Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I graded the final exams yesterday, input grades, and posted them. Two people failed (although by the University scale, they made D grades). Both students missed too many classes to catch up fully; the male buckled down toward the end and made good grades, but the female continued to miss class. Grade distribution was as expected: mostly As, a couple of Bs, and a couple of Cs.
The last five final exam questions were fill-in-the-blank about mythology. Last question: Actaeon came upon Artemis _________________ in a spring. One person wrote, "fornicating" and another wrote, "making love".
"The virgin goddess!" I exclaimed in the TA office. I was then gently reminded about sexual relations among females, which turned into a hunt for the lexicography of τριβησ. Nevertheless, I counted the above answers incorrect, considering neither student would have made an argumentum e silentio if called upon to defend.
Labels: Actaeon, Artemis, final exams, fornication, grading, lexicography, making love, mythology, office, students, teaching, virgin goddess
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 3:21 AM]