SQR 2

Maria Andrea Martinez
ENG 1320/1301 158
Trang Phan
09/06/2010
Peer Response: Teaching Specific Revision Suggestions
Summary:
Gloria A. Neubert and Sally J. McNelis. “Peer Response: Teaching Specific Revision Suggestions.” The English Journal, Vol. 79, No. 5 (Sep., 1990), pp. 52-56.
Neubert and McNelis explain how poorly students respond to a peers writing draft. Students usually give back vague comments, difficulty getting students to respond effectively to one another’s writing. Neubert and McNelis use an organizational technique with their peer-response groups and PQP-Praise-Question-Polish that require group members that take turns reading their drafts aloud and giving one another comments about their drafts. Then, they categorize each student’s response as “vague” meaning the comment is not very specific of how or on what the paper should be revised on; “general but useful”, comments that are general but say on what should be revised on the draft; “specific” comments that are very specific and helpful on the revision.
Question:
What are the characteristics of each type of comments? Why is it important for comments to be specific?
Response:
The 3 types of comments are Vague, General and Useful, and Specific. Vague comments, I see them as “lazy comments” to convey a response. They tend to be short and none descriptive comments that do not help the writer improve their writing. Vague comments usually have words like good, like, bad, pretty, nice, ugly, mean, cute, etc. they do not have descriptive words what-so-ever. Plain and simple, vague comments provide very little or no specific direction needed for revision. General but Useful comments are general but provide some direction for revision. The reader may advise the writer for revision on maybe a certain topic on the draft but not be very specific on what topic on the topic. For example, the writer may get his draft back and on one of his comments that his peers’ have written to describe a certain person in his story better. Last, Specific, when a writer receives a specific comment from one of their peers’ response group members. Giving back a comment on specifically describing where and what should revise on the other peers’ paper. I think comments should be extremely specific is because it helps the writer a lot on knowing how to improve his or her paper. Learn about the mistakes he or she did not seem to notice when they, themselves, revised their own paper before being read by their peers.