Chapter 10: Giving Feedback

We've all had the experience of getting feedback on writing whether it is from a teacher, friend, or classmate. It is absolutely worthwhile and, yet, it can be painful. We've probably all been equally frustrated by getting feedback that was overly negative or overly positive. A simple "good job" at the end of a paper is frustrating even if it is positive.

It's important for us to remember these experiences when we tutor. Being only positive or only negative or just too wishy-washy ("what do you think?), isn't going to work. Tutors should give praise, criticism, and instruction.

HOWEVER, we don't just work with texts. We are people working with people. People have feelings and sometimes have their feelings at us when their work is under discussion. They can feel scared, stupid, nervous, skeptical, or hopeless. We can feel scared, stupid, nervous, skeptical, or hopeless! It is likely that those same feelings are motivating them to seek out feedback, so it's not that the feelings are bad or wrong. (We'll discuss this more in Chapter 14.)

Because people have emotions, there can be a tendency to only be positive in responding to a writer or to bury a critique or suggestion under so many compliments that the writer misses your point. This isn't the best strategy.

Instead, first: be human. Have a human reaction to what the writer is saying to you or in the draft. Often this can take the form of empathy, like this:

• "Right, I get anxious about big papers too!"

• "This is a topic I always wanted to know more about, so I'm excited to read your draft."

• "I struggle with writing poetry as well."

• "It's awesome that you've got the chance to revise this even though you're not feeling happy at the moment about the project."

A good first response acknowledges what you've heard/read and creates a connection with the writer.

As you continue on, be sure that you:

• Be positive when you can be real about it. No false praise. No saying, "I think your argument is really good but maybe you just need to clarify what it is for the audience." No. If the argument is good, say how it is good. If it needs to be clarified, say how it needs to be clarified. If something is working, say SPECIFICALLY why it is working so that they know to do that sort of thing again. For example, "I like how in this paragraph you have given us more than one example from the text that supports your claim. This makes your claim more convincing."

• Provide direct correction/criticism with an explanation. This helps the writer learn from their mistakes/weaknesses and be able to do differently in the future. For example, "In APA, you need to put the year of publication in parentheses after the author's name. This helps your reader find that source on the reference page and also gives your reader some additional context about the publication without having to turn to the reference page. I'll know right in the paragraph if a source is 30 years old or 3 years old."

• Show restraint and be clear that the writer has some decisions to make. There are almost no universal rules about writing. What's "right" in writing is determined by the discipline, genre, audience, context, mode/medium, and instructor. It's easy to say "your thesis statement should always be at the end of your first paragraph" but it is not correct to say that. The fix is to note your expectations as a reader and ask questions. "I see that you're using several quotations from your textbook throughout this reflection. Is that a requirement of the assignment?"

Then, name your concern and offer at least two possible solutions. "My concern is that I lose sight of your point because the quotations are quite long. I would suggest either adding more commentary between the quotations so I can follow your point better, using fewer quotations, or shortening the quotations you have."

Chapter 10 Activity

Make a small sign to hang in the Writing Center with a note of encouragement for tutors or writers.