I mentioned that I have a mid-year exam tomorrow, right?
Yesterday I received this e-mail from the professor--
Dear Students and Friends:
I have received numerous questions about our lecture and exams since last Thursday.
First of all, I seek your understanding about our midterm: again, this exam is designed to help you relieve your pressure of final exam preparation. If you do not wish to attend, as I said, it is perfectly OK. However, I will need a short paper—less than 5 pages, double-spaced, and with a topic I approved—to replace this mid-term, 20% of total grade as indicated in your syllabus.
I have informed NTU grading system that your final exam only occupies 50% in the beginning of this semester, so I am not able to make your final 70% if you choose not to take your midterm. I believe a short double-spaced paper is not difficult for any of you to earn this 20% grade.
For those who choose NOT to take the midterm, please let me know as soon as possible. You will need to have my permission of a research topic before Sep 20 (this coming Thursday) and give me your paper before Oct 2 (our first meeting after the recess. You have more than 10 days to prepare this less-than-5-page double-spaced paper.)
Please understand that grading an exam is obviously different from grading a paper. An exam means simple and easy answers that I wish you could remember after you graduate from NTU. A paper means how you find and solve a question, which is academically important, especially to those who are very interested in Chinese politics, so I’ll grade by the standard of how you conduct your research.
For those who choose to take the midterm, please do not consider this paper easier than exam preparation. The truth is, it is more difficult and easier to fail.
Secondly, I really appreciate many of you have valuable questions about our lectures, especially to some terms I used, so I’ll cut short your mid-term, making it less than 1 hour. I would like to use the other 1 hour to solve some questions and if I have extra time, our lecture will proceed. Therefore, if you do not intend to join the midterm, kindly join us at 11:30 on Tuesday.
well.. u can take the leap nad pray hard.. either u leap over the bar, or u fall to ur death~!!
if not, CHOOSE THE LESSER EVIL~ hahaha