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lucia-pacciola t1_j6nrbv8 wrote

Too much fine shading sucks the joy out of it for me.

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reapersdrones t1_j6oj4ra wrote

Yeah one of my professors had our class do an exercise on how we think presentations should be graded. He preferred a 5-level system because it gets harder to objectively define the difference between two adjacent levels when the increments are finer.

Which made sense, he wanted to be fair and objective. I think when you get into the “finer shades” as you say, one tends to rate based on comparison to other books too much. Like “A and B were both great, but I liked A just a teensy bit better, so I’ll rate them 9 and 8.5” Which is fine and all for your personal book ratings if that’s what you prefer. Not so great for students when you give one 90 and another 85 but can’t explain where the difference comes from.

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lucia-pacciola t1_j6om7aa wrote

I think the important part is clearly defining the 3 in a 1-5 system.

Like if 3 is "bare minimum for success", then 5 can be "perfect in every way we're measuring", and 4 can be "does more than the minimum but isn't perfect". Then 1 can be "absolute failure" and 2 can be "gets some things right, but not enough to satisfy the bare minimum."

That all seems pretty intuitive and accessible. Students who get 2s and 4s can go to the teacher during office hours to get more detailed insight on what they got right, and what they missed to fall short of the higher score. You don't need to be handing out 6, 7, 8, 9, like there has to be these very precise, measurable shades of 4.

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iamwhoiwasnow OP t1_j6nrhwl wrote

I feel you. I'm the opposite half the enjoyment for me when I read a book is the rating I'll give it, how long it took me to read, how many pages I read per day etc..

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Yanowknow t1_j6ntmeh wrote

We all try to quantify and make sense of our world. At some point as you get more responsibilities, you'll just read books for pleasure.

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iamwhoiwasnow OP t1_j6nw6qw wrote

More responsibilities? How many more can I get? Can't I read for more than just pleasure?

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fragments_shored t1_j6oghj5 wrote

Same - I give stars on Goodreads because it helps me remember (especially if someone asks for a rec) what I really loved and what was fair-to-middling. But I read for fun, not as a literary critic, and I don't need an incredibly specific rating system.

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