Art and the Grading Scale
By JILLIAN CHENG ‘27
All hours of our day are accounted for at the Academy. We have class throughout the day, a sports block to finish us off after school’s out, a small window to shower, an assortment of clubs, then allotted study hours at night. Who has time to pick up a pen and sketch a doodle? Or the resources to set up an easel outside and become the next Van Gogh? Unfortunately, most art creation at Exeter occurs in class against our will. Maybe it’s cosplaying an organelle for Bio, or photoshopping together a collage for your History class.
Even within liberal arts classes, art is reduced to a simple grade. I find it hard sometimes to take literature in English class seriously. While I love reading, once it requires in-depth annotating and turning the meaning of a passage around in my head for half an hour, it becomes stale. The most interesting books dull into another figment of my English curriculum. Analyzing art becomes a chore, all for a Harkness grade subjectively defined by a teacher. Take writing narratives as an example. I’m not sure if this is a universal experience, but I loved to make up stories as a kid, either through writing or daydreaming. Now, sometimes I feel afraid to write. I bend my words into the grading rubric of my teacher, wondering if maybe they like one adjective over the another. There are so many rules to conform to when writing narratives, which is ironic considering that writing is a creative form. English is obviously a subjective class, but it becomes difficult to feel confident in your work when a B- is pasted on the top.
After all, the arts credit at Exeter is also limited. Without a portion of the day carved out for an art elective or a music lesson, there is an extremely small window otherwise to create. Spending one year here, I’ve noticed many people dropping their favorite interests like theater, drawing, music, for the pursuit of their more “important” passions that may win them a ticket to an Ivy League, or simply even for more study time. It’s easy to throw a sketchbook into a drawer and gain an extra hour of sleep than sit down at a desk and create. Making art has always been optional, but more than ever it has been forgotten.
But if art isn’t a necessity in life, then why even indulge? People are able to make their way to the top of corporations and achieve the pinnacle of life without touching a pen or having any interest in the arts whatsoever. Phillips Exeter trains rigorously a collective of the next leaders of our generation, the majority of whom are expected to change the world. It’s easy to fall into the trap that consuming and creating art is an absolute waste of time.
I have found myself neglecting art ever since the first September I moved in. Whenever I pick up a pen, strum my guitar, I think about what else I could be doing. The essays I could be writing, the test I could be studying for. Art is draining and stressful, which is the opposite of what it should be.
I believe that Exeter could create more opportunities to celebrate and encourage the creation of art. Studio hours, which are from 7-9, are reserved only for students taking an art elective. Perhaps, some days studio hours could be open to all, allowing even those who may not entirely be interested in art explore their creative identity. I also believe the narrative grading scale is completely off. Many English teachers preach that “no narrative is ever perfect enough,” and therefore no narrative deserves more than an A-. I completely disagree with this notion. After all, Exeter is a school. The expectation is that no piece of work, let alone art, will ever be perfect. But are grades a measure of perfection? I believe they should be a measure of creativity and effort, if anything, which is easier to place on a scale than English teachers think.
Enjoying art in an academic setting is difficult. Finding time to enjoy art outside an academic setting is difficult. In short, the rigorous nature of Exeter’s schedule may cut us off from our creative minds. The temporary solution is to always try to make art whenever there is time. But perhaps art at Exeter has always been a commodification of the grading scale.