My problem is not the question itself, but the way I answered the question. My grader took points off for a word I used: "penury"
Q: What THREE problems still existed for the Métis after the creation of the province Manitoba?
My answer: Land ownership disagreements, assimilation fears, and buffaloes decreasing (which caused starvation and PENURY. )
Is this a valid answer, with the word 'penury'? Penury means poverty, basically, and that is correct in this question. Is there something i'm missing that I got points off for?
I bet the grader thought you spelled poverty incorrectly :)
Thank you Writeacher and Damon. I know I used it correctly, so I will let my grader know.
I am happy to say that my grader apologized and revised my marks.
Your use of penury is correct. You might point this out to the person who graded your paper!
From the Oxford dictionary:
pen·u·ry
/ˈpenyərē/
noun
extreme poverty; destitution.
"he died in a state of virtual penury"
https://www.onelook.com/?w=penury&ls=a
If s/he put a question mark under it, that could mean a couple of things:
1. The grader wasn't sure of its meaning, but didn't bother looking it up.
OR
2. The grader knew what it meant, but thought you hadn't used it correctly in the sentence.
Most likely it's the latter, so you might go through several of those dictionaries' listed in OneLook and take a look at their sample uses of the word. If you see that you used it correctly, then you should complain — loudly!
Or maybe they thought you plagiarized the word and didn't truly know what it meant.
They put a question mark under that word. This isn't the first time this situation has happened with my specific grader :(
-Also, how in the world can you plagiarize a single word that is completely okay for everyone to use freely?
He apparently thought my answer was phrased awkwardly, as he said.
Based on the information you provided, it seems like the word "penury" is a valid and appropriate term to describe the condition of poverty or destitution that the Métis faced due to the decreasing buffalo population.
However, to understand why you might have lost points, it's important to consider the context in which the word was used and the grading criteria your professor provided. Here are a few possibilities:
1. Clarity: Your grader might have wanted a more specific explanation of penury. Did you provide enough context or examples to clearly demonstrate how the decreasing buffalo population led to poverty among the Métis?
2. Word choice: Depending on the expectations set by your professor, they might have preferred a simpler or more concise term instead of "penury." While it accurately conveys the idea, using a more common term like "poverty" might have been expected.
3. Relevance: It's also possible that your grader didn't comprehend the connection between the term "penury" and the situation faced by the Métis. If you didn't provide a clear explanation, the grader might have deducted points due to a lack of understanding.
To gain a better understanding of why points were deducted, it's recommended that you reach out to your grader and ask for clarification on their feedback. Discussing their expectations and the specific areas where you may have fallen short will help you improve and avoid similar mistakes in the future.