1. ON BOARD FOR CRITIQUING

2. Today’s Journey
Be sure that you are on deck in your writing groups. We are setting out on an ocean voyage with a fleet of five or six seaworthy ships, which you may name if you like.
The ships will go to different ports.
Each ship will have a new captain each time it leaves port. The captain will set a tentative route and drawn up a map.
The crew of each ship will inspect the map and suggest alternate routes.
Everybody gets to be captain.

3. The Value of Criticism and Feedback
The ability to give useful feedback is a skill. Landlubbers spend millions of dollars training employees how to do it well.
Shipbuilders especially know that teamwork is the norm in business. Sometimes shipbuilders complain that college graduates are either too dependent and passive or competitive rather than cooperative.
Our fleet will learn the skill of critiquing well.

4. Importance of Criticism and Feedback to each Ship
Working with your own crew provides the opportunity to share ideas, hear other perspectives, and benefit from the experience and expertise of others.
Crewmembers receive help and support as well as new ideas.
The first-mate gets practice taking accurate notes.

5. Giving Criticism
The feedback may be oral or written depending on the assignment.
It should be given to help the crewmember—covering positive comments and points for improvement.
It should be directly expressed, specific and relevant.
It should be descriptive, not judgmental.

6. Taking Criticism
The crew should seek feedback on maps before a potential miscommunication occurs and mistakes become a crisis.
Ask What did you especially like?
Listen carefully to your critic to make sure that you understand the criticism.
Do not automatically assume that your critic is right or wrong. Take time to assess. Ask questions to clarify.
Keep a “me file” of work you are proud of to review when you need a boost because of others’ criticism.

7. Sighting the First Draft
For the first draft the crew wants to know where they are going—the focus.
Here are some questions to help craft an audience directed map:
Where is the captain going? What is he/she telling us about?
What is the most important idea?
What did the crew like best?
What effective strategies did the captain use?
What kind of a crew would enjoy this map?
Is there any part of this map that you would like to understand better?

8. Sighting the Second Draft
For the second draft the crew checks each part for a connecting main point.
Here are some questions to help:
Does each paragraph develop the main idea? in the best possible order? with a topic sentence?
Is each new idea sufficiently explained or developed?
How is the idea elaborated?
What lead or hook grabs the reader?
Is each paragraph seaworthy?

9. Sighting the Third Draft
For the third draft the crew wants to be sure the language of the map is clear.
Here are some questions to help:
Are there any sense-hampering errors?
Did the captain vary his/her sentence structure?
Has the crew considered verb control?
Are there any salty old expressions that need to be updated?
What about diction, grammar, usage, punctuation and mechanics?

10. Acknowledgments
This voyage has benefited from the experience and ideas of others, including
Professor Dauvan Mulally, GVSU Writing Department
Professor Phyllis Edelson, Pace University English Department

11. Today’s Task
The crew decides who will be captain. The captain passes out draft copies of the map.
The crew reads the map carefully, making notes in the margin.
The crew has a five-ten minute discussion to which the captain listens while the first-mate takes notes.
The first mate is the last to discuss and then the captain may ask questions.
The notes are given to the captain.
A second captain is chosen and the next map is passed out and read.

12. Anchors away!