Once you have completed a paper for my class, please complete a self-analysis of your work. The document you send me should be in three parts:
- “Self Analysis,” clearly titled as such, should be the first part of your document.
- Next, in the same document, should be the REWRITTEN version of your paper.
- Finally, the last section is the PEER REVIEWED version of your paper.
This should all be in the same document, so they don’t become separated from each other when you e-mail them to me.
This self-analysis serves three purposes:
- The Self-Analysis gives the student an opportunity to reflect upon the writing process and communicate with the teacher privately about their paper. In the self-analysis, you can let the teacher know one, more, or all of the following things about your paper:
- What kind of paper is it? (serious, funny, sarcastic, in a particular genera?)
- Did you have a particular audience in mind when you wrote this paper?
- How did the paper go? Do you feel confident about it? Why or why not?
- What do you think you did really well? What did you have to struggle with?
- What do you want the teacher to focus on when the teacher reads this?
- Was there any hardship in your life during the composition of this paper that made it especially difficult to complete?
- Is there anything extra you would like to add about how this paper was constructed, what it meant to you, or some new technique you might have tried?
2. The Self-Analysis gives the teacher an opportunity to transition between papers.
Most students don’t realize it, but the teacher needs some space between papers. If the paper in the grading pile just before your paper was really serious, and your paper is light and funny, the teacher may not give your paper the correct “read” unless there is a self-analysis that says something like, “I hope you enjoy the humor in my paper . . . .” The self-analysis provides the teacher with clues about what they are about to read, the intended audience of the paper, how the paper was written, and why it was written. The self-analysis helps make grading more fair to you.
3. The Self-Analysis will prepare you for improving your writing in the future. Reflecting upon your paper puts the editing process to work on a conscious level, getting you in the habit of looking critically at your work in the future.
The self-analysis should be about one page long (it can be longer if you wish). How much you share depends upon how much you want the teacher to know.
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