“In the Basement of the Ivory Tower” Reading Response

     In this reading, it is clear that the author is having trouble deciding whether or not giving her 40-year old student an F on her paper was a good or bad decision. You can sense her uneasiness because she stated that she "slept poorly that night." She was deciding if she should just pass the lady with a C because she wasn't as advanced with technology as the other students or be fair and give her the grade she deserves. 

     I believe the author argued her point well because I believe that every student should deserve the same amount of treatment and grading in order to be 'fair'. I could tell the author felt bad for giving the lady a failing grade but I could also tell that she knew there was no other option. The lady got the grade she deserved and the teacher tried to get her to get extra help. I am left wondering why the teacher struggles with the issue so much. If the teacher warned the lady that she needed help and she denied the help, why would the teacher feel bad about giving a bad grade?

     I would have to disagree with the author in this paper because I believe a grade is something you earn from doing things the right way. If the lady earned an F then then the teacher shouldn't second guess that grade just because the lady said "I can't believe it." I think every student has got bad grades at some point but we all learn from them. This will be a learning experience for the lady and next time she will seek help. 

I wouldn’t be saving her from the humiliation of defeat by a class she simply couldn’t handle. I’d be a sexist, ageist, intellectual snob.

I chose this line as my "golden line" because I find it interesting how the author states that she's not going to help this lady out and give her a better grade than she deserves and then says because of what she's doing, she considers herself a "sexist, ageist, intellectual snob." It's almost like she knows what she's doing is the right thing but she is still going to feel bad about it.