will cheat with this technology. My concern is that the art of the C- essay will be lost.
I spent many late nights in grad school chugging coffee and Ritalin while grading student essays. Most essays fell in the B range, which forced my weary brain to differentiate a boring B paper from a boring B-, and summarize my comments in a compliment sandwich: “You did this well. You should work on that. You did this other thing well. Blah, blah, blah…”
The problem with B papers is they are all the same. This is especially true of the five-paragraph essay. They usually start by repeating the question of the prompt for the essay as a statement in the first paragraph. The middle three paragraphs that follow are a list of three things that may or may not be related to the prompt. Finally, the conclusion more or less says, “Look. I just said three things.” That structure earns a B and I would go down to a B- depending on the absurdity of the three things.
I once graded essays on the causes of the Civil War. One essay was titled, “The Civil War: was there anyone reason?” Yes. The title misspelled "any one." The thesis was that there may have been more than one cause of the Civil War. The middle three body paragraphs listed three things that happened. The conclusion was that there was more than one reason for the Civil War. B.
The only break from the joylessness of reading dozens of B papers was the exhilaration of a C paper. They were creative. They did not follow any formulas. Each was uniquely interesting. They provoked many questions such as what connects one sentence to the next? What is this essay about? What prompt is this essay addressing? How much more time did the student spend changing the font size of the periods than in writing the words? Is this actually a joke?
I love a C paper far more than a B paper. So the real question for ChatGPT is will it be creative enough to capture the art of the C-?
