Essay Revision Policy

Many students want to revise their essays, which is understandable. Presumably, students want to learn from their mistakes and of course earn a higher grade. However, my allowing students to revise their essays is not without its problems: First, if students simply make changes based on THE CORRECTIONS I'VE ALREADY MADE, the revision process is a joke. Second, allowing for revisions often encourages students into a condition of laxity whereby they feel that since they can rewrite the paper they can turn in a mediocre or even abysmal draft, which will, by virtue of its reckless approach, be rendered unreadable. Third, some students, lacking in common sense and decency, will, after 15 weeks of turning in mediocre essays, decide to give me FOUR REWRITES ON THE LAST DAY OF THE SEMESTER so that I can inflate their grade with my generosity. Let us be clear: ALL THE DESCRIBED SCENARIOS ARE UNACCEPTABLE. Therefore, the revision policy is limited to one essay in which the student can, depending on the quality of the rewrite, earn between 10-30 points provided the rewrite is turned in no later than one week after the essay was returned.