Being able to reflect on yourself is extremely important. I think this is a very important skill that you need to have for an A. But the other thing that comes to my mind here is a level of vagueness. It is hard to determine whether a specific student has an eye to the constant and substantial improvements of their own work. It is surely possible to judge whether someone improves, but the nuances behind the effort that comes with small or large improvements is harder to see. I still agree with this point, but it is something we all need to keep in mind.

I think this is a good basis for a grade C. You need to at least do the readings on time and also submit the assignments. This is the baseline of what you have to do, and succeeding in this will help you to be better. Having clear baselines of what you have to do helps us students to know what is expected.

Especially in a course about the Russian political system, this is very important. Russia is in many ways not like the US or Europe. If you are unable to be curious about new subjects and especially new perspectives, you won't be able to really learn about them. If you want to be an A student, you have to have the quality to be curious and the time to learn about other people and perspectives.