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9. How should I read student papers?
From an Expressivist point of view, the teacher must not use his or her position of authority in the class to stifle personal voice. An Expressivist teacher should read student papers looking for moments of authenticity in which the true feelings of a writer are coming through. The teacher must have a great deal of patience and not try to change language style at first. Even though the writing might be riddled with errors, a teacher must be willing to accept this as a potential trade-off for the development of a narrative voice. Comments should be constructive and focused on pushing writers toward undiscovered ideas within their writing. The teacher should be willing to read multiple drafts of a paper in which little or no critical comment is given. Problems such as grammar, clarity, focus and development can be handled on a piecemeal basis through the course of each of the drafts.
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