I would like to begin with proof reading and editing, which is where every good paper should end. The thing I have learned most about editing this semester is that it is an ongoing process within the writing process. Many writers edit the entire time that they are writing. In my time in the writing center I have had to give many encouraging pep talks about the value of deeper level ideas before editing. Not over editing, just before. Many of these students are so caught up in writing perfectly they hardly write anything at all. Yes, there is a value to a perfect paragraph, but that paragraph still needs a content a substance. These students are concerned that what they write will be wrong, so much so, that they cannot even write. They are in a vicious cycle of expecting perfection, but never finding it. The idea of free writing can be looked down on by students like this who do not see the point in using that much time on an unperfect draft. I think that these are many of the writers who will print a draft and never want to look at it again.
I also valued Dr. Huot's talk and nudge method as an editing tool to help writers. I have used it and I really think it works for error detection. At the same time it is an encouraging effort. I try to remind the writer that their brain is used to and good at this editing stuff it already auto-corrects for them. They need to just see where they are already fixing their own mistakes in their head and then make the paper reflect that. The students who are introduced to this technique usually walk out with a new idea about editing, a new addition to their process. In fact, I liked all of Dr. Huot's suggestions for editing, especially encouraging students to take an inventory of the skills they need to work on and focusing on them. If that idea would have been encouraged in my first year classes it would have blown my mind and saved me a lot of time in my second drafts. The idea makes sense in breaking grammar into easy to use, understand and correct chunks, as opposed to “do all grammar well, now”.
I felt the Williams piece was eye opening but more than a bit gimmicky. I think students an instructors should acknowledge that there is a hierarchy to grammar error. Just as every law in America is not enforced, not every grammar rule is created equal. Students know that being forbidden to walk a cow down main street on Sunday in Portland is a valid law, they also know that it is not worth knowing(unless for radio trivia). The same goes for grammar, not every rule should be as valued for the beginning college writer. Proper editing is showing respect for the reader. The writer proves that with good editing they care enough about the paper and the reader for it to be read easily. That is not to say though, a writer cannot respect the reader in other ways, this is just one of many ways. The reader too, has a responsibility to be understanding in the reading. Not every small error, or style choice should warrant a letter to the editor or the red pen of doom. The Williams article though does remind me to be generous in my readings even if the work must be assessed.
The Connors Lunsford article I found the most enlightening and encouraging. The lesson I hope to remember is that instructors are human and so are the students. (WHOA) We do not grade and respond in a paper vacuum we are responding to people with feelings. The positive attitude encouraged in the article needs to be in every article in writing. As a field we are so concerned with good papers we forget we are to help people become good writers. There is a huge difference between the two. I take out of this article the need to be honest and respectful, understanding and encouraging in my grading comments. Writing is a hard thing. Writing well is a very very hard thing. It is not too much to ask in expecting students to try, we should also try ourselves. It is only fair that if I assign a 2000 word essay than I ought to read it and respond to it. There is a give and take between students and instructors that needs to be encouraged. We may not be equals in the process or the classroom but we are partners. In the article, I would have also liked to have heard the writer response to these comments. We wonder what good they do, we should go to the source and find out.
To get personal and mushy, I think their ought to be a mutual respect for each other and for writing in the classroom. I feel that the instructor leads by example in their attitude. More importantly as writing instructors we need to be aware that all times we are selling writing. The students are just extremely fickle buyers. We are always reminding others of how valuable a skill writing is and why and how students can use it in their own lives. If it was so obvious to them it would be easier to motivate. It is the job of all teachers to sell their knowledge, with tuition we do that pretty literally. Figuratively though, we need to remember as a field that the value of writing well is not as explicit as other skills, but should not be valued less. We need to sell writing to our students with a positive, encouraging attitude.
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