When
students are able to receive feedback
on their work prior to receiving
a grade,
that feedback can have a much
greater effect on the student's
overall development as
a writer. Incorporating the
comments and advice they've
received into their work has a much
greater affect than solely helping
their grade. They're
learning from their error and are
less likely to make the same
mistake while completing their next
assignment. When
a student discovers his mistakes only
after receiving a grade, there
is much less incentive to
correct those errors.
CritiqueMe
does not edit or revise papers; we
look for patterns of error in the
student's work and direct them
towards a method of revision. The
development of ideas and the support
of those ideas remains the student's
responsibility.
A
month or two after CritiqueMe.Com
went live at the start of the
Fall 2000 semester, I received
an e-mail from an Asian student,
Hyung, who had submitted a
few papers to be critiqued. In
the e-mail, he wrote that he had learned
more from his critiques than
even his private tutor. When
he wrote in English, he found that mistakes he
had made in the past were
disappearing.
He
felt more
confident
using
the language. In an
instant, my entire purpose for
building CritiqueMe was justified; my
goal to give more
students the ability to
gain confidence in their work was
invigorated.
Whenever
I receive an e-mail like that,
whether it's from a
student like Hyung,
or from an English
major
who writes for the school newspaper,
or from a
graduate student
seeking feedback on more
consequential work, I smile for
days--I know that the service I
envisioned is working, making
a real difference in writers' lives.
In
1999, I made a wish that a service
like this existed. I knew that
it was needed. How could I not
work to create it?
All
writers, at any level, in any genre,
can benefit by having a "ready
auditor."
The quote by Stephen North on the
previous page so perfectly
capitulates the possibility that I
saw. "The Idea of the Writing
Center" was written in 1984,
before widespread use of the Internet
invited the possibility of people
across different time zones and
communities to
make instant connections.
"A perfect world," was no
longer necessary, only an online
system capable of serving as a
platform for these connections--a
platform that mimics the way people
made offline connections, without
being bound by time and location.
Colleges
and universities offer their students
a variety of supplemental
services to enhance the
education they receive from the
regular course load. Easy
access to a writing center can give
students in all fields the
ability to write more effectively--a
skill that not only allows the
student to achieve higher grades,
but opens
more opportunities after graduation. CritiqueMe
is for the students who want to
improve their writing. That
motivation
grows
when they know that there is a
service available to them that
makes that goal more attainable.
About our
"Critiquers"
Through
Critique Me.Com, you are connected
with the people who are the most
qualified to critique your work. All
of them are graduate students at the
top English and Writing programs in
the country. Most of them are even
the same people that read and grade
your papers in your writing
composition classes. 93% of our
"Critiquers" teach their
own college writing and literature
courses, and are responsible for
assigning, grading, and helping their
own students improve their papers.
71%
of our "Critiquers" have
already completed their Masters
degree and are in the progress of
obtaining their Ph.D. The rest of our
"Critiquers" are in the
progress of obtaining their Masters.
They have worked as editors, writing
tutors, writing consultants,
professor's assistants, and teachers.
You can be sure that the comments and
suggestions you receive to help
improve your work are coming from
experts in the field.
The
following is an excerpt from comments
that a "Critiquer" had
written on a student's paper after
reading the revised version; the
Critiquer had reviewed the first
draft:
Elizabeth-
I'm glad I got to see this paper again.
I was so excited to see that you had
revised it! You have done an
excellent job
"'revamping." You
have made substantial changes and the
paper is much better! There are
a few unclear places (mostly
matters of word choice), and a few
stylistic and grammar things to check
for, but you've done the hard part. Never
turn in a first draft! You may
not know what you really want to say
until you've seen what you've
written, as evidenced in these two
drafts of your paper. Good job.
