feedback about feedback

When I saw Steph walk into class on Tuesday, civic letters in hand, I immediately thought to myself, “I don’t want to see how butchered my essay is… its going to be bleeding with ink, indicating all the corrections I have to make.” To my surprise, it wasn’t half bad. There were a few obvious mistakes that I must have overlooked when reviewing the final draft.

Although I am considered an average writer, I have problems with diction. I can’t find the appropriate word to make the sentence work . I tend to use words or phrases such as, “seemed, basically, describes…” oh, how the list can go on. With feedback, Steph makes me realize that there are other ways to go about wording a sentence. The structure and grammar of a sentence should fit and make clear sense to the audience!

The feedback Steph gave me was mostly positive and will only benefit me if I choose to rewrite this essay. Given what I already know about my topic, being “The Rising Cost of Textbooks, ” she posed many questions for me to consider. In a sense, the questions brought to my attention will help tidy up my essay, however, the length being 500 words, will not. My essay just met that requirement. I want to improve my writing skills; reading and understanding the feedback given on paper will help to do just that.

After reading feedback on my first few papers, I question myself as a writer. I would always beat myself up because the suggestions Steph gave me were better than my own. I would write and rewrite essays to hit some of the points she would give me. I understand that the information I present about my topic could be different from what she knows, she is only trying to help. Now, I take the questions on a new slate. How can I improve my writing with incorporating these questions but not take away the main elements of my essay? This will be a challenge for me since I have opted to do a re-write. I’m excited to see the final product, hopefully it’s better than my first.

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