Herman Melville was said to have been amazed at the symbolism attributed to him in Moby Dick.
I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
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Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
But they're not being asked to produce a justifiable answer. This is multiple choice with only 1 'correct' answer. The only way to really test comprehension is through essay questions but then the complaints on subjectivity are raised and we're back at standardised multiple choice
Britain manages to set questions for the exams taken at ages 16, (17) and 18 with essay-type questions, for most questions of all subjects. There's a complete paper for GCSE (at 16) English here. Choose the June 2017 one, as the November one has the source material omitted due to copyright. https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-languag... You can skip to the last few pages of the mark scheme to get the…
Likewise the AP English Literature exam in the US features graded essays.
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap18-frq-english-lite...
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#43(2017), and original source is located at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/standardized-tests-are-so-bad...
Ok, we added the date and changed to that URL from https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-texas-poem.... Thanks!
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#44I mean, so? She writes poems. Why should that mean she is good at analyzing poems? Are game players good at writing games, and vice-versa? Are people who eat a lot good at cooking? Are runners great at designing shoes?
I agree that the author doesn't get to dictate the reading of a poem (nor does the test-maker), but these questions are usually formulated to explicitly reference the intentions of the author (the "author's purpose"). Although, now that I look at a few, it looks like the common language is "The author most likely did so-and-so in order to...".
But more honest language ("What does this line mean?") would erase the veneer of objectivity; hermeneutical questions do not have "right" answers you can pick from a list of multiple choices.
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#45Standardized tests are designed to serve the needs of the school. Such tests let the teacher and school system assess multiple students efficiently and -- theoretically -- "fairly." They aren't actually designed to serve the needs of students.
If the students only knew what their needs were. My students need "word problems". Their schooling didn't teach them how to deal with ambiguity or how to make a reasoned argument. Also, in real life you won't encounter the right answer plus four decoy answers. But they want check-a-box tests. They even went to complain to administration because they weren't getting any. Apparently, I'm asking erroneous [sic!] questio…
>Also, in real life you won't encounter the right answer plus four decoy answers.
On the contrary, if you've ever looked for programming help on stack overflow you'll be quite familiar with the real life experience of being presented with a right answer and 4 or more decoys.
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#46Maybe I was a jaded student, but I always thought of these questions as a game of answering what I know they want me to answer. These types of questions are obviously dumb, and they shouldn't be included in multiple-choice tests.
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#47So she's a poor student. That's fine.
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#48Herman Melville was said to have been amazed at the symbolism attributed to him in Moby Dick.
This massive diatribe is symbolic of Melville's inability to stick to the fucking point.
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#49I was always afraid to read any classical work because no matter what you think you read, someone will tell you "Actually..." Then one day I read this beautiful quote about the old man and the sea: > “Then there is the other secret. There isn't any symbolism. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The shark are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that…
On the other hand, it makes all works of art more personal and interesting when you read into them. Even if it's not what the author intended, it may be what makes the work enjoyable to you.
But I agree that forcing your interpretation on everyone else is pointless and often irritating.
Re: I Can’t Answer Standardized Test Questions About My Own Poems (2017)
#50Perfect example of mistaking measuring for knowing. Everything that can be measured can be known, but not everything that can be known can be measured. Correct answer to the question about capitalization: "I don't know; neither do you; somebody could trivially ask the poet; regardless it's not really of primary importance; and arguably (postmodernism) the answer is up to me anyway."
That's a good analogy. It's really hard to "measure knowledge," and in my humble opinion, as someone who once was a teacher, tests are one of the hardest ways of doing so.