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As I proof-read sets of reports, I wonder if we should only make a
comment if we would be willing to state its opposite:
Joe is a bright and very pleasant pupil
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Joe is a dim or very unpleasant pupil
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Joe is making excellent progress with this course
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Joe is making poor progress with this course
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Joe is highly motivated
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Joe is unmotivated
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It is a pleasure teaching Joe
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I am not enjoying teaching Joe
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Joe is an excellent student
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Joe is a poor student
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Joe always acts on advice
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Joe sometimes fails to act on the advice I give him
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Joe is very capable
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Joe is not very capable
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Joe is a hardworking boy
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Joe is a lazy boy
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We would happily state some of these "opposites", but some seem completely inappropriate!
Actually it seems to me that we are happy to make positive
statements about the identity of a person - they are bright, excellent, intelligent, capable, hardworking etc., but
much more reticent about making matching negative statements. We couch them in
process language, so the opposite of "Joe is a hardworking boy"
becomes "Joe needs to put more effort into his classwork" rather than
"Joe is…". The thing is, you can't have one without the other. In a
world where there are "bright" students, there are also
"dim" students. In a world where there are "pleasant"
students there are also students who are "unpleasant". Our statement
of the former acknowledges the existence of the latter.
I draw no conclusion - I'm just taking a break, having read 20
sets of reports. 45 to go.
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