When I'm working with a student to improve a draft and she says "I like my paper the way it is," I don't know whether to respond with delight or despair. Consider:
1. The draft does what it needs to do with considerable skill, so my comments are mostly stylistic suggestions: "You might consider a more vivid verb here" or "Try this phrase at the beginning of the sentence and see how it sounds." In this case, "I like my paper the way it is" means "I've carefully considered your suggestions and made some changes to improve precision, and I'm pleased with the results." The only appropriate response is "Hurrah!"
2. The draft demonstrates serious problems with grammar, spelling, organization, or format so my comments are more pointed: "Eminent and imminent have very different meanings; make sure to select the right one" or "Shifting from past tense to present tense in the middle of a sentence undermines unity and coherence" or "Rough transition--how does this relate to the previous paragraph?" The student shows me a revised draft that attempts to address most of the problem areas, although the paper may still fall short of perfection. In this case, "I like my paper the way it is" means "I've worked hard and done my best and I hope my work is sufficient." Stick a fork in it and call it done!
3. The draft may be written competently but it somehow misses the point--it's a book review instead of an analysis, a rant instead of a reasoned argument--so revision may require further research, major restructuring, or a total rewrite. But the student pulls a Bartleby: "I prefer not to. I like my paper the way it is." I point out that she might not like the grade the paper earns, and the conversation quickly starts going in circles: "I like my paper the way it is! But I want a better grade! But I don't want to do any more work! But I want a better grade! Why are you always trying to change my writing? But I want a better grade! But I like my paper the way it is!"
What to say? Recently I tried to extricate myself from this infinite loop by saying, "Look, you're an adult. If you don't want to revise your paper, don't. It's your decision." But that just sparked a whole new round of "But I want a better grade!" followed by bargaining: "If I add two sentences to each paragraph, will that be enough to get me a better grade?"
Sometimes silence is the only answer.
3 comments:
You make me so grateful that my father is a good editor. These are conversations we had through my sophomore year of high school, as I slowly learned to improve my writing. By college, I had learned to take critique and whatever grade I legitimately earned.
(Almost) nothing makes me sadder than a grade grubber who is not willing to work. Yesterday, I had a girl burst into tears over 6 points in what will be a 500 pt+ quarter. No, I will not bend my late policy because you forgot to turn in homework. I'm sorry you were at the doctor the day it was due. The due date is on my website.
Your three options are good, but all three still boil down to this: if you're done working, turn your paper in, and take the grade you get. End of story. Even #1 might not get the high A desired if the writing is not quite compelling.
Right. And there's a great article in the April 29 New Yorker in which John McPhee describes his multiple-drafting process and his experiences with copy editors. A good, attentive editor sensitive to the vagaries of language can open the writer's eyes to both problems and possibilities, but how do we get that message into the minds of stressed-out students?
I wish I knew how to get this across to students. I do notice, as an adult, that it is both much easier for me to learn and for other folks to understand what I'm explaining. Part of that, I think, is less grade pressure.
I also wish students would understand the importance of writing in all disciplines. I'm a science teacher, and the number of complaints I get when I require writing is staggering. I haven't required a full-blown paper or lab report in any class but one of mine this year (this is high school). Simply asking them to write full sentences on assignments/tests provokes this response. I definitely plan to reboot next year and figure out how to communicate writing information to them.
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