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Feedback has typically been studied as a means of improving academic performance. Few studies inquire into the processes by which feedback shapes student identity. The authors carry out a discourse analysis of written comments to explore how feedback is discursively constructed by both teachers and students. Analysis of written feedback, think-aloud protocols, and semi-structured interviews work to arrive at an understanding of how feedback is interpreted by both teachers and students, paying special attention to how such interpretations contribute to a student's identity. The following themes emerged as likely interpretations: feedback as a discourse of correction, feedback as a set of ontological metaphors, and feedback as a process of rhetorical listening. The discourse analysis reveals that while teachers tend to interpret feedback as a means of correcting a student's text, students' interpretations of feedback contribute to the construction of their selves. Reflecting on these results, the authors suggest teachers construct feedback as a personal conversation that remains sensitive to the immediate personal effects on students.

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert