I don't think this bullying if he is upfront about the rubric/requirements. He isn't saying he doesn't give them an A on purpose. He says almost noone does against those requirements set out. As long as those requirements are not unreasonable.
He is also explicitly giving them instruction on how to improve as well as comments. If they follow they follow the suggestions and then get an A. That seems fair.
I don't remember my teachers ever reviewing a first or second draft for me. Just turn in an essay and get a final immutable grade.
I do have a vivid memory of getting my first A in 8th grade art class just by asking what I could improve in my drawing a couple of times before the final turn in. Apparently I never thought to apply the same process the rest of school :/
They were never taught American school essay writing style before ever. And while Americans think it is the most natural thing in the world, it come across as completely artificial weird structure with no real rationale for people outside of it. Meaning, they have zero chance to get A even if he gives out super detailed instructions. Because he is asking them too much.
He is not giving them As on purpose. He made grading system that ensures it.
> Americans think it is the most natural thing in the world.
By and large, they do not. (Where did you go to high school? I'd like to send my kid there, if that's true to your experience.) Argumentative essays seemed just as "artifical [and] weird" to the vast majority of the native English-speaking American college freshmen I taught as they did to the author's Chinese students. We can speculate about the reasons for that, if we like.
The cohort who (in my experience) were best-prepared for that style of writing / thinking were German ~16-year-old ESL students coming from their gymnasia system. Those kids were a delight, and really kept me on my toes.
He is also explicitly giving them instruction on how to improve as well as comments. If they follow they follow the suggestions and then get an A. That seems fair.
I don't remember my teachers ever reviewing a first or second draft for me. Just turn in an essay and get a final immutable grade.
I do have a vivid memory of getting my first A in 8th grade art class just by asking what I could improve in my drawing a couple of times before the final turn in. Apparently I never thought to apply the same process the rest of school :/