What exactly is the "A" and why do we all want it? "Throughout our school years, we are taught to believe from society that grades display our intelligence. Because of this, our motivation, learning and personal growth are placed second to attaining the ultimate goal-the grade . . . We are programmed to imitate what the teacher wants. If we don't, we get a bad grade." (Bell:1999:2-3) Pressure from both parents and teachers to get good grades has made school more of a competition than a learning environment. A quote from the Un-TV and the 10 MPH Car states, "We spend our entire academic careers confined within a subtle dis-placement of attention: trying to get A's rather than trying to learn. The original love of knowledge is turned into the desire for good grades." (McGrane:1994:5) Indeed it has.
             What would need to be done in order to obtain the original love of knowledge? One man experimented with the idea of having a no-grading system; it is described in Robert M. Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. In the book, Phaedrus eliminated grades in his classes for an entire quarter. At the end of the quarter, Phaedrus had his students write an essay on their opinion of his no grading system. From these essays, he discovered that most of the A students were in favor of his system, while the C and D students opposed the system. The A students had an interest in learning about the subject matter, while on the other hand, the C and D students felt that learning was not a reward for doing the work; they just wanted the grade.
             The grade has become a symbol of our supposed accomplishments in school, although it represents nothing of our intelligence. The grade motivates us to want the "A," not to want to gain knowledge. We go to school to memorize useless facts and figures, take tests on them, and then forget everything after we get the grade. "Schoo...