Written Feedback

Written Feedback

Spend more time commenting on drafts than final papers. Your comments are more useful, your time better spent, when the student has to revise the work.
Provide substantial comments on paper proposals, indicating the direction that you think the paper should go. At this stage, you can help the student focus to the appropriate scope.

Suggest references that you know of; the students are new to the field and often choose sources randomly. Show them who are the main critics they should read, and encourage them (early on) to hone in on the key debates about the issue.

Try to send them home with some writing during office hours. They quickly forget what you discussed.

When students are unsure about a paper's direction, I ask them to bring in parts of the readings that intrigued them. Together, we work at my computer to come up with a list of questions or observations about the reading, seeing if we can develop an idea together. The students then go home with a printed record of our conversation. Alternatively, students can tape record conferences.

Resist correcting student errors on early drafts. In fact, resist writing in student margins, except to designate sections "1" or "2" and refer to those sections in your end comments.

Example: "In section 1, you explore the issue of global warning. But half of the paragraph focuses on human-made influences and half focuses on naturalistic causes. This would be better as two paragraphs, which would allow you to deepen your understanding of each influence and add a discussion of sources."

Write or type end comments that reflect upon the ideas as a whole, so the student understands that the revision requirements is more than adding a comma or changing a word/sentence structure.

They need to re-conceptualize the trajectory of the argument.

If you are having trouble determining what the student is trying to say, write a short outline about what you think they are trying to say, suggesting ways to focus or develop one of the most interesting ideas.

Students often say smart things in un-smart ways; you can model how they can better articulate a promising idea.

If the student has a promising thesis but strays from it, write an end comment that states the intriguing thesis and good supporting points, suggesting that the student stick with those points.
If the student misinterprets the reading, you can counter-argue in the end comment.
Summarize major stylistic or grammatical concerns. Students can handle only three. Choose the three most problematic and summarize the problem, forcing the student to look up the rule or head to the RLC for assistance.

Example: "You rely upon 'is/are in every sentence. This gives your prose monotony. You want your reader to be awake! Revise with more interesting verbs."

Example: "You overuse semicolons until they lose their effectiveness. Decide which sentences should be joined with the semicolon and which are really independent ideas. Revise."

Example: "Your transitions depend upon the word 'also,' which is additive rather than logical. Consider the relationship between points and specify them."

Example: You have an abundance of commas, but instead of helping your reader navigate your sentence, they confuse and obscure your point. Please make an appointment with a tutor at the LRC to straighten out your comma usage, or you will baffle your reader and lack control over the flow of information!"

Synthesize major class problems in a computer file and paste a response to the students as a whole into your end comments.

You can also present these problems in class, without designating any particular student as author of the problem.

Ask students to write a revision plan, just as we write responses to reviewers (only in the final stages of copy editing so we scrutinize style).

You can then check their understanding of what you said, and ensure that they get started on developing the best ideas and scrapping the fluff.

Ask students to turn in drafts with your end comments when they turn in the final product. You can then quickly assess whether the student made the required changes and fixed major errors.

- If you said "reorganize by aspects of the issue rather than by listing each source," and the student did not do it, no need to read that section further!
- Be sure to grade drafting and revision processes, as well as peer review in peer groups.
Consider having peers write one-page responses to one another's papers, just as you are. You can then have the students turn in all reviews with a paper, and you can check how seriously they took the reviews (and the seriousness with which the peers wrote them!). Peer Response Guidelines

Department of English
Armitage Hall, Fourth Floor
Rutgers University,Camden, NJ 08102
Tel: (856) 225-6121, Fax: (856) 225-6602