Negative Feedback Activity

Lesson by Josh Canipe

Description (for Instructors)

This lesson plan and in-class activity pair a free-write prompt with collaborative revision to teach students about active problem-solving and reader-centered writing. In this lesson, students apply empathetic and rhetorical skills to evaluate a piece of writing (in this case, a sample of negative feedback) from the perspective of both writer and reader. They then collaborate with fellow students to devise a reader-centered revision strategy to enhance the effectiveness of the piece.

The objectives of this lesson are as follows:

  • Consider the role audience plays in communication
  • Practice writing as a method of problem-solving
  • Practice reader-centered writing by using “you attitude” writing strategies

Explanation (for Students)

1. Overview

At some point in your academic career, you’ve probably been asked to turn in a rough draft of an essay, which your instructor then read and critiqued. For this exercise, I want you to think about the purpose of that interaction. What is the instructor’s goal? What was your goal?

Then, to understand the importance of “You Attitude” when writing, consider the following situation. Imagine working hard on a draft, submitting it, and then receiving this response from me:

I have read your essay, and honestly, I think you’ve failed to understand the assignment. Not only have you not used the correct formatting, but I can’t see any noticeable structure or organization in the body of your paper. Good writers make their points clear for their readers; I don’t know what your points are. Part of your failure here is your lack of a thesis statement, although there are plenty of other problems as well. For instance, your transitions. Furthermore, I don’t particularly like the tone you’ve used here, which doesn’t sound very professional. While there are admittedly some interesting insights in the body of the paper, your other problems kept me from paying much attention to them. In short, should you turn in this draft, I’ll be forced to fail your essay. 

2. Part I: Individual Free-write

Once you’ve read the above paragraph, spend five minutes writing out your initial thoughts. Consider, specifically, the following questions.

  1. What would your initial reaction be to that feedback?
  2. What is the intended goal of this paragraph? What problem is it trying to solve?
  3. Does it succeed in achieving its goal? Why or why not?
  4. How could we make the response more effective?
  5. What lines, specifically, would you revise to make this a more effective, helpful response?

3. Part II: Collaboration

Once you’ve spent some time thinking and writing about the paragraph (and your reaction as the intended audience), your group should rewrite the paragraph using the reader-centered writing strategies we’ve discussed. Be sure to note the valid criticisms being offered (even if poorly) and recast them in a way that helps solve the problem. Be prepared to share your revised paragraph with me and the rest of the class.