What type of tone does Straub recommend you take when responding to another student’s work?
How, according to Straub, do you decide what to comment on?
19 thoughts on “Prompts for Straub’s “Responding to Other Students’ Writing””
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When responding to another student’s work, Straub recommends taking a constructive and friendly approach. Straub, in a way, is telling student’s to simply responds as students. At the very beginning of the piece Straub says that students often “try to imitate the teacher”, and as good as teacher’s comments are, they are best when coming from a teacher. Students should simply stick to what they know and provide peer feedback, which is quite different from teacher feedback and helps the writer in a different manner.
According to Straub, you decide what to comment on by simply reading and having a natural reaction to the piece as yourself – a student reading the work of another student. Another way of deciding what to comment on is to have questions in mind as you read. Questions such as “What does the writer want to accomplish?”, “What kind of paper is it?” etc. Write something specific, something meaningful. Don’t make a comment for the sake of making a comment, write for the sake of helping the writer with their work.
Richard Strub, author of the work, “Responding to Other Students’ Writing,” presents the readers with ways to comment on other people’s writing. Strub recommends, when responding to a piece of writing, the reader comments from a friend’s perspective. Often when people are told to scrutinize other’s writing, they tend to imitate the teacher in the way that they comment. That does not provide much help to the writer since doing so is merely seeking to accomplish the task assigned by a teacher. Strub mentions that, when commenting on the writing, the amount of praise should somewhat equalize to that of criticism. Don’t be hesitant to tell the writer what they did well and what they need to improve on. “Feel free-in fact, feel obliged- to tell the writer what you like and don’t like, what is and is not working, and where you think it can be made to work better”(140). The tone as a reader, should always be supportive and informative. Always seek to help the writer strive for the better.
According to Strub, Students decide what to comment on based on the piece of writing itself. You may want to comment “to ask questions, offer advice, and wonder out loud with the writer about her ideas”(137). The comments should generally be full sentences , as detailed as possible. Strub indicates six critical points for useful response to a paper. Those six points are, “play back your way of understanding the writing, temper your criticism, offer advice, ask questions, explain and follow up on your initial comments, and offer some praise”(141). A good reader should assist the writer transform his/her writing into a well-developed masterpiece.
Richard Straub has some very helpful tips for peer review in “Responding—Really Responding—to Other Students Writing”. One of these tips is in the tone that is recommended a reader must take when revising their peers work. The tone is the tone of just what the reader is, a reader. Straub says that trying to sound like a teacher or editor or judge is not what the writer needs from a peer. A peer is needed to focus on how the ideas are flowing or getting across. The reader is also not to only critique but is also supposed to praise, actually about as much as they critique. Straub goes on to say that because the reader is just that a reader, they don’t have to rewrite sentences or anything because the reader is not the reader they are the writer, and have no right to change what the writer is writing.
Straub continues to talk about what this reader should comment on. Straub states that grammatical issues as well as minor details should be avoided unless they are major problems throughout the text. He says to focus more on actual content and possibly details that work and that don’t work or relate to the main idea. Straub continues to say that comments while possibly helpful could also be utterly useless. Stating something is awkward or to elaborate or even add detail, could mean little to nothing to a writer. So Straub believes that by being direct and writing full sentenced comments out that the writer would benefit significantly more if they truly understood where the reader was coming from, other wise why even review if it won’t truly benefit the writer. This is how Straub decides what to comment on and has given advice which will be extremely helpful when peer editing in class.
Giving one’s paper to other students for peer editing seems very stressful. How will they edit the writing? Conversely, if given another student’s paper, one may ask oneself: “how should this paper be edited?” Straub recommends that when responding to other students’ writing, an individual should be a friend; yet, he/she should be able to give constructive criticism. After all, the goal of peer editing is to help the writer look back on the paper and revise it. What students should avoid is the idea of being a teacher or editor when reading through another student’s writing. Taking on the role of an editor misguides students to correcting every small detail such as grammar, punctuation, sentence style, etc. when perhaps it is not as relevant as other areas of writing in the student’s paper. As Straub states, “The paper is not yours; it’s the writer’s,” and once a student begins to rewrite another student’s paper, the original writer and paper loses its uniqueness (137). The writing that was once theirs, is now also a mixture of the peer editor. In order to refrain from this outcome, it is better to act as a friend who gives suggestions rather than an editor.
After establishing a perspective to take when responding to another student’s work, it is important to figure out what to comment on. As mentioned earlier, although grammar and punctuation are important in a paper, it should be noted that a student should “Address issues that are most important to address in [the] paper, at [the specific] time” (139). This means that, perhaps, if a student were to peer edit a rough draft of another student’s paper, the most important issues to address would be the development of ideas. Look to help improve the writing by offering advice or making suggestions, and talking to the other student about the overall content and purpose of the writing. Straub’s recommendations should be kept in mind for when the opportunity to help another student with his/her writing arises.
Richard Straub in “Responding to Other Students’ Writing” explains how to critique your peers writing by stating that it’s best to take a friendly approach. He also says that there should be a somewhat equal ratio of praise to critique. As a peer it’s your job to be supportive and help as a friend, there’s no need to act like a teacher because that’s what the teacher is already there for. When reading your peers work you should simply just state to them that this area could use some work or connecting point A to point B should be more solid. You shouldn’t tell them to rewrite anything and should shy away from incorrect grammar/punctuation unless it’s all over because we all know how easy it is to make mistakes when typing. Shraub also wants you to make sure that what you are going contribute to the piece of work your critiquing should be helpful not just a useless statement. He also states that you should write full sentences and not place words on the paper like “bad” because that presents no use to the writer and their piece.
Richard Straub’s article on grading peer reviews gives us a lot of insight on the different ways grading and critiquing can be helpful to your classmates. The many comments he makes on constructive criticism allows us to know that having a more positive encouraging tone can help your peers become better writers. We do this by doing what Straub says,” Challenge yourself to write as many praise comments as criticisms.” So having a less critical and less condemning tone is the way to go if you want the person whose paper you’re editing to not feel like their paper is being attacked so that they can successfully take your advice and comments to heart so that their writing will be improved thanks to your more positive tone.
Straub also tackles the topic of what aspects of the paper you should critique. He says you should not be ” Stingy” with your comments allowing for your editee to be fully aware of everything they need to improve their draft and writing overall. You should try to address everything that you can when editing someone’s paper so that you don’t do a so called “half-assed job” and do nothing but waste time and help no one.
In the text “Responding to Other Students’ Writing” by Richard Straub, Straub encourages the reader of another person’s work to take on the role of a fellow colleague that has the perfect balance between critiquing a work and complementing it. The goal of a reader, according to Straub is to make as many comments as they can without overwhelming the original writer into changing their work to suit you. Straub also states that some of the key elements the reader should focus on are the overall assignment, the writer’s main objective and aim, the work of the class, and what stage of drafting the paper is in. With keeping those four elements in mind it allows the reader to grasp the overall context of the paper and the way they should handle their comments. Another key idea that helps a reader is to’ challenge yourself to make the same amount of criticism comments as much as those that praise ‘ in order to help the reader keep a balance between the two opposites. In addition to that when making comments it’s suggested to be as thorough as one can; ‘ instead of writing a two to three worded comment write one that has seven to eight words’. By doing this the writer has more clarity as to what you the reader believes needs to be fixed and under what circumstances it does. Overall the main objective for a reader is to “Just keep it simple”.
When responding to other students work, Straub recommends to take a friendly readers approach. Straub strictly emphasizes the role of a reader is to read, not to write. He also states how simplicity is the best. As he states responders should “get in and get out.” When being friendly it is also important to give honest feedback, he doesn’t want the responder to say everything is great just because they are being nice. Richard Straub wants the responder to give good feedback so the writer can improve. He also says don’t praise the writer, but don’t be harsh either. This friendly reader approach is the middle line in being too harsh and too nice. Straub wants the readers to be in a free mind of state in which they can comment on what they like and dislike.
Straub wants the readers to comment on the main points. Grammatical issues may be important, however Straub tells the readers to focus on the main agenda of the paper. Straub also says to make your comments very descriptive, it is not okay to be short and sweet. The responder should comment on things that he/she likes or dislikes. Comment to tell the writer how you are understanding their paper. The responder can also comment on things that aren’t working well and awkward phrases. But it is very important to critique the content of the assignment. Address if the writer is fully answering the prompt and following the guidelines.
Straub recommend that when responding to another student’s work our tone should be friendly and not too harsh on another student’s work. Straub also recommends that the student’s give positive comments rather than being harsh and “cutting throats” of the writer. As well Straub recommends for the student to use constructive criticism and not to be so judgmental of the student’s work. Also Straub emphasizes that it is not the students job to change anything of the writer’s paper, they are only suppose to read because their jobs as readers is to read, while the writers is to write.According to Straub, what you decide to comment on is first you need to realize that you are not the teacher, editor, or the writer. Straub says that you can make suggestions, but ultimately the paper is not yours. Straub says that you should comment on what part you understand,where you understood,where you found confusing,and what you find interesting. Straub believes that the reader should begin on what the assignment calls for,what are the writer’s goal, what is being discussed in class, and in what stages of drafting it is in.Straub believe that comments should be placed in the margins and or at the end of the of the writing, but to not write on top of writer’s work.
While reading “Responding to Other Students Writing,” Richard Straub tell us the readers while helping others work it is important to have a really good balance of telling someone what they are doing wrong and to compliment them where you felt they did a really good job. He reminds to be supportive, to talk to the person and that we are just the readers. In the text he says, “sound like you normally sound when you’re speaking with a friend or acquaintance. To me that’s very important because I don’t like when people are too brutally honest with my work, i respect honesty but to me it’s always important on how you deliver the message. For example, you just had a baby and someone says “your baby is ugly” that would really hurt because you “created” (air quotes) something and now someone is insulting your “creation.” It’s all on delivery of the message. Richard says, “…to focus your comments on a couple of areas of writing.” He says to glance through it first to decide which kind of commenting will you doing on the essay. Whether it is the whole purpose of writing the essay, the flow and the shape of the essay or are you focusing on the paragraph structure, the style and etc..
According to the article, Straub recommends when reading other student’s writing to have a friendly and constructive tone. When being friendly, you have to be supportive and look for the good in someone’s writing. However, you do have to point out problems and areas for improvement but in a constructive way. You have to see what you can do to push and stretch themselves as a writer. Straub also says to sound like you’re speaking with a friend or acquaintance when responding to another student’s work. When responding to other student’s writing, you shouldn’t start out being critical. The author goes on to explain that this is not your writing. You are simply a reader so you can only suggest ideas.
According to Straub, when deciding what to comment on, you have to focus your comments on only a few areas of writing. First, you should glance through the paper and decide if you’ll deal with talking about the content, purpose, shape and flow, paragraph structure, sentence style or correctness. You shouldn’t try to cover everything that comes up. You should only address issues that are most important to address in the paper. When commenting, you should engage the writer in considering their choices and thinking about possible ways to improve their paper. You should also only suggest to the writer what to do, don’t tell them what to do.
Straub recommends a tone of encouragement when responding to another student’s work. He believes that you should provide praise for the writer as much as you provide criticism. This method of response is basically constructive criticism, which would allow the student to grow as a writer through guidance. It is important to appreciate the ideas the writer is trying to get on the paper and also help them improve at the same time. If something seems amiss, or if more details could be added to give the piece more dimension, it’s okay to point it out as long as it’s done in an appropriate manner. Being formal is also unnecessary-you’re responding to your own classmate’s work. A respectful, thoughtful, and genuine response is exactly what the author of this article is looking for.
Straub article includes a set of guidelines for giving feedback, including where to comment, how to present comments, and how much you should be influenced by what you know about the writer. His rule of thumb is not to tell the writer what to do, but rather, provide feedback. It is up to the person who wrote the piece to decide what he or she wants to add or take away. The reader of the work has only one job-to read the work, and respond with comments and suggestions. The role of the reader is a very powerful one though-it lets the writer know if they’ve successfully elicited the response they desired via their piece.
When responding to another student’s work, whether your job is that of commenting and helping, or of correcting and checking spelling and grammar; you should always make sure you utilize a tone that is confidential, assuring, motivating, and overall constructive. This is what the author of “Responding to Other Students’ Writing”, Straub, writes and recommends.
The author explicitly says that if a person finds her/himself in a position where the same person needs to respond to another person’s work, he or she or has to keep in mind that “He/she is the reader. Not the writer.” As you comment someone else’s work, you want to make sure you adopt a constructive mentality and aim not to negatively criticize the other person’s paper, but to be as confidential and sympathetic as possible, for the same person who wrote that paper deserves full respect, as well as the work itself.
According to Straub, the way you decide what to comment on depends on whether you are working on a first, second, third [and so on..] draft.
If you are asked to comment the first draft of someone’s work, do not focus on the most minute details. In few words don’t be too picky with the smallest grammatical errors. Try to focus on the “big picture” of the work instead. Acknowledge whether or not the writer is following the “line” he/she is supposed to follow. Straub also adds that if you find some unclear sentences, make sure you provide a comment that is comprehensive and informative, as well as in harmony with the overall tone and atmosphere of the piece of writing. Try also to praise some of the concepts [the writer wrote] you truly repute worth of compliment. In conclusion, [according to Straub], always keep in mind that the writing you are commenting on is not your own–you are the reader;the writer is the one who decides what to write. Be encouraging.
In the article, “Responding to Other Students’ Writing” by Richard Straub, he talks about what tone a reader should have while leaving comments on a peer’s writing. He recommends using your normal tone of voice rather than having a tone of a teacher. When you use your normal tone of voice, you sound a lot more supportive and like a colleague that is trying to help. It can also help the writer better understand what they need to work because they do not feel like they are being judged for their writing but know that you are just trying to help them make their writing better.
According to Straub, the best way to find what to comment on is to look at the bigger picture rather than try to fit everything in. He recommends focusing on only a few areas that need comments the most and address what is the most important thing to address at the time. Straub also states that responding to other students’ writing does not mean that you are their editor, so you do not need to point out every single little detail. Just pick a few areas and elaborate on your comment or make suggestions for them to make their writing better.
“Responding to Other Students’ Writing,” a brief piece written by Richard Straub, describes the proper way to critique another student’s writing. Straub emphasizes the fact that a reader must not be too harsh while editing a writer’s work. The reader must not be so constructive as an editor. The reader shouldn’t sound like a judge or a teacher. In fact, the reader’s review should sound more like a friendly and respectful response to what the writer has written – a form of constructive criticism that doesn’t include the wrath of a critic. Straub mentions the word “supportive” as a way that the reader should review the writer’s work. In addition, one of the first statements that Straub makes is that the reader should also be honest without sounding aggressive. Even when critiquing the work of a friend, it is very important to give honest suggestions in order to guide the person to become a better writer.
Straub suggests that the reader focus on the writer’s piece as a whole, instead of nitpicking at minor details. The reader should also avoid rewriting major portions of the writer’s text because it is essentially the writer’s piece and what the writer feels fit best.
In the article “Responding to Other People’s Writing Straub suggests that you take up a helpful tone when you respond and edit a writer’s paper. Also do not try and force your ideas onto the writer or try to rewrite their paper. Straub says that “writers write and readers read” and this means that as a reader and as an editor you should only look to read the paper and tell the writer how you feel about the paper, what you liked and what they could work on. In the essay Straub says that you should comment on the flow of the essay, sentence structure and things like paragraph style. When responding to a paper you shouldn’t tell them what to write or how to write it, your goal is only to guide the writer.
In the beginning of of “Responding-Really Responding-to other student’s writing”, the author talk about tones that students should be aware of when reading their peer’s work. The author recommended that when a person is giving comments to their peer’s work, the attitude should be friendly. Reader should not try to criticize all the errors that the writers made, nor should be rewriting, editing and correcting the writer’s work. However, that doesn’t mean the reader is not going to point out issues in the essay, but just don’t focus on finding and correcting all kinds of errors and problems. Instead, the reader should give more opinions on the structure the essays, like the interesting points, what could be improved, etc. The reader is there to help the writer to have a better essay, not to criticizing and editing the whole paper.
According to the author, she said that the reader should decide on what to comment based on the writer’s work. The first thing we should look at is the stage of the draft, a reader’s opinions might varies depend on the stage of the essay, so depending on the stages of the draft, the reader can give different suggestions based on the paper. Next is what is the author’s purpose on this essay? What are their themes? Then we can look at the writer’s interests and aims on their paper, and give suggestions such as how the writing’s interesting point could be explained better, or any confusion with the aim of the essay, and how can the writer can improve. Last, the reader can give suggestion based on what he or she learned in the class, use all the concepts and strategies to apply onto the writer’s paper, and helping it to become better
In the writing, Straub says that when participating in peer review, it’s very important that there is no tone of condescension or superiority. It’s important, to him, that students critique as students as opposed to taking on the role of the teacher because the fact that they are students gives them a unique point of view that shouldn’t be waisted. It’s very important that the critique be legitimate and constructive as opposed to blatant insult, and that the ratio of critique to praise be 1 to 1.
Critique should come from from questions that naturally arrive to the reader such as, what happens next? Or, what caused this? As opposed to issues that are concrete and can be detected by a computer like issues with indentation, grammar, or anything else like that. Students are unique from professors or computers in that they share knowledge that only they can have like adolescent or early adult hood emotion, pop culture references, and things like that. So to be most effective, students should critique what they only can critique and let the professors and computers have their own role.
Straub recommends you use the tone of a colleague. You don’t want to sound like the teacher, or a judge; you want to sound like a friendly peer. With this tone you need to provide constructive criticism, with the intention of improving the writing. The goal of the peer reviewer is to be supportive of the writer and to help them increase the quality of their writing; the tone needs to reflect this goal.
Straub insists that as you peer review, you comment wherever you have a specific reaction. As you read, certain things will either be confusing, entertaining,weird, or interesting; the peer reviewer needs to make comments whenever he comes across these things. The peer reviewer is basically taking all his initial reactions and thoughts, and formulating them into cohesive comments for the writer. This gives the writer a sense of how is writing is perceived.