College Students and Grades

We are all college students and we are all anticipating the day that we can go on stage and get our diploma. Before that great day comes,however, we are to take the required courses, work hard, get good grades on tests and projects, and then pass the class. After reading a part of the book and having the discussion in class about how the letter in the beginning of the book made us feel, I must say that it got me thinking. Though Jules, the person who wrote the letter, sounded really arrogant and pretentious, he provided points that I think most of us as students have felt multiple times. You know the times when we give in an essay and we get a D on it instead of the A we thought it deserved. To be honest, not to long ago my friend was talking about appealing a grade because she didn't deserve the grade that she received. Think about it, most of us work hard and put our all into an essay, hoping that the professor would see how much time an effort we put into it and they just don't.  Sometimes when I get work back from professors, my first thought is did you read everything I wrote or did you just skim it.  This leads students to have this I hope this is good enough attitude towards the assignment. Another friend of mine who also have been getting bad grades on essays and projects has resorted to asking the teacher what she can do in order to bring her grades up on essays.  Another person I know is in a class in which if you disagree with the professor you fail. REALLY?? I think this is wrong. If you really think about it learning is turning into what the professor wants and sees fit, instead of what the student takes away from the assignment. I do think pedagogy (as mentioned in chapter 7) is something that should be thought about in depth.  Seriously,Who are you to say that I can't write? Who are you to say that I didn't put enough effort into my project? How can you put a grade on my learning? None of these are the question that I want answered. The question that I am asking you is, in school if there were no grading system, how would students be able to be graded and would it be a better alternative?