Early Criticism: A Reply to Megan

I wish I could reply to your posts and interact with your blogs like a full member of the class. When I attempt to do so, the blog asks me which profile I would like to use. It won't accept my Google profile, and I don't recognize the others, so it bounces me like a drunken sailor. I can't count the times I would have liked to respond. There was talk of bees a few days ago. I used to keep bees. I wanted to respond about how beekeeping is wonderful for developing self control because you must continue to move slowly and deliberately even if (as in when) you get stung. If you react in a natural way --like swatting, shaking, running, or screaming, the bees will become upset and attack... and then you'll really have have trouble. There are many life lessons to be learned from beekeeping.

Anyway.....

Megan's post concerning early feedback on ideas that are not fully formed in the writer's mind--let alone on paper--struck a chord with me because I see the result of the type of interaction she describes in workshop (peer review) all the time. Well-meaning students with strong personalities and well-developed vocal chords (and perhaps red pens) walk all over the seedling ideas of students who, by nature, take their time in maturing their thoughts. I hate to see poor, big, ole Sam sit quietly and listen, again, as feisty, little Tiffy rips his draft apart. I wonder why he doesn't move to another workshop group. Should I step in and separate them? How much of his paper is Tiffy's vocal criticism?

I don't know what the answer is, but I recognize that there is a problem with universally accepting the idea that feedback for is everyone as though all of us benefit from early intervention.