Straighterline English Comp

[cookderosa]

I cannot finish this course. I have over 800 points in this class, and only the research draft and final left to complete. Based on a thread I read here, I thought I could write a fluff paper and finish the class. Nope. I wrote a really lengthy essay on special education, but they flagged it as a personal narrative and did not grade the paper. So, I spent a bazillion hours <slight exaggeration> trying to come up with something I could cite 4 sources on. I struggled for over a week just to come up with a topic. I finally came up with something, wrote it out and used citations. I submitted the paper on the 24th and it has taken them forever to grade. So, now it's been flagged again. This time due to low word count. If it takes a long as it did last time, I will not have this course finished by the time my account needs to renew. This is a DRAFT! Why can't they grade it low and suggest more content or something???

I could not recommend this class, or the english comp II class to anyone, based on this experience. For me, they refuse to grade a paper and give a low score - they just refuse to grade it. Getting a student advisor to allow me to resubmit, and then wait for grading again effectively drags out the course to the point they make another $99 on it. I'm so frustrated!

I feel your pain- I had 2 sons play this game when they did this course. Word count is one sticking point for them- I am sure they have software that counts it, so be sure to hit that number. Also, there is no sequence required for turning in papers, meaning you don't have to wait for your draft to be approved or graded- revise your current paper to meet wordcount and submit for BOTH draft and final at the same time. I would suggest finishing this today and calling it done. (you've obviously already passed, so you just need to check the box)

Low word count tips:
- add more references. Seriously. Like, a lot more. Not sure where to get more? Use the Wikipedia sources at the bottom of the page- there are tons. You can't use Wikipedia as a source, but you can use their sources. Also, just because it is a source/reference, that doesn't mean you need to include any content from it in your paper.

-take out all contractions and write out the words. "Won't" needs to be written out to say "will not" etc.

-everywhere you can think of, put the source after a statement- even if it is a paraphrase. (Smith) This will add a full word and you can do about ten of these in minutes. (Miller)

-take out all the numbers and use words- these sometimes aren't otherwise counted. Obviously, it doesn't work with years/dates, but instead of saying 3, write out "three."

Finally, you can add word phrases like "according to the textbook _____" instead of just saying what it is. You can also use "in my opinion____" as well as "In conclusion" at the closing paragraph.

These little changes will all add up. Also, one last thing, double space your paper if you're not already - and be sure you have a manually written header for EACH page. If you use a template header, it will be in the background and not counted as word count. If you physically type it at the top of EACH page (and "page 1" followed by "page 2" etc. too), it will be in the word count.

All the best!!

EDIT to add: I'm happy to help you with this if you email it to me cookderosa@aol.com