In Nancy Sommers' "Responding to Student Writing," Sommers investigates what messages the teachers give their student's when commenting on their literary work and how the student's perceive these comments. Sommers' primary reasoning behind "Responding to Student Writing" is to inform the reader that teachers comments on student's papers are vague and not indicative of the purpose of the writer, thus steering the writer towards what the professor "wants," rather than what the paper "needs."
Nancy Sommers displays a strong sense of passion and concern about teachers comments on a students draft. She is affectionate about this topic because comments are very important to a writer due to the fact that writers need feedback and communication so that they know their message or meaning is being conveyed. Sommers emphasizes the importance of comment to a writer when she states, "As writers we need and want thoughtful commentary to show us when we have communicated our ideas and when not...We want to know if our writing has communicated our intended meaning" (Sommers 148). By stating this, Sommers displays just how important revision is to the writer. Diving deeper into her investigation of revision of student writing, Sommers researched 35 teachers from the University of Oklahoma and New York University with two of her colleagues, Lil Brannon and Cyril Knoblach. Their study focused on comments teachers would give to motivate revisions.
After conducting this research, Sommers found that teachers "appropriate" or possess authority of the draft by the student by delivering comments that focus on diction, structure, and what the professor wants rather than the overall meaning of the text. This problem is coupled with the problem that teachers often contradict themselves by asking the student to "condense" yet "elaborate" on the paragraph. Finally, Sommers found that generic comments serve no use on revisions because they confuse the writer as to what is important when revising and don't elaborate on how to fix the problem. The remedy for these ongoing problems to educate the writer on "how" to revise and not "what" to revise. Sommers says it best when she states, "Written comments need to be viewed not as an end in themselves-a way for teachers to satisfy themselves that they have done their job-but rather as a means for helping students become effective writers" (Sommers 155).
Evaluation
I whole heartedly agree with Nancy Sommers' "Responding to Student Writing" because as a student who has been writing papers throughout my schooling, I can sympathize with the concerns that Sommers presents. I've always felt that what I was trying to convey in my writing was being overshadowed by what my professor wanted my paper to look like, instead of focusing on the main idea or purpose of the text. I believe that teachers who adopt Sommers' solution to bind what is taught in the classroom with the comments portrayed in the paper will help students, including myself, become a more effective writer.
