Feedback and Critique

     I feel like I am fairly good at offering up criticism to other people in regards to their work.  I try and use good judgment when evaluating a peer’s paper and try to give them as much information that I can think of.  I focus on the things that they did right and how they can expand on those ideas.  I try to not to be harsh about my suggestions, but instead I want to critique them in a way that will only help them.  In some areas I am good at critiquing and in others I am not able to provide good tips.  In regards to grammar I feel as if I can help with structure and proper punctuation within a sentence.  I think that good criticism is very blunt and explains to the writer what exactly they need to fix.  I also think that a critique should also offer up ideas to the writer so that he or she may have something to ponder upon and fix in their final draft.   I also think that in order to be helpful the critic must present his or her thoughts in a way that will be accepted by the author of the paper.  No one wants to listen to someone forcing things upon them. The critic, however, must not be afraid to say what he or she thinks.  The point to having someone critique your paper is so that you get a second opinion and good advice on how to make your paper better.  Constructive criticism can be hard to write sometimes, but if you just make it your main goal to help the person then they will hopefully understand your comments and use it for good. Based on what I know, I feel that I can provide good criticism because I am not afraid to mention a new idea or thought to the writer of the paper I am critiquing.  I will always try and understand what the author is trying to say, then respond with a question or thought that will hopefully help them continuing in the direction they are headed and expand on the details of their paper.  Having someone other than yourself read your paper is very helpful because they can catch many mistakes that you missed.  I also like that they can think of more content to include in your paper if you do not have all the right ideas.  Personally the most helpful critique someone can give me is their opinion on whether they consider my paper to be strong and effective in arguing my point.  I worry about how much of my content is actually helping my case and how much is just filling space.  I really want my papers to be well written and organized, so having someone comment and critique in that particular area would really be helpful.  If people weren’t so nice about critiquing it would also be helpful.  It really hard to gain anything when people just say “good job” or “nice paper”.  I would want someone to go into detail about what they really thought of my paper.  I think it would also be helpful if they offered tips on how to improve it. Overall I think that a critique should be detailed and include useful tips, ideas, and thoughts for the paper.