As soon as is humanly possible after you have turned in an essay or essay test, your instructor will read it several times, mark it, put a grade on it, and return it to you to see. The process may be painful to you, especially if you are unaccustomed to having your writing evaluated by college standards. Please accept the comments of your instructor as constructive criticism which is intended to help you do better in the future. Hard work and practice on your part and on the part of your instructor should lead to results of which you both will be proud.
Take notes on the matters that gave you problems and review them before the next test or essay so that you can benefit from the previous comments of your instructor. If after noting the comments on your paper, you still don't understand what you need to do to improve, see your instructor as soon as possible. The English faculty members assume that college students who are serious about wanting to do good work are mature enough to seek our help. We want to help all students do the best work they are capable of doing, but we assume that students who sincerely want to learn will take the initiative to get help. We also assume that students will use conference time with instructors constructively. We are not particularly interested in knowing how much better you did in high school writing classes; you are now being judged by college standards which are naturally more demanding than the standards of most high schools. And if you had a bad background in English in your high school, complaining about that background won't help you overcome your weaknesses. Dwelling on the past or making excuses will only sap your energy and rob you of the time you need to improve. You have a chance to learn good writing habits now. Forget about the past!
The instructor bases 80% of the essay grade (or of the essay portion of an hour test) on the general content of the essay under the headings of substance, unity, organization, transition, and style.
Mechanics, including spelling, punctuation, and grammar, determine 20% of your essay grade. How much these matters count is explained in the Presbyterian College Evaluation Guide for Essays. If you have problems with grammar and mechanics, make an appointment for a conference on editing in the Presbyterian College Writing Center in Neville 206 (phone 7083). Bring a graded paper or better yet a draft of your next paper in progress. Tutors can help you learn to recognize and corrrect the types of errors you make.