A few days ago, a friend and I were having an interesting conversation at school about grades. I had just got through ranting for the millionth time about how angry I was failing my online Spanish quiz because so many things about it were unjust. The directions weren't clear, the questions had multiple answers, and the stipulations were ridiculous (30 questions in 50 minutes). My friend understood what I was going through, which I found helpful, but he made me look at things from a much different perspective by relating everything to Karl Marx.
I know what you're thinking. Karl Marx, what the hell?! I had the same thoughts as well because the only thing I knew about Karl Marx was that he wrote "The Communist Manifesto", and opposed any system that alienated or tried to govern people unjustly (at least I think that's what he said to some degree, but someone can correct me on that). That had to do with government and sounded like it had nothing to do with school, but then my friend related it to how school grading systems go against what Marx believed because they alienate people and stress them to the point where they do not help them. Also, people may get good grades in class, but they do not retain the information; they just learn it to pass and that's that. It's sad, but it is true to some degree.
Now, I'm not saying college is this overbearing institutional system. It's institutional and has its faults (which I've gone over before), but I think for the most part, they want to help the people that go there. I just wish there was a better way to grade and test people on what they know because the old system, while effective, is outdated and certainly has flaws. I wonder if there are any better solutions on the horizon, or will school be like this for years to come in the future? I guess we won't know for awhile. And while this may not make sense for many of you, including myself, it was nice to feel a little enlightened after failing a quiz, even if it was because of Karl Marx.
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