Blog #24

Just finished transcribing my interview yesterday (was a long weekend where I only got to work on one thing for another class).

Interview
F: How are you doing today?
D: I’m good, how are you?
F: Okay, all things considered. Remind me, you’re a…senior now, right?
D: I’m in my junior year now.
F: Ah, okay. So, what are you majoring in or what do you plan on getting a degree in, and why?
D: I’m an English major with the writing option.
F: Just like me! Oh that’s right, I remember you being in my writing class last year.
D: (nodding) Yep.
F: So what made you choose English writing option?
D: I chose English because I loved to read as a kid, and I wanted to get a job doing something English-y. I chose the writing focus instead of the lit focus, because I decided to get into publishing, and figured I should know everything about writing if I was going to be judging someone else’s for a living.
F: And so what made you choose to come to Kean and why?
D: Dorming wasn’t an option for me. I chose Kean because it was the cheapest school—cheapest 4 year school, actually, and the closest to my house.
F: Heh, same story with me. Great minds think alike, eh?
D: (laughs) Yeah!
F: Alright. So now we get into the serious questions here. How do you prepare for work on an assignment, whether it be a writing assignment or any assignment in general?
D: Since I’m an English major, most of my assignments are writing assignments. Usually I read the directions two or three times—I have to. I’m terrible at following directions. Then I’ll start thinking about what I’ll put in it. If it’s an essay, I usually have a few pages worth of quotes somewhere close by that I might want to use……what I like to do is I’ll read a source or two or five, write down anything that I think I might want to use later…I used to make outlines.
F: Like the ones they had you do in high school way back when?
D: Yeah, like with the roman numerals and everything, but now I do that thing where you make a main circle and then add other circles to it. A topic map I think it’s called? And then I’ll get all my stuff together—most of my prep work is handwritten— and the directions and I’ll start.
F: I see. And what do you expect in terms of comments and feedback from your professors on your assignments?
D: I usually expect positive feedback. I’m kind of used to teachers telling me “good!” or “nice!” or some other affirmative, teacher-y kind of comment. In terms of what I expect a teacher’s comment to do, I expect it to guide me. I turn in my draft for a reason. I mean, yeah, because you assigned it, but also because I want your feedback. I want to know what you like, or don’t like. What’s working? What isn’t? I expect your comments to tell me something I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, something I couldn’t figure out on my own. You’re the professional. Teach me something.
F: And how does what you learn from your professors comments influence how you write?
D: Sometimes, I’ll be honest, I don’t learn anything. Actually, I guess that isn’t true. Even if a comment is good, I guess I’m still learning from it. I’m learning what’s working for me. But as far as criticism, I learn about how my writing comes across to other people. I get a reader’s perspective, but what’s better is that my reader is a professional, so their feedback isn’t just “I didn’t like this,” or “change that.” Like if you ask your friends for their opinions, they correct you and you’re like, “What do you know? You’re just a student.” You don’t really take it seriously. I don’t sometimes. Depending on who I ask. Teachers, though, they say something and you know it’s legit. Seriously, sorry. And whatever a teacher says to change or correct, I do. Always.
F: I know the feeling. So does the mean you agree or disagree with any comments your professors give you?
D: Sometimes I disagree, but I can always see where they’re coming from. Like if they say, “this isn’t clear,” I’ll just keep looking at it until I can see how they see that. I try very hard to understand any teacher’s perspective, because it’s their job to know this stuff. Unless you get a stickler kind of teacher, they don’t make comments just for funsies. I always agree when they complement me though.
F: Sorry, but…funsies? (confused by the word)
D: Yeah, you know. For fun.
F: Ooh, right…I knew that.
F: Do you ever use what your professor comments on for writing your future assignments?
D: Not really. The comments are made so far apart from each other I forget what half of them say. I just remember the tone. Like “yeah I did good on that paper,” or “no he didn’t like that one too much.” And the assignments are always pretty different, so the comments for one paper probably wouldn’t be applicable to another anyway.
F: Alright, so then what were your initial reactions to your professors comments? And why?
D: If they were negative or critical, surprise, which is because I usually get pretty good feedback from teachers. Sometimes I will even get a little insulted because I thought something was good, and a teacher may have disagreed. I can be a brat sometimes like that. Unless we’re talking about Professor Sutton’s feedback, because he will specifically ask us what we want feedback on. Which I think is great, because there are times when all I want is specific feedback on something. So when I’m not surprised, I feel…enlightened? I guess? Like my questions have been answered. And sometimes, if a paper is really bad, I will say, “yeah, I knew she wasn’t going to like that.” Chances are I didn’t like it either.
F: I know what that’s like.
D: Don’t we all?
F: (chuckling) Yeah. So, have you ever asked your professor about any of their comments? What did you ask?
D: I usually don’t ask because I can figure out where they want me to go from there. And if I can’t, I make something up until I find something that works.
F: And how helpful are your professors comments?
D: Pretty helpful. In high school they were useless, because I had to write about what they wanted and what the curriculum said, and the way they wanted it. But in college, it’s a lot more personalized because we pick our own topics and basically get free reign over everything. I think that’s more conductive to the creative process. It helps us discover for ourselves what our own personal style is.
F: In what way do the comments influence your writing for future assignments?
D: Comments don’t usually affect me in the long run. The only ones that do are the ones that are positive. They remind me that, “heck yeah I’m a kick-ass writer. I’m good at this, I can work a keyboard like it’s my job.” They give me a little confidence boost, I guess. You know what I mean?
F: Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Have you ever asked for assistance in understanding what you are to write about from your professor?
D: I’m sure I have, but I honestly can’t think of a situation right now...there’s an ethnography paper I have to get to work on that I’m not too sure about. I’ll probably end up asking for help next time I have that class, honestly. I try not to ask for too much assistance while writing, though. I figure, if I can figure it out myself, I should. Teachers aren’t here to spoon feed me. That’s why I read the directions so often. They don’t say anything the professor won’t.
F: And how have your professors’ comments influenced your perceptions of what is required of you?
D: They set the standard. I always listen really carefully when my teacher talks about a paper, because, based on what they say. I’ll know what they’re expecting. You can just tell when an assignment is like, eh, not that bad, and when it’s like, okay this is a serious grade here. Comments usually tell me if I’m on the right track or not.
F: Hmmm, I guess that kind of brings me back to something similar to what I asked earlier. Has your professor ever given you comments you were looking for?
D: Yeah, Professor Sutton. I mentioned him before. He asks for specific feedback we want and that’s super cool of him.
F: Yeah. He’s cool like that. How would you rate yourself as a writer? Why?
D: I’d say I’m a good writer. Maybe a little better than average. Or maybe significantly better than average. I don’t know. 7 out of 10. No, 8. No, 7…7.5. 7.5 out of 10. I don’t know why. I guess because I’ve only gotten two C’s on academic papers during my entire school career…I don’t know if that’s a good benchmark or not, but it’s what I’m going with. People tell me I’m good. That’s honestly my main reason for saying so. Creatively, I’m not so great.
F: Yeah, kind of the same story with me. But does that mean that you are confident in your ability as a writer? If not, why not?
D: My creative stuff is pretty bad, but academic papers, woah man. You better watch out. I’ll bring the heat.
F: (laughing) Wish that was true for me too. But I can only bring the heat with my creative writing.
F: Do you feel your professor provides adequate comments and feedback on your assignments?
D: Usually yes. Sometimes though, when all they do is put positive stuff, I’m like, “come on, there has to be something wrong with this. Give me some feedback. Anything. I half-assed this and kind of need some serious direction.” That’s usually related to creative writing courses, like playwriting.
F: So, how did you think you wanted to use those comments then?
D: I wanted to see some direction that I could use to make it better, you know?
F: Yeah. And that brings me to my last question. How did you end up using those comments? Why?
D: I just use whatever they said to guide my paper. If it’s good, I’ll keep trying to do that. If it’s bad, I’ll fix it and make sure I don’t do it anywhere else in the paper.

Will work on and post up the draft of my research later today.