"Diary of a Madman" opens Call to Arms with a narrator who believes the people around him want to eat him. Students find the story gripping, yet their essays often stop at saying that the narrator is crazy or that cannibalism is a metaphor. Good feedback has to push them past that first reaction and toward a claim about what Lu Xun is accusing.

The story was published in 1918 and is often described as one of the first modern short stories written in vernacular Chinese. That fact matters for grading because the form itself was a statement, and strong essays notice it. Even a brief mention of the choice to write in everyday language shows that a student is thinking about the story as an act, not only as a plot.

When you read a stack of these essays, expect three common patterns: summary, vague symbolism, and confident but unsupported historical claims. Each one calls for a different kind of comment. Naming the pattern in your feedback helps students recognize it in their own work, which is more useful than correcting each instance one by one.

Move students past the madness question

Many essays spend two pages debating whether the narrator is truly mad, which is an interesting question but rarely the strongest thesis. A useful comment asks the student what follows if he is mad, and what follows if he is not. Pushing them to consider both possibilities usually leads to a more nuanced claim about how society treats the person who sees uncomfortable truths.

• Ask what the narrator notices that other characters refuse to acknowledge
• Ask how the diary format shapes the reader's trust in the narrator
• Ask what the classical references to eating people suggest about tradition
• Ask why the final plea about saving the children is placed at the end
• Ask how the short classical-language preface changes the story's frame

Coach students on using textual evidence

Students tend to quote the most dramatic lines, such as the narrator's discovery that the history books are full of the words benevolence and virtue while he reads between the lines. Those moments are good choices, but only if the student explains the contrast rather than leaving the quotation to speak for itself. A comment such as "say what this detail shows about how tradition hides violence" gives a clear next step.

Remind students that they are reading a translation and that different translators make different word choices. If two editions phrase a key line differently, a thoughtful student can note that and still build a sound argument. Teachers should decide in advance whether to require one edition, since mixing translations can make grading quotations tricky.

Handle the historical context carefully

Students often write sweeping sentences such as "Lu Xun hated Chinese culture," which flattens a complicated position. Feedback should invite them to be more precise about what the story criticizes, namely rigid social customs and the way they harm individuals. Asking for a specific example from the text keeps the claim tied to evidence instead of slogans.

A short handout on the late Qing collapse and the New Culture Movement can prevent many of these overreaches. Even one page gives students enough background to place the story without taking over the essay. You can then grade context as a supporting element, not as the main event.

Make revision part of the process

Because this story invites interpretation, it works well with a revision cycle in which students respond to one targeted comment and resubmit a single paragraph. Limiting the revision to one paragraph keeps your workload manageable and lets students focus. They also see more clearly how a single stronger claim can lift the entire essay.

Keep a bank of reusable comment stems tied to your rubric so that your feedback stays consistent from paper to paper. Examples include "explain how this detail supports your claim" and "what does this reveal about the community around the narrator?" Reusing stems saves time while still leaving room for one or two personalized observations per essay.