WRITING SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE
(taken from A Community of Writers by
Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff)
Directions: You will benefit
most from this questionnaire if you fill it out three times--at
the beginning, middle and end of the course. This way you'll be
able to see more about what changes are taking place. (The second
and third times you use this form, you may want to cover your
previous answers.)
When you complete the questionnaire at the
beginning of the course, fill in the left-hand column of
the blanks. In the middle of the course, use the middle
column and at the end of the course, use the right-hand
column of blanks.
Use Y, N, and S, for "Yes,"
"No," and "Sometimes." If you don't know the
answer--which may often happen at the start of the course--use a
question mark.
ATTITUDES TOWARD WRITING
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Do you enjoy writing? |
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
In general do you trust yourself as a person who can
find good words and ideas and perceptions? |
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Do you think of yourself as a writer? |
GENERATING
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
On a topic of interest to you, can you
generate lots of words fairly quickly and freely--not be
stuck? |
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Again on a topic of interest to you, can you come up
with ideas or insights you'd not thought of before? |
| |
|
|
On a topic that doesn't much interest you
(perhaps an assigned topic), can you generate lots of
words fairly quickly and freely--not be stuck? |
| |
|
|
On a topic not of interest, can you come up with
ideas or insights you'd not thought of before? |
| |
|
|
On a topic where you start out not knowing what you
think, can you write or think your way through to a
conclusion? |
| |
|
|
On a topic where you start out with your mind made
up, can you write or think your way into actually changing
your mind? |
REVISING
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Can you revise in the literal sense of
"resee"--thus rethink and change your mind
about major things you have said? |
| |
|
|
Can you find a main point in a mess of your
disorganized writing? |
| |
|
|
Can you find a new shape in a piece of your
writing which you had previously organized? |
| |
|
|
Can you find problems in your reasoning or logic and
straighten them out? |
| |
|
|
Can you make your sentences clear--so they are clear
to readers on first reading? |
| |
|
|
Can you get your sentences lively? Can you give them
a human voice? |
| |
|
|
Can you get rid of most mistakes in grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and so on? Can you clean your
writing up enough so most readers would not be put off? |
| |
|
|
Can you get rid of virtually all such
mistakes? |
| |
|
|
Can you guess how most readers will react to
something you've written? |
| |
|
|
Can you adjust something you've written to fit the
needs of particular readers? |
FEEDBACK
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Can you enjoy sharing with friends a draft of what
you've written? |
| |
|
|
Can you read out loud to listeners a draft of your
writing so it is really clear and "given," that
is, not mumbled and "held back"? |
| |
|
|
Can you openly listen to the reactions of a reader to
your writing and try to see it as he/she sees it, even if
you think his/her reactions are all wrong? |
| |
|
|
Can you give noncritical feedback--telling the writer
what you would like and summarizing or reflecting what
you hear the words saying? |
| |
|
|
Can you give "movies of your mind" as a
reader--a clear story of what was happening in your mind
as you were reading someone's writing? |
| |
|
|
Can you give "criterion-based
feedback"--telling the writer how the draft matches
up against the most common criteria of good writing? |
COLLABORATION
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Can you work on a task collaboratively with a small
group; pitch in, share the work, help the group
cooperate, keep the group on task? |
AWARENESS AND CONTROL OF WRITING PROCESS
| _____ |
_____ |
_____ |
Can you give a detailed account of what was
going on when you were writing: the thoughts and feelings
that go through your mind and the things that happen in
the text? |
| |
|
|
Do you notice problems or "stuck points" in
your writing and figure out what the causes are? |
| |
|
|
Can you make changes in the way you go about writing
based on those things you noticed? |
| |
|
|
Can you vary the way you go about writing depending
on the situation: the topic, the audience, type or
writing, and so on? |