Got an F on a college essay for swearing?

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Yeah . . . it sounds like some wires were crossed. If the assignment is described as academic, then of course language is going to be disallowed. You should be focusing on your arguments and using supporting evidence . . . not emotional language that doesn't aid your reasoning. Accurate and emotional descriptions, within reason, are good. Foul language . . . less so.

If the assignment was described as academic, then you shouldn't use foul language, at least not in your undergrad classes, generally. Sometimes you can find a place for the language, but I would always clear it with my prof first.

Can you ask for a revision? I'd ask for a revision. Put the work in it. Follow the prompt. Hell, PM me a draft if you want some feedback. (I teach Composition, Technical Writing, and creative writing at the college level. I can at least let you know if you're on the right track.)
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...
Dude...
 
learn to codeswitch, noob

The standards for an academic essay are vastly different from the standards for, say, a forum post. When writing an essay, you probably try to avoid grammar or punctuation mistakes, misspellings, etc. You don't write like blame space. Right? Similarly, you need to express yourself with greater care. You'll want to avoid colloquialisms or overly informal language, including swearing. You'll want to be precise with terms and careful with jargon. You'll want to put more thought into the structure of your writing, from the macro level all the way down to the words and sentences you're using to get across your meaning.

Good luck.
 
adj_noun said:
Get a red marker, cross out "and swearing" and write "Fucking redundant" underneath, then hand it back to the teacher.

This will assert your dominance and guarantee future A's.
Click to expand...

This is good advice.

However, the real key here is presenting them your testes and placing them on their desk. Then they'll succumb to your will and realize the student has truly surpassed the master.

This also works for job interviews.
 
Kusagari said:
The subject matter is probably part of the reason he got an F. He's writing on a serious subject like abuse of the elderly and throwing around fuck and shit.

Like, Jesus Christ.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I mean good lord. It's like he learned about writing from reddit or gaf. Eh, maybe I'm going a little too hard on him. Highschool teachers must really suck nowadays. I remember doing peer reviews for some 1st drafts from a few classmate's essays. They were just shockingly awful. Then again, as bad as they were, I never did see someone actually use curse words....haha.
 
NoblesseOblige said:
Apologize and ask if you can resubmit it after some editing. It's not worth your time getting into it with a teacher who can just grade you down for pissing them off in the future. You're gonna run into other professors like this, as well as people in employment who won't tolerate certain language use. It's just part of life.
Click to expand...

Both this post and the OP come across as odd. Students in college are supposed to engage in formal, academic discourse. It's not even only the "profane" nature of the language but rather the informality. Saying "sucks" isn't appropriate either, although that's likely on a different scale as far as your professor is understandably concerned.

As to some of the other points in the OP:

The syllabus doesn't need or have to specify this (although, as another poster pointed out, there may be broad language somewhere in the syllabus that would encompass it). It is generally understood at that educational level that academic discourse is often different from how we discuss issues with friends, online, etc. However, the prompt for the paper may address this. If it doesn't, and you want to make an issue out of it, that may be the best or only route to go. How much of your final grade is this assignment worth?
 
chronic_archaic said:
"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

If these are the actual sentences, then they are poorly written for a college paper and the swearing is egregious and bad. Sorry. Try to make this a teachable moment and learn for the future.

Also, this has nothing to do with "censoring" your writing and being "unfiltered".
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

lol
 
Yes, I would lower grades for unprofessional language or colloquial.

I think of post-secondary as career prep. You aren't going to write profanity in your workplace.
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...
If I was a teacher, I wouldnt be a snob and take marks away from you for that shit.
 
Well no fucking shit, asshole.

Pejorative cursing, or 'swearing' slang at all for that matter, should never appear in an academic essay unless it's followed by (sic).
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

It's not unfiltered. Simplified, it's a lazy tactic.

John Keating in Dead Poets' Society wouldn't tolerate it. Hold yourself to a higher standard breh.

Edit: props for the oxford tho
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

MY SIDES

Did you edit out the "y'know?" after each sentence?

OP is too real for skool
 
If it was for a creative writing class I would be upset as well. If it was for an academic writing those are usually meant to be pg and expected not to have swearing.

If I were in your shoes I would kindly ask the professor if you could edit it out and apologize for it, it can't hurt to try and will save you a huge headache.

Dreadnought said:
Swearing in order to convey emotion instead of using a more creative word tells the professor just how much thought you actually put into your paper.
Click to expand...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_osQvkeNRM
 
There are always better words to use. I have a potty mouth and still know better than to kiss the paper with my liberal use of sentence enhancers
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...
Omg yesss
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

Let me guess. The essay had a word count requirement.
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

I didn't think you would post it, but you did. On a certain level I commend you for this.

But hot damn OP, this shit you wrote is fucked.
 
chronic_archaic said:
Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.
Click to expand...

In a creative context, you can write however you like (usually), because it's your work. In any other context, you can justifiably be criticized for your choice of words and you should focus on the concept or idea you are trying to convey. The whole point of college (beyond creative writing courses) is to teach you to formulate your thoughts and pick your words in a more adult and professional manner. So, when you stick to the same language you would use with your buddies, you're missing the point.
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...


This reads like it'd be published on Ain't It Cool Essays....

Good lord not swearing is not censoring your writing... if you want complete freedom go take a creative writing class.

Do you spell check or is expecting proper spelling also censoring your writing.
 
Damn, OP, I'm too young to be telling college-age kids that they've got some growing up to do, but you've got some growing up to do. Learn from this experience and correct course while you can.
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

Qm3tpMC.jpg
 
Your writing seems terribly stream of consciousness, which isn't appropriate for an academic paper. Perhaps read some other academic papers to see what they should sound like.

Teacher vindicated?

Best thread this year
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

This is terrible, your profanity adds nothing and could easily be replaced.

And I'm an Aussie who says cunt a lot.

You deserve that F, and this L.
 
chronic_archaic said:
Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for.
Click to expand...

Because you're writing an academic paper, not something for you, ya dumb cunt.

Essays are not written with swearing. It's also good form to avoid contractions and colloquial language. It's a formal piece of writing. Do you think in the workforce you can just shit out any old email you want? Fuck no.
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work. Maybe I'm getting angry about nothing however I don't understand how your choice of language is something you can be penalized for. I re-read the essay and admittedly I recognize some things that could be fixed but even with that scrutiny and barring in mind this isn't my writing course a B seems perfectly fair. Have a read but I know I'm about to get dogged on like crazy regardless. No, I'll just post the relevant uses of swears. It's partially too personally and I'm not rewriting the damn thing.

"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

OP is this what you actually wrote in your essay?
Lord help me.
 
chronic_archaic said:
"Watching the film was really sad, quite morbid, fucked up, and too close to home"

"It went from "I don't care about you" to "fuck you" and I still feel that
way to this day"

"They're awful, sickening, fucked realities"

"The emotional problems my REDACTED still suffers from REDACTED, I've came to the point
where if REDACTED REDACTED died today, right now, I wouldn't give a shit"

"Apologizes that are all bullshit and
emotions that end up with the person hurting more and more"
Click to expand...

And you really don't see what is wrong here?
 
chronic_archaic said:
This thread went fast... wow.

Okay, so it looks like I'm in the wrong, but, this doesn't explain why I need to censor myself as a writer. Maybe I'm simply unfiltered but I think that's a good thing, I figured in high school you'd avoid that, but in college you're an adult, you can freely write how you want and get your opinions across without having to worry if you tailor it to whoever is reading it, since it's your work.
Click to expand...

Filtering yourself is absolutely necessary in academic writing. You aren't writing a blog post. You're writing a paper that needs to follow certain conventions, because you're writing for an audience that isn't you. You have to tailor your work if you want to produce good work. You have to be conscious of your audience. It isn't optional. College essays aren't soap boxes for your own impassioned, vulgar, stream of consciousness speeches. You need a filter, and you need to develop one quickly, because your writing needs serious work.
 
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