Passive Aggression and Eagle's Wings

I am Odysseus, but on this journey through midterms, I think I may have failed to slay the Cyclopes. 

I assigned a poetry project to my lower writing class. They had to choose a poem from the Poetry 180 site and write a paraphrase and explication of it. Pretty simple, once they accepted the idea that they would have to actually think about the poem. I read some really thoughtful projects! And then there was The Project From Hell.

Not only was this project about a patriotic poem (patriotism makes me wanna hurl), but the poor thing was one misadventure after another. The first explication that was submitted? A short story about the flight of eagles above the purple mountains majesty. A do-over was in order. A do-over which I heard about from a coworker in the Writing Lab. The student had brought in her rough draft for him to read. The draft actually had a discussion question to answer...but the question was, "How do we know eagles exist?" ("Because there are pictures in the National Geographic," that's why.) Another re-explanation of the assignment, and two more failed attempts later ("Where do eagles go on the Fourth of July?"), I finally received the final-final do-over, only to discover this preciously passive aggressive note written in pencil across the draft:
You said I needed to use the poem, it is all about the poem. Ok, got it. So it means I need to talk about the eagle because it represents the United States. No way around it because it is in the poem. Other wise I throw it all away and give me a 0.
Don't tempt me, but wait, it gets better.

I lifted the project out of the folder, and a little envelope fell on my desk. Could it be? Oh yes, yes it could...
Dear Miss Jones, 
I just want to show my gratitude. Thank you so much for working with me because I can be hard to work with. My understanding can be difficult to work with, but I never give up until I get it right.
I scoffed at first. I mean, way to brown-nose, kid. But now, reading the note again, I am kindasorta humbled. Was I as gracious and understanding of this student as I should have been? I don't think so. I think I was grumpy and unyielding.

At this point, I may even owe her a thank you note.

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