Don t abbreviate your own response because someone ahead of you had some of the same reactions. The writer needs to know how widespread the reactions were. Similarly, don t keep quiet if you disagree with an earlier responder. The writer needs to know that, too. Once everybody has been helped, you might hold another discussion of the different approaches people took in their reports.
Questions merely invite conversation.
In this class, your instructor will again sit in with the different groups, starting with any people he didn t get to last time. His job will be to model good responding, as before, but also to gently interrupt you if you re displaying any of the counter-productive behaviors we just warned you about. In metaphorical responding, you still talk about the essay you re responding to, but you talk about it indirectly at first using metaphors you ve created to express the feel of the entire paper. When straight-ahead responding locks you up or aims you at the twig level in the forest, metaphorical responding can break you free and lead you to comment on the more significant issues of the paper, things you otherwise might not have noticed. After you have heard the report, but before you begin to discuss it, jot down quick answers to the following questions.