Unit 5: Giving and Receiving Feedback

Content

UNIT 5 OVERVIEW
The focus of this unit will be the Consultation Draft - a full attempt at the researched essay,
whose purpose is to create discussion and direction for revisions. You will post your
Consultation Draft and exchange questions and comments with me, as well as other students.
Up to this point in the course, our writings have been brief enough that you may have been able
to read much of the postings and drafts written by other students. However, the Consultation
Drafts will be significantly longer, so you'll be assigned to read and respond to only one of
them.

The Satisfaction of a Complete Draft

We are pulling it all together. Our goal is a complete

"Consultation Draft."
With this stage of drafting, I'm looking at what is attempted, at least, in some reasonable way.
The more you attempt, the more you find out what you really can, and cannot, do right now.
Then, you and I have a good basis for figuring out what you need to do next, or how I need to
help you move forward from where you are.

Here are all your assignments for this unit:

So, in that spirit, I offer you the following list of what I am looking for in the Consultation
Draft. If you cover everything on this list, as best you can, it's very likely that you will join the
happy ranks of my students who get all 5 points possible for this part of the assignment.
A successful Consultation Draft will . . .

1. Be posted onto the Blackboard Discussion forum for the unit on or before (no later
than) 5pm on Wednesday, 7/20.
2. Satisfy readers' desire for a well-planned text, with a fresh, engaging purpose and a
deliberate organizational structure.
3. Contain substantial material drawn from a minimum of six separate sources, purposefully
selected and used.
4. Employ strategies for paraphrase, summary, and quotation thoughtfully, thus avoiding
any inadvertent plagiarism.
5. Include in-text citations (also called parenthetical citations) throughout the draft,
accounting for how source material has been included. Please note that too many
citations in a draft is better than too few!
6. Include a bibliographic list - Works Cited (MLA), in generally correct form.
7. Show cross-referencing between the in-text citations and the bibliographic list.
8. Have appropriate formatting for readers' comfort - such as double spacing, indented
paragraphs, a standard font, one-inch margins, and page numbers.
Respond to one draft. Browse through the Chapter 4 Forum and pick out a draft that interests
you (if possible, pick one that no one has responded to yet). Write a reply to the writer of the
draft, including the following:
9. Tell the writer what engaged you most in the draft and, as a result, what you most look
forward to reading about in the completed essay.
10.Identify something in the draft that got you thinking about your own essay. How will
this writer's draft serve as an example to help you develop your own essay?
Your draft/post response is due by midnight on Friday, 7/22 and is worth 4 points.

Don't forget to have fun this week. Pressing through a draft of an essay this long is a
challenge. I know it's hard work. But it can also be creative, fascinating, generative, and
inspiring!

Learning from giving and receiving feedback

Our focus here is reviewing the Consultation Drafts.

A few notes about how to approach the reviews:

1. If there are no page numbers, write in page numbers. Also number the paragraphs for
easier reference.
2. Read each paper all the way through, in one sitting. It's important to be able to take in

the text as a whole.

3. Be sure to note strengths as well as problems!! Printing the draft helps because it will
allow you to make notes on each page.
4. Compose your responses using page and paragraph numbers to help you point to specific
sections in the writer's text. It's essential that you give feedback on specific portions of
the text - otherwise, the writer will not know where your comments apply.
5. Review the writer's own post about the draft - is there anything you should add to your
own comments?
Write a response to the feedback exchange experience overall and post this as the final comment in your
own thread. What did you learn from writing about others' writing? What feedback helped you most? Is
there anything missing for you, at this point - might you still need more feedback or guidance in order to
revise effectively? Your final response in this feedback exchange is due by noon on Monday, 7/25 and is
worth 1 point.
NO LATE POSTS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR CREDIT.

Guiding Questions for Writing Reviews

FOCUS Does the writer establish an engaging, interesting project? Does the writer present a
point of view or argument that offers something fresh? Comment/explain.
DEVELOPMENT Are key ideas and issues explained well? Does the essay offer the reader
solid information? Does the writer demonstrate that the essay is based on a variety of
appropriate sources, including living sources? Are you, as the reader, moved, persuaded, and/or
educated by the essay? Comment/explain.
ORGANIZATION As you read the introduction, were you inspired to read the rest of the
essay? Does the essay flow well from section to section, paragraph to paragraph? Are the
paragraphs a reasonable length and depth? Does the conclusion offer the reader a satisfying
ending point? Comment/explain.
STYLE Does the writer sound engaged? Use a range of suitable vocabulary? Incorporate
source material, including quotations, smoothly and clearly? Avoid awkward and/or repetitive
phrasing of complex ideas? Comment/explain. (Its ok to make specific suggestions for
particular spots where rephrasing is needed.)
MECHANICS Has the writer cited enough, or are there passages that seem to be drawn from
sources but are not cited? Are the citations in the essay cross-referenced correctly to the list of
sources? Is the essay correct in grammar and punctuation? (Its ok to suggest specific

corrections but dont get too carried away!)