Chapter 3

Writing Processes

Part of becoming an effective writer includes understanding one’s own writing process. Susan Miller Cohran, Roy Stamper, and Stacey Cohran see the writing process as “all the steps you use when writing.” Common steps in any writer’s process includes “brainstorming, freewriting, collecting evidence, drafting, outlining, revising, and receiving and applying feedback from others” (20). Process becomes a strategy of writing, as you settle into the patterns that work best for you in developing your drafts.

The following faculty essays provide you with information about Clayton State University services that support your writing process, as well as strategies that you can implement that will enhance your writing. Additional essays provide ways that authentic writing enhances our voice.

Communicating with Technology: Strategies for Using Email in an Academic Setting

Jennifer Parrott

Emailing Professors

Email is an important medium for communication between professors and students at Clayton State. While professors maintain weekly office hours where you can speak to them in person, it’s appropriate to communicate via email when it comes to asking and answering relatively quick, course- related questions. Email is also helpful because it provides a written record of your communication.

Most professors require you to check your CSU email account regularly and will only communicate with you through your CSU email account (rather than through Gmail, Yahoo! or other accounts). Therefore, it’s important that you use your CSU account to communicate with your professors and check it daily. Often, students fail to use and check their CSU email, so consider installing it on your phone, where using it will be easy and efficient. You can find instructions for setting up CSU email on your phone on the HUB’s website.

Your CSU email account should be your academic account, and you should represent yourself professionally when using it. It is worth taking a few minutes to set up a professional email signature. An email signature usually contains your full name, professional credentials, and alternative contact information. As a first-year college student, it is appropriate to include any of the following:

• Major or departmental affiliation
• Name of university and year of graduation
• Titles of leadership positions that you hold
• Contact information: phone number/email/website or other social networking information that you are comfortable sharing in a professional context

Additional Considerations:

• Avoid including quotes from movies, songs, or religious sources; these are fine for your personal email account but inappropriate for a professional account
• Include social networks only if they are professional profiles
• Avoid special fonts and graphics; keep it clean and professional

When is Email Appropriate?

Before you begin, take a minute to determine whether your question is appropriate for email. Can you find the answer you seek by reviewing the assignment sheet, syllabus, textbook or notes? Ensure you have taken all possible steps to answer the question yourself. Then, ask yourself if the content is appropriate for an email—if your question will require a lengthy explanation or you would like your professor to go over your work with you in detail, it may be best to set up an appointment to or stop by during office hours. If you are emailing to set up an appointment, let your instructor know what you want to discuss so they can be prepared to address your question or concern.

If you are contacting a professor with a complaint, consider waiting 24 hours if you are upset or angry because angry, accusatory emails rarely help anyone. Then, consider phrasing your complaint as a question or request: “I’m not sure that I understand all of your comments on my essay. Can I schedule an appointment with you to discuss it?” Or, “I think there’s a discrepancy between the grade on my essay and the grade that was entered into the grade book in D2L.” Politely asking for clarification is always appropriate and helps avoid awkward situations.

Getting Started

Once you have established that email is the appropriate way to communicate, provide as much specific information as possible to help your professor get you the answers you seek quickly and efficiently, starting with the subject line. Rather than replying to a previous, unrelated email or just using “question,” In the subject line, use a specific phrase such as, “word count on personal essay,” or whatever phrase will clearly indicate the content of the message. Doing so gives your instructors a preview of what is inside and can help them prioritize responses. A specific subject line also helps you locate the information you need when you are searching your inbox for the answer at a later time.

Always use a greeting or salutation. You can address your instructor by name and title. For example, “Dear Professor Smith,” or “Greetings Professor Smith,” is better than opening with “Hey” or “Hi.” Addressing your instructor using the appropriate title is important for two reasons: it is a sign of respect for the instructor’s professional accomplishments, and it demonstrates that you understand the rules of communication in this particular rhetorical situation. If you are unsure of how to address your instructor, you can always use “professor.” Also, you can check the syllabus or your instructor’s email signature for more information. Instructors that include “Ph.D.” after their names can be referred to as “Dr.” Finally, you can always ask instructors how they prefer to be addressed; they will be happy to clarify for you.

Provide Information (Lots of It)

Before asking your question, you need to provide your instructor with some information, beginning with who you are. If the name associated with your email is different from what you go by in class, be sure to use the name your instructor will recognize. Also, identify the class you are in by the course number and section; for example, ENGL1101-26. If it’s a seated class, you might include the meeting days/times. Often, instructors teach multiple sections of the same course, so just saying “I’m in your 1101 course” or “I am in your online course” is not helpful. Even if you feel like it’s overkill, your instructor will always appreciate more information rather than less. Remember, the more time it takes them to figure out who you are and which assignment you are referring to, the longer it takes for you to get the answers that you need.

Next, demonstrate that you have tried to find the answer yourself, and if you need clarification on instructions or a comment or anything else, include the item in question in the email or attach it to the email. Make it convenient for your instructor to respond quickly.

If you do not understand something about an assignment, avoid saying, “I don’t understand this assignment.” The instructor will need to ask you specifically what is confusing you, and you will end up in a time-consuming email exchange that may prevent you from submitting work on time. Instead, quote the instructions that are confusing you or the feedback tthat you need clarification on, or the passage in the textbook that is giving you trouble. In doing so, you demonstrate that you’ve read the material, and you help the instructor provide a quick, accurate response.

You also want to pay attention to detail. Although you are not being graded on the emails that you send, make sure to use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your emails. Avoid emoticons and abbreviations used in texting. Remember that your emails represent you as a student, and you always want to showcase yourself in the most professional manner.

Finally, allow time for the professor to respond; though students tend to work late at night and on the weekends, not all professors maintain such a schedule. Make sure to ask questions more than twenty-four hours prior to deadlines to allow professors sufficient time to respond. Many professors will note in their syllabi when they answer email; for example, Monday– Friday 9am – 5pm. Some will respond to emails within twenty-four hours, except on the weekends, etc. If you have not received a response in several days, send a polite follow-up email.

Putting it All Together

While this may seem like a lot of rules for writing an email, getting in the habit of writing these types of emails will serve you well throughout college and in the professional world. Emails that are respectful, specific, and thorough will usually yield faster, more helpful responses in any situation. Also, one of the benefits of attending Clayton State is that our faculty are focused on teaching, and they want to help you succeed. By following these guidelines, you will demonstrate to them that you are taking charge of your own learning experience and seeking the answers or clarification that you need.

As the world becomes more digital and email becomes more important, always remember that not all issues can or should be resolved through an email, and that class time and office hours may be more appropriate for addressing longer, complex problems. Furthermore, personal interaction with your professor helps them get to know you and gives you experience talking with professionals face-to-face. The most important thing to remember is that, if you need help, you should always ask for it. College is a time of learning and your professors are here to help you learn. But they won’t know that you need help unless you reach out and ask for it.

Further Reading

Portwood-Stacer, Laura. “How to Email Your Professor (without being annoying AF).” Medium, 26 Apr. 2016, medium.com/@ lportwoodstacer/how-to-email-your-professor-without-being- annoying-af-cf64ae0e4087. 28 May 2019.

Planning and Drafting Your Writing

Kavita Surya

Writing is an act unique to each individual. For some, it seems as if words flow effortlessly across a page. For others, writing each word takes strenuous effort. And according to the famed writer Ernest Hemingway, one person can experience both levels of difficulty. As he states: “There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it can come easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges [explosives]” (qtd. in Hemingway and Phillips 18).

If there are no rules to writing and how we write is unique to each of us, why take a class like this one focused on writing instruction? And why is the first outcome for this course to learn about engaging in writing as a process?

The answer originates in the reality that even the most experienced and acclaimed writers can find the process intimidating. As acclaimed horror writer Stephen King once said, “the scariest moment [of writing] is always just before you start” (269). This sense of intimidation often stems from the pressure to immediately produce “perfect” writing, or writing that is flawlessly aligned with your and your audience’s expectations, which can shut down our efforts to write. And some of us may wait for a burst of inspiration, which may not arrive, or at least not in time to meet our deadlines. Therefore, the results of our writing may not be what we want, which we can then explain away by stating that we are “bad writers.”

Yet renowned poet Nikki Giovanni argues that “You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts” (186). But how can you reduce, or even remove such intimidation? A step-by-step writing process can help break up writing into manageable tasks. What we offer in this chapter is the beginning of such a process through the steps of pre-writing and drafting.

Please keep in mind that you will likely move back and forth between steps as needed. For example, you may start drafting a piece of writing, then revise what you have written so far, and then continue writing. We hope that our discussion of writing process in this chapter and others can help you find or finetune a process that works for your needs – but be prepared to adjust as necessary!

Pre-Writing, or Planning to Write Your Draft

You might begin your writing assignment by opening a blank document or taking out a piece of essay, then beginning to draft your writing assignment or other type of writing. But a little planning can go a long way in avoiding the frustration of staring at a blank page, or again, not having the finished piece of writing turn out the way you and your audiences would prefer. So, your pre-writing process should begin as soon as you receive your writing assignment or any other writing task you pursue outside of this course.

In this section, we focus on the following Pre-Writing strategies:

• Reading and Understanding Assignment Instructions
• Thinking About Rhetorical Situations Informing Your Writing
• Brainstorming and Organizing Ideas for Your Writing

Reading and Understanding Assignment Instructions:

In all academic writing, begin by carefully reading and making sure you understand assignment instructions. You should complete this step as soon as you receive your assignment. In a world where skimming the massive amount of information at our fingertips is the norm, taking the time to closely read and make sense of instructions before beginning your writing assignment may seem time-consuming. But you should ensure you start off your planning in accordance with your instructor’s expectations, which is easier to do at the beginning of your writing process, rather than having to backtrack to address issues. You can also review your instructions with a Writers’ Studio consultant, or if your first year writing class has one or more of them, a Peer Academic Mentor (PAM). If you have questions after thoroughly reading the instructions, be sure to ask your instructor.

Thinking About Rhetorical Situations Informing Your Writing:

Previously, we discussed how an awareness of rhetorical situations can enhance your abilities to compose written texts in ways that meet both your and audience expectations. Therefore, you may want to note answers to the following questions related to elements of rhetorical situations:

• Text: What genre (type) of text are you writing? Examples of text genres in first-year writing could include, but are not limited to essays, rhetorical reading responses, and discussion posts. What are the general expectations for the text genre in terms of content and formatting? While your instructor’s specific expectations may guide your responses to both of these questions, also consider any previous experience with researching, reading, or writing with the genre in other classes, as well as in non-classroom settings, like websites, books, and other spaces.
• Author: As the author, how could your background influence your writing of this text?
• Audience: Who is/are the intended audience(s) of this text? (While your instructor, and perhaps your classmates, are intended audiences, consider others as well.) Based upon your understanding of their backgrounds, how might they receive the ideas that you’re trying to express in your written text, including how these ideas are organized and formatted? (Again, you could use your assignment instructions and other experience to help you answer this question.)
• Purpose: What is your purpose in expressing your ideas in this written assignment (besides completing the assignment)? How would you like your audience to respond to this text (besides receiving an assignment grade you find satisfactory)?
• Setting: How does your written text respond to time and place, as well as broader communities and conversations pertaining to the topic?

Brainstorming and Organizing Ideas for Your Writing:

Now that you understand the instructions and overall aspects of the rhetorical situation surrounding your assignment, the following strategies can help you generate and organize ideas. While we present these strategies in a suggested order, you do not have to use them all, and they can be completed in an order that works for you.

• Free Writing: Free writing can be especially helpful for alleviating anxiety about writing tasks and also for allowing ideas to emerge that might not otherwise do so in a more structured writing environment. Suggested freewriting steps include the following:
  • Set a timer for 10-15 minutes.
  • Once your allotted time begins, start writing and don’t stop until time is up.
  • Try to focus on one or more topics related to your writing assignment. But if that isn’t possible, keep writing, even “I don’t know what to write” repeatedly. Just the act of writing can help ideas emerge.
  • Try your best to use complete sentences, and even multiple paragraphs if you can, to help you locate ideas for further development in your writing assignment. But don’t be too concerned about grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
  • Once time is up, carefully review what you’ve written. If applicable, mark any ideas relevant to a topic for your writing assignment.
  • Repeat free writing sessions as needed, and if you do, consider taking breaks between sessions.
    
• Bubble Mapping: Bubble mapping can help you locate main and supporting ideas for the topic of your writing assignment. This process can be especially helpful to organize potential ideas you identified through free writing on your topic. To map your idea bubbles:
  • You can simply use a piece of essay, software like Word or PowerPoint, or even online applications with bubble mapping templates that can store maps in the cloud, although they may require signing up for an account to save your maps for later access. The applications in particular can be helpful for bubble maps extending beyond one printed or typed page.
  • Start by noting the main idea of your writing assignment in the center of the page. For example, if your topic is “college,” your main idea might be: “What it takes to be academically successful in college.”
  • Draw a circle around your main idea.
  • Now think about what it takes to be academically successful in college.
  • Write these ideas (supporting ideas) around your main idea. Draw circles around each of these ideas and lines between each each circle and the circle containing your main idea. Examples of supporting ideas might include: attending class, participating in class, practicing good study habits, completing assignments, asking your instructors questions, and consulting campus resources.
  • Consider additional details you might want to add for each supporting idea.
  • Write down the supporting details near the circle with the supporting idea bubble to which they correspond. Circle these ideas and draw lines connecting them to the corresponding supporting idea bubble. For example, practicing good study habits might involve taking and reviewing detailed notes, forming study groups, and scheduling individual study time, ideally in a location where you can concentrate best.
    

Consider the following Bubble Map example based on the topic, main idea, supporting ideas, and additional details discussed in this section:

• Outlining: Now that you’ve figured out the topic, main idea, supporting ideas, and other details for your writing assignment, you can use your bubble map to begin to place them in an outline to guide you as you research and write your draft.
  • The first part of your outline is the introductory paragraph discussing your topic and main idea, then ending with a preview of the essay’s example to give readers an idea of what to expect in the essay.
  • The next part of the outline will be the body paragraphs, where you list your supporting ideas. You will then include additional details from your bubble map under each supporting idea.
  • For the last part, your concluding paragraph will summarize what you discussed, connecting back to the main idea. Please see the following example illustrating the transferring of your bubble map to your outline:

1. Introductory Paragraph
   1. Introduces the topic of academic success in college
   2. Explains that this essay will be discussing [list supporting ideas here] as ways to academically succeed in college
2. Supporting Idea #1: Attending Class
   1. Detail 1
   2. Detail 2
3. Supporting Idea #2: Participating in Class
   1. Detail 1
   2. Detail 2
4. Supporting Idea #3: Consistently Practicing Good Study Habits
   1. Detail 1: Taking and Reviewing Detailed Notes
   2. Detail 2: Forming Study Groups
   3. Detail 3: Scheduling Study Time (ideally in a location where you can concentrate best)
5. Supporting Idea #4: Completing Assignments
   1. Detail 1
   2. Detail 2
6. Supporting Idea #5: Consult Campus Resources
   1. Detail 1
   2. Detail 2
7. Concluding Paragraph: Summarizing What’s Been Discussed in this Essay, Referring Back to Main Idea of How to Succeed Academically in College

• Researching: Now that you have a preliminary outline, you can begin/continue your research into your topic, as well as your main idea, supporting ideas, and additional details if you need to do so for your writing assignment. Add links, MLA-formatted citations, and relevant tidbits from your research that you would like to use into your outline as needed.
  • Alternatively, you can complete an annotated bibliography, which often includes (1) a citation of the source (likely in MLA format for ENGL 1101 and 1102), (2) a summary of what the source discusses, (3) strengths and weaknesses of this discussion, and (4) how this source fits into the text you’re writing. Then you can reference this bibliography with your outline when writing your draft, or insert portions into the appropriate sections of the outline. You can also see annotated bibliography samples in your handbook or on the Purdue OWL website.
  • When it comes to research, there are two types: Primary and Secondary. Primary research involves research you conduct yourself, such as recounting your own experiences, as well as interviews, surveys, and experiments. Secondary research entails finding research from other sources.
  • For secondary research, try to ensure that your research is credible. Again, your handbook or the Purdue OWL contains valuable guidelines for assessing the credibility of your sources. But considering how common and numerous online sources are, I would also like to highlight a few points concerning them:

1. Prioritize sources with website addresses ending in:.edu, .gov, .org, or .mil.
2. Use the following types of sites with caution, and only as starting points for your research:
   1. Wikipedia or other crowd-sourced informational sites (e.g. Quora, WikiHow) only as starting points for your research, considering that anyone can contribute to these sites
   2. Articles, white papers, or other texts from websites selling products and services
      

• A reliable way to ensure you’re incorporating credible sources is to use databases and other resources from the Clayton State University Library. Please see the CSU English 1101 Library Guide for more information.
• By following these prewriting strategies, you are now ready to begin drafting your writing assignment.
  

Writing Your Draft

Now is the time to start writing your first draft based on your outline and assignment instructions. You may also want to consult other work from your free writing, if applicable.

During this drafting stage, like your free writing, you should not be too worried about polished writing. Just focus on getting your ideas on the page. You can always go back and edit later. However, this draft should be more structured than free writing, given the other work you may have already put into brainstorming, researching, and organizing your ideas.

As you write, you should also consider the following:

• • Make sure you use your own words as much as possible, saving direct quotations for interesting wording in the text you’re referencing that could lose impact if placed in your own words.
  • Include in-text citations or note places in the draft where in-text citations should be incorporated.
  • Try your best to guide readers through your ideas by doing the following:
    • Focusing on one idea, with the rest of the paragraph consisting of details to support this idea. For example, according to the sample outline in this chapter, paragraph two focuses on attending class and details supporting that idea, while paragraph three concentrates on participating in class and details corresponding to that idea.
    • Providing examples (those from other sources, and perhaps, your own research and personal experience) to support your claims.
    • Using transition words and phrases to establish relationships between the ideas in each paragraph, helping you and readers stay on track. You can find excellent examples of transitions in your handbook or on the Purdue OWL website.
    • Avoiding the use of words like “this” and “it” by themselves. Doing so makes readers work harder to figure out what you’re referring to, especially if you use these words after discussing multiple ideas. So, for instance, instead of “This indicates that the author used credible sources,” use wording like: “The author’s incorporation of studies from the neuroscience field to support his claims on teenage brain development demonstrates his use of credible sources.”

Ultimately, we hope that these pre-writing and drafting strategies will help your writing process become less stressful and more fruitful, resulting in writing that engages you and your audience(s).

Reflection Question

How would you describe your pre-writing and drafting practices? Explain how you will incorporate one or more strategies from this chapter into these practices for your next writing assignment.

Works Cited

Clayton State University Library. “LibGuides: ENGL 1101: English Composition I: Welcome.” LibGuides at Clayton State University, 29 June 2021, clayton.libguides.com/engl1101/welcome. Accessed 3 July 2021.

Giovanni, Nikki. Conversations with Nikki Giovanni. Edited by Virginia C. Fowler, University Press of Mississippi, 1992.

Hemingway, Ernest, and Larry W. Phillips. Ernest Hemingway on Writing. Scribner, 1984.

King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. “Annotated Bibliography Samples.” Purdue Online Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/ common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibliographies/ annotated_bibliography_samples.html. Accessed 2 July 2021.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. “Evaluating Sources: General Guidelines.” Purdue Online Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_ writing/academic_writing/establishing_arguments/research_and_evidence.html. Accessed 3 July 2021.

Purdue Online Writing Lab. “Transitions.” Purdue Online Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/engagement/ged_preparation/part_1_lessons_1_4/ transitions.htm. Accessed 2 July 2021.

Participating in Peer Review

Better through Collaboration

Sean William Dever

The first draft is always the most difficult. I remind myself of this while pouring another glass of water. It’s 2:30 am, and I find myself once again in my dimly-lit kitchen, a candle on my left, dried apricots, my snack of choice, on the right. There’s mahogany teakwood in the air, and my fingers continue to glide over my keyboard, swiftly striking these squares. I’m both in my mind and on the page.

After another hour of moving line three to line five and line five to line seven and removing four altogether, I arrive at what I believe is the strongest first draft that I can muster before my eyes close. With a sigh of relief, I reach for my nearby pen and scratch out “Send poem to Daniel” on the corner of an empty journal page.

Morning cracks through my blinds and invites me to continue my work. I reach my desk, notice the note to myself, and fire off an email titled “READ ASAP – GIVE ANY AND ALL OPINIONS.” In the body of the email, I add a “please” for the sake of civility. The scarce sunlight offered upon my balcony is welcomed, and the coffee singes the back of my throat, ever so slightly. From inside, I hear my phone ring. “Daniel,” it reads, and I hastily pick up.

***

We’re taught at a young age that despite our inclination and drive to work alone, that collaboration and team effort birth success. My high school hockey coach always boomed, “Without each other, you are one person. With each other, you are better, stronger, more talented; you are a team.” Perhaps it’s the artist in me, but I find meaning in almost everything.

Therefore, I carry those words like the tattoos on my skin, always with me and close to my heart. We are nothing without the help of our family, friends, and peers. Writing is a deeply intimate art form. It cannot breathe and grow without the aid of others. Similar to how my coach said a team needs each member, a writer needs peer reviewers to improve their drafts.

***

“There’s substance here, something uniquely human about the narrator. I love it, but…” Daniel’s voice trails off briefly as he gathers his thoughts. “Line six. It feels a bit too early for the speaker to transition into their mind. Introspection would fit better at, let’s say, line ten.”

I pause and think back to my mindset the night before and how I played around with this poem, toying with the placement of each line. “That’s interesting. I honestly had not considered that. I hoped to show the seamlessness between reality and imagination, but maybe it does come too soon. Maybe some of the magic is lost there.” He’s right. I circle line six, draw an arrow down to ten, and make a note to format this later. “What are your thoughts on line five?”

***

When we think of peer reviews, it’s integral to understand the necessity of this craft. Writers often seek multiple readers for each of their works as a necessary step to allowing their voice to resonate as clearly as possible. In the world of writing, we seek peer reviews from friends, family, colleagues, and members of our writing circles. With the inherent intimacy demanded of the writing process, we want our words to land with their intended precision and accuracy.

Professional authors, poets, and novelists rely on the feedback of peers to progress their drafts into the polished versions that we’re lucky enough to read today. I mean, even the (arguably) greatest horror novelist in modern history, Stephen King, noted the importance of feedback and revision in his book On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft. And could you imagine what the first draft of Harry Potter looked like, or what could have happened to the series without the critical input from others?

***

Peer reviews come in all forms. In writing, they range from the casual: sharing a few lines of writing with a close friend to the more structured approaches; following a set of questions to improve your classmate’s rough draft of an Argumentative Essay. However, all peer reviews contain the same end goal. We review to find the heart of the writing, determine areas of strength and instances of weaknesses, and advance the draft. Your professor can employ any number of approaches, but the peer review is a collaborative process.

A peer review is a dance where the original author asks the peer reviewer for their hand. From there, the peer reviewer takes the lead, guiding the author through familiar moves, improving their footsteps throughout the process. A peer review is inviting your friend over for lunch, cooking them a meal, while your friend offers a family recipe, a unique spin, to improve your dish. When we write, we begin with a direction, with a specific motive and thesis. We collaborate to uncover our unique genius.

***

As the sun peaks in the mid-day sky, my cell phone logs the conversation currently at 1:37:55. There are various highlighted verses, circled lines, and little red “x’s” on the page, a constellation of comments and critiques. “Once again, there’s heart here; I just think that reorganizing the poem will present it clearer.” Daniel’s words, precise and calculated, exactly what you want from a peer.

“And you believe that the amount of internal commentary is sufficient?” I ask.

“I think that with any more, it would be a monologue,” Daniel chuckles, and I too laugh, partially because internal monologues are consistent with my own daily routines.

“Once again, thank you, Daniel.” “What are friends for?”

“I’ll give you a call next weekend. Perhaps I’ll send over an updated draft before then!” I chime.

“And I’ll be waiting.” We both hang up and the almost-visible fog around my draft becomes clearer. The words are luminescent upon the page, and I can’t help but smile.

***

Before I was a writer, I was a writer. Now, let me make that clearer – before I saw myself as a writer, I was a writer. In English 1101 and 1102, you’re tasked with writing essays, responses, and reviews. Whether you’ve come to terms with it or not, you are a writer. You’ve taken an important step into the world of writing; you’ve signed up, and let me tell you, this is a lifetime membership!

Occasionally, we struggle with seeing ourselves as a member of a community. Perhaps, it’s because we’ve never thought of ourselves in that particular light or because we feel as if we are not talented enough. If you feel that way about the writing community, let me be the first to say, when your pen hits the page the first day of English Composition 1, you are a part of this community. You are a writer. Now, take that mentality with you when you craft your peer review as you strive to better your abilities and further hone the timeless craft of writing.

Peer Review Principles and Strategies

Kavita Surya

Introduction

In both English 1101 and 1102, you are expected to review and provide feedback on your classmates’ writing. This expectation is discussed in English 1101, Outcome 2: “Collaboration,” where “students will engage in the collaborative, social aspects of writing,” [in part by] “respond[ing] constructively to peers’ papers” (Lamb and Smith 5).

Sean William Dever’s preceeding essay, “Better Through Collaboration,” discusses the importance of peer feedback in creative writing spaces, and how such feedback also relates to the idea of teamwork beyond written texts, such as participating on a sports team. Ultimately, the essay underscores the idea that we are all part of a writing community in First- Year Writing. To add, not only can you improve upon your writing by receiving feedback from others, but reading others’ writing can introduce you to new ideas and ways of expressing them.

And as you may also be aware, providing and receiving respectful, helpful feedback on others’ writing extends far beyond college. Importantly, responding to your peers’ (and even your supervisors’) writing is a fundamental part of communicating in workplace environments. For example, you may ask, or be asked, to review and provide feedback on texts such as emails, instructions, reports, and proposals before sending them to someone outside or higher up within your workplace for further review.

If you feel concerned about your ability to provide helpful feedback, don’t be! All you need is to be an attentive reader. Your instructor will provide detailed instructions on how to review your classmates’ work. Some of these methods might include, but are not limited to the following:

• answering a set of questions verbally and/or in writing
• writing comments in the draft
• making edits in the draft

You may engage in these peer review activities in multiple ways:

• text document, for example, in your peer’s draft or another document
• in person
• email
• video
• online discussions
• online platforms like Peermark

We will first discuss general principles and strategies for reviewing your peers’ work to assist you, in combination with directions provided by your instructor. You will also have an opportunity to further reflect on the purposes of peer review and your peer review practices by answering questions at the end of this chapter to guide your reflections.

This section has been organized in the following parts:

• Submitting Your Draft for Review
• Reviewing Your Peer’s Draft
  • Reading Your Peer’s Draft
  • Communicating Your Feedback
• Sharing Written Feedback with Your Peer (Technological Considerations)
  • Filenames
  • Working with Web-Shared Documents (e.g. Google Docs, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox)
• Reflecting On Your Peer Review Practices

Submitting your draft for review

Make sure that you follow the instructions given by your instructor for preparing and submitting your draft closely.

If you’re able to do so, you might want to include a few sentences thanking reviewers for looking over your draft, as well as any items you would like them to address in their feedback. Doing so can help reviewers focus on areas where you know need assistance, and can also prevent them from pointing out issues you are already aware of. For instance, you could ask the reviewer if a particular section of your draft should stay where it is or be moved somewhere else, or if a sentence’s meaning seems unclear.

Reviewing your peer’s draft

Before writing your review, make sure you read your peer’s draft carefully - and more than once! Again, while your instructor may provide specific guidance, it may still be helpful to focus on the following each time you read the draft.

The first time you read, make note of the following, broader issues:

• Did the draft follow assignment instructions? Why and/or why not?
  
  • Examples of drafts not following assignment instructions might include:
    • submitting a reading response instead of an essay;
    • writing a more argumentative-focused essay on whether capital punishment is right or wrong, rather than an informative (expository) essay about capital punishment laws in the United States; or
    • missing one or more assignment requirements, like a concluding paragraph, or discussion of rhetorical appeals.
• How well is the draft organized and developed?
  • Are ideas sufficiently explained? Why and/or why not?Are there other ideas or evidence that could strengthen your peer’s claims?
  • Are sections of the draft where they should be? If not, how can they be rearranged?
  • Are there effective transitions between sections? Which transitions work well, and which do not?

Now that you’ve noted these broader issues, read the draft again, paying attention to the following:

• Are any sentences choppy or unclear? Which ones?
• Are the sentences structured in various ways for more engaging reading, or do they start similarly? An example might be several sentences (especially in a row) starting with: “The author. . .”
• Do you see one or more examples of incorrect or imprecise word choice? Which words? Examples of imprecise word choice could include words like “good,” “bad,” or “amazing.”
• Are quotations integrated smoothly into the essay using correct MLA format? Which ones are, and which ones are not?

Now pay attention to grammar, punctuation, and spelling:

• If you notice a type of error occurring throughout the draft, such as run-on sentences, make note of it, but also write down an example of the error to help you explain the issue to your peer, which we’ll discuss more in the next section, “Communicating Your Feedback.”
• You may also have opportunities to mark such errors in the draft itself.

Finally, pay attention to formatting, as specified by your instructor:

• Is the draft double-spaced?
• Is your peer’s name, name of course, instructor’s name, and date in the left-hand corner of the first page per MLA format?
• Is your peer’s last name and page number located on the upper- right-hand corner of each page?
• If applicable, is there a Works Cited section? If so, is it formatted correctly? Is each source cited in the Works Cited section cited in the essay using correct MLA format – and vice versa?

Now that you’ve read your peer’s draft carefully, you’re ready to write your feedback.

Communicating your feedback

As discussed earlier in this chapter, you may be asked to communicate your feedback through various methods, such as answering questions, writing comments, and inserting edits in the draft, as well as communicating this feedback with your peer via email, video, chat, in person, or through online discussions or other platforms. However, this section outlines general principles for providing feedback that can be useful regardless of format – and the notes you took while reading your peer’s draft (as outlined in the previous section, “Reviewing Your Peer’s Draft”) will be quite helpful in sharing your feedback!

When communicating your feedback, it may be tempting to focus on what you believe needs work in the draft. On the other hand, you may also not contribute enough constructive feedback. As every piece of writing can be improved in one way or another, it is vital to provide both positive and constructive feedback to help your peer know what to continue doing for future writing efforts, as well as what to work on.

Providing useful feedback also involves including one or more examples of the issues you’ve located. For example, it is not specific enough to state that a draft needs “better organization” or “clearer sentences” because your peer will not know how to improve the organization of the draft, or why and where the draft needs clearer sentences.

Below are examples of both specific and nonspecific feedback:

Nonspecific: “The essay needs better organization here.”

More Specific: “I would suggest switching these two paragraphs. By doing so, you can now introduce the author, then provide information on the author’s purpose in writing the essay. Making these changes will help you transition nicely into a discussion of the author’s main arguments in the essay, and how those arguments were supported.”

Nonspecific: “This sentence is unclear.”

More Specific: “In this sentence, ‘This was his struggle,’ please clarify what “this” is referring to, and explain what the struggle was.”

Nonspecific: “Good work!”

More Specific: “Good work on summarizing the author’s arguments and how those arguments were supported using personal experience and research studies!”

The “Sandwich Approach” can help you balance both positive and constructive feedback. This approach involves building “a sandwich” including layers of both kinds of feedback.

Sharing written feedback with your peer (technical considerations)

As discussed earlier in this chapter, you can share written feedback in various ways depending on your instructor’s guidance. In this section, we offer some quick tips for sharing documents if you’re required to do so by your instructor. We hope these tips can be helpful, regardless of the operating system or software/web-sharing platform version you’re using:

• Filenames – To help you keep track of specific documents and drafts, try to include descriptive information in your document filenames.
  • So when you’re submitting a draft, try to name your file in a way that includes the following information, perhaps with characters (like underscores, which are generally accessible by pressing SHIFT + your hyphen key):
    1. Your first and last name (or first name initial and last name)
    2. The name of the assignment (perhaps with “Rough Draft”) after the assignment name
    3. The date of submission
    4. So, for example: KavitaSurya_Expository Essay Rough Draft_020121
  • If you’re naming a peer’s document in software like Word or Adobe PDF to send back to them, try to keep their document name while adding information to help you and peer distinguish from the original version.
  • So for example, if your peer’s draft was originally titled, Document72, then you could rename the document as: Document72_KavitaSuryaFeedback_020721.
• Working with Web-Shared Documents (e.g., Google Docs, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox) – When sharing your documents through these platforms, make sure that the person reviewing your document has access to view, and ideally, add comments or even make edits to the document.
  • Once you receive the feedback on your shared document, you may want to make sure you have access to the original document in case you need it. While you can access previous document versions in shared document platforms, the version you want can sometimes be difficult to find.

We hope that these tips, along with your instructor’s guidance, will assist you in providing valuable feedback that will help you and your peer in First-Year Writing – and beyond!

Reflecting on your peer review practices

1. In what ways do you hope to improve your writing through the peer review process?
2. How can seeing yourself as a writer within the First-Year Writing Community positively impact your confidence and abilities?
3. Why is it important to provide feedback that is specific, positive, and constructive?
4. How would you make the following feedback more specific? “Some sentences don’t use commas correctly.”
5. Write your feedback for a peer’s essay, or rewrite previous feedback you’ve given to a peer using the “Sandwich Approach.” After you’ve written your feedback, describe how this technique did and/or didn’t help you write feedback for your peer.
6. How do you see yourself giving and receiving feedback on yours’ and others’ writing in academic and professional settings? (You can also describe examples where you have had to share your writing and provide feedback on others’ writing in these settings.)

Work Cited

Lamb, Mary R., and Patricia A. Smith. “First Year Writing at Clayton State University.” Connections: Guide to First-Year Writing at Clayton State University, edited by Mary R. Lamb and Patricia A. Smith, 9th ed., Fountainhead Press, 2019, pp. 3–20.

I Have the Munchies for Revision

Tyrell Collins

“Put a comma there.”

“No, you missed a period.”

“I don’t think that sounds right.” “You should write it like this.”

These are some of the countless phrases I tell my friends while crunching on a small bag of chips in class during any peer review session. I am good at pointing out other people’s mistakes, but clam up seeing my own. I clench my teeth at the slightest small errors. Why did I not put a comma there? How did I miss putting a period here? Should I rephrase this sentence? For someone who did okay in high school, First Year College Writing is proving to be more stressful than I would like.

This is my first semester. I think I’m an okay writer. I am no poet, but I think I have a good grasp on writing, especially the five-paragraph essay. It is what a majority of everyone that I meet is accustomed to. It is also why when my professor hands out our first major essay assignment, my palms are already sweaty. No more five paragraph essays. I just need to reaffirm myself I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. After a week, my professor is pacing, handing back drafts. This has to be at least a “B.” My essay drops to the desk and so do some of my grapes into my lap. Apparently, I cannot do this. I am staring at a “D.”

I check the name at the top left corner. It is me, alright. Each page is inked in black, blue, and red, all different markings. Just staring at it is a headache. Naturally, I want to know what my friends made. From the shaking of their heads, I guess not too well. We are told we have a week to revise our essays. To get my mojo going, I get some of the new Cheez-It Snapd’s. New snack, new thoughts.

Clean up time. I fix some small grammar issues and change some words for the better. After all, revising is about fixing mistakes—right? The “D” slapped on the top of the page just keeps flashing like a yellow traffic light. As a pragmatic thinker when it comes to organization, I revise every underlined mark, every circled word, and every grammatical error in order. It has already been an hour. I am on page two but this calls for a snack break. I have all the variety packs of munchies. The four major “C” groups: chips, chocolate, cookies, and crackers. Stress eating seems to be “a thing” among my friends and me. After a couple more hours of typing and backspacing, I am done, or so I think.

Something about this newly revised essay does not look right. Something about it does not feel right. I mean it’s typed; no more grammatical mistakes. Every circled word, underlined mark and marginal comment has been addressed. After a few head scratches, I know something is missing. I just do not know what. I take my doubts to my professor.

“Nothing’s changed,” she says.

What did she mean nothing’s changed? I fixed everything. She asks me to skim my draft for a few minutes. After, she tells me to put the draft face down on her desk and asks me to repeat five to seven sentences from the essay.

“SAY WHAT!!” Well, that is what I yelled in my head. In reality, I just sat there with this blank expression on my face saying “Umm, umm” every few seconds.

She explains that if I cannot repeat back even one of my sentences, then I must not think much about my own writing. She tells me to take pride in my work and that starts with recall. What I remember is what will I recall the most, like being a kid again addicted to those Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks. Most likely, what I recall the most is what a reader will recall the most, maybe a catchy hook or introduction, an example, or some form of

evidence. She says “recall” is an exercise for any writing assignment. So I write a list to remember.

• Step 1: Skim through my essay from beginning to end. Take pride in what I write.
• Step 2: If I have a hardcopy of my draft, turn it over, face down, on my desk or somewhere beside me, so I am not in view of my words. If it is an electronic copy, close my device.
• Step 3: Rewrite at least five to seven sentences I can remember from my essay. It does not need to be verbatim, but get as close as possible.
• Step 4: Look back at my essay and know what I am remembering is telling me about the overall quality of the essay.

My professor tells me not to strain myself, to try and remember. If I have loose ideas that need to be tied together more, then I need to write a more comprehensive outline, a reverse outline. Doing a reverse outline strips away my supporting sentences and focuses on the main/key ideas in my paragraph. My professor hands me sticky pads and note cards. She says it does not matter which ones I use though; like my Extra Refreshers gum, spearmint, polar ice, both get the job done. I number each paragraph. I write the key idea or main point of each paragraph. One or two paragraphs highlight examples, but she says that is okay. Once done, I look for any patterns that emerge which give me insight into the direction of my essay. How well does this list hold together? How does one idea transition and connect to the next? Are the transitions between ideas made clear in my writing?

I know if I have a hard time summarizing my content and main points, someone else will. So perhaps I have too many ideas in play. Maybe some ideas are not elaborated enough on the page. Some points may need to be broken up or consolidated; others need to be maximized more than zeroed in like a bullseye on a dartboard. I look for repetitious ideas which are in a few places. It is not that I do not have anything else to say, I just need to figure out a way to present it differently. My professor says this will require me to do some “questioning,” like my regret at trying Pumpkin Spice Pringles. I select a paragraph from my essay and explain to my professor how the concepts and ideas fit together. I question how my statements show support for my topic, main idea or even my thesis. Doing this helps me explain my reasoning and point out where any gaps may occur throughout my information. I do this for the next paragraph and so on until I approach the end and realize these reasons, in turn, lead to my conclusion.

I ask, “Well, what about editing?”

My fear of repetition sets in again. She tells me to put all the first sentences in my essay in a list to make sure they reflect the main idea and each one relates to the next. Finally, to trim some fat from the essay, she advises I delete at least three unnecessary words from one sentence in each paragraph that does not change the meaning of the sentence. She says this method can be flexed depending on the writing.

She asks, “Now, what do you think?”

For the first time, I am not chewing anything. This looks like a whole new essay, same topic, just more full, concise ideas, and grammatically sound. My professor tells me to practice these techniques and that I may use all or some of them for my major assignments. They are most certainly a case by case or assignment by assignment basis, mostly, how her comments are more suggestions than anything. If I apply these or other techniques to see my work differently, that is what my revision process will be. WAIT. That is it. Revision means to “re-see.”

I thank my professor tremendously and leave with a newfound sense of pride. I rethought about my work. I reimagined concepts, paragraph structures, sentences and so much more. I had to take this essay apart, examine what elements were working and not working, then put the essay back together. I understand now that what makes revision important is that writing is a process of discovery, and know that I will always produce my best work on a first draft. So revision is a chance for me to look critically at what I have written to see if,

• It is worth saying.
• If it says what I want it to say.
• If a reader will understand what I am saying.

I wonder what other revision techniques will I find. Until then, these are great and I have extra sticky pads and notecards to challenge my friends to do these exercises with their essays. With all this revising, I am hungry again. I just hope there are enough snacks to go around.

Top 10 Grammatical Mistakes of Multilingual Students

Cantice Greene

Learning another language isn’t easy, especially if you’re learning it strictly in or for academic environments. For many students, using academic language—writing using third person pronouns, keeping a distance from the reader by not using “you” and “I,” using abstract subjects and abstract nouns or nominalization, and incorporating sources is difficult even in their native language (Khote 19). I agree that attempting to write using academic English can be challenging. But in our diverse city, many students are rising to the challenge. Based on my experience as a Writers’ Studio consultant and as an ESL instructor, I’ve collected a group of grammar tips that can be quick reminders and helpful hints when editing your own writing.

Grammar Tips

1. Subject-verb agreement

A sentence is not a sentence without a subject and a verb. Maybe you’ve heard that subjects and verbs must “agree,” but you’re wondering what that means. Subjects and verbs agree when the number and person of the noun agrees with the number and person of the verb. Look at the following example.

• Ex. A minority of teenage boys want to be considered masculinity.
• Correction: A majority of teenage boys age 16–18 want to be considered masculine.
• A word form error occurs when the wrong form of a word is used.

2. Verb tense

Verb tenses tell a reader whether an action or event occurs in the present, past, or future. Verbs also have simple, perfect, and progressive tenses to tell a reader whether an action is ongoing, completed, or occurring in relation to another action. Applying the right verb tense is probably most challenging when attempting to show one action in relation to another.

Unnecessary tense shifts can make the writer’s intention confusing to a reader as in the sentence below.

• Ex. When I was still in high school, I intend to go college immediately after graduation.
• Correction: When I was still in high school, I intended to go college immediately after graduation.

Writing and grammar handbooks often provide tips for helping writers keep their verbs in the right tense. The Past Tense Tip below is offered in A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage: “Use the past tense when telling a story about something that was completed in the past” (Beason and Lester 71).

3. Word Choice

Sometimes in haste to get an essay finished, a writer won’t take the time to look up the definition of a word that she is not sure about. A word choice error can occur as a result. Other times, modifiers that fit well with one word don’t make sense grammatically with others. This type of error is seen in the following example.

• Ex. When people get older, one of the most concerns for them is having enough money to retire.
• Correction: When people get older, one of the greatest concerns for them is having enough money to retire.
  

4. Article usage (With nouns)

In grammar, articles are little words that can cause a lot of problems. Articles, the most common of which are a, an, and the, are used to specify nouns. However, since not all languages have articles, they present significant problems to some nonnative English speaking students. Most handbooks go through a sequence of decisions a writer must consider before choosing the right article. A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage presents the following sequence of considerations for nouns to help.

1. Generalization - if so, no article
2. Known or new – if known consider the definate article (the), if new choose between a, an, or some
3. Plural or Singular - if the new noun is plural use some, if it’s singular decide if it is count or noncount
4. Count or Noncount - If the singular noun in a count noun then use a or an, if the singular nound in a non count nount use some
   

To test your grasp of when and how to use articles, use your hand or a piece of essay to cover the correction below. Then use the tips above to correct the following sentence.

• Ex. President Obama proposed tax increases on upper class.
• Correction: President Obama proposed tax increases on the upper class.

5. Prepositions

Just like the problems association with articles, the problems associated with prepositions occur because not all languages use preposition in the same ways. Review the examples and corrections provided to see if you would have used the same or different prepositions. On the internet, you can find graphics and games that practice using prepositions in English. The graphic below is from the blog Mister Sanity.

• Ex. Putting children to college without getting a student loan is difficult.
• Correction: Putting children through college without getting a student loan is difficult.
• Ex. 2 Remember to put the original ticket back to your envelopes.
• Correction: Remember to put the original ticket back into your envelopes.

6. Word Order

All languages order words in ways that make sense grammatically to native users. When writing questions, especially indirect questions, or using questions words such as will and what, nonnative speakers may need to be reminded to order words appropriately. In the example below, the question word presented a problem for the writer.

• Ex. They know how long will it take for you to drive there.
• Correction: They know how long it will take for you to drive there.

7. Sentence Boundaries

Choosing appropriate sentence boundaries is challenging for both monolingual and multilingual writers. Sentence boundaries are a high level writing concern because when sentences don’t have appropriate endings, the meaning of the sentence can easily be misunderstood.

Consider the following example.

• Ex. Gary agreed to pay his costly parking ticket his anger showed in the color of his face.
• Correction 1: Gary agreed to pay his parking ticket, but his anger showed in the color of his face.
• Correction 2: Although Gary agreed to pay his parking ticket, his anger showed in the color of his face.

8. Infinitives (and gerunds)

In some languages the –ing form (gerund) follows a verb, and in others the infinitive (to + base form) follows a verb. If you have trouble knowing when to use a gerund or infinitive, consult your writing handbook’s verb or verbal section.

• Ex. She refused criticizing her boss.
• Correction: She refused to criticize her boss.

9. Modals

The future tense and conditional aspect can be confusing to native speakers and nonnative speakers of English. Use the helping verb would to show a case of probability, something that is not real or true. You’ll find examples of when to use would, will, should, shall, could, can, and might in the verb or modal section of your writing handbook. See the example error and the correction below.

• Ex. If the patient came to me with those symptoms, I will suggest that he see a specialist.
• Correction: If the patient came to me with those symptoms, I would suggest that he see a specialist.

To address any of the writing issues above, the first place to turn to is your writing handbook. Contemporary writing handbooks normally have a section that addresses writing across languages. All of the categories listed above are addressed in the handbook by Andrea A. Lunsford. The sections titled “For Multilingual Writers” address each language featured described above.

It may also be helpful to turn to dictionary.com for help with language related challenges of writing. At dictionary.com, you will find more than just the meaning of words. The site also shows the word used in a sentence, lists the part of speech and related forms of the word, and lists its synonyms. Dictionary.com also has a feature that plays a clip of the pronunciation of the word. More interested language users and those interested in linguistics will find a word’s origin and history and its IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) symbols.

Another great resource for students is the Writers’ Studio at Clayton State. The Studio offers one-on-one sessions with trained consultants normally for thirty minutes. The Studio consultants receive ongoing training, including training to help students address second language English writing difficulties.

An invaluable resource is your English Composition instructor. These professors have been trained to address a variety of writing problems. Chances are that your professor will be able to help you isolate and correct your second language writing concern or he or she will be able to point you to a resource in your book or at our school that can appropriately address the issue.

Works Cited

Beason, Larry, and Mark Lester. A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage. Bedford St. Martins, 2012.

Khote, Nihal. “Re: Social Language to Academic Language,” Powerpoint from GATESOL Presentation,” Received by Cantice Greene, 27 October 2013.

Jonadab. Mistersanity. “Prepositions Chart,” Google Blogger, 2012. 20 March 2014.