Blog 12: Full Interview Transcript

Full Transcription of Subject A Interview

H – Today is March 14, 2014, at 11:00 am and I am here with Subject A for our interview on revision. So to start off, what’s your major?

A – Um, Psych Rehab.

H – Yes nice. Um, how old are you?

A – I’m 20.

H – Okay. Um, can you tell me about a time you revised a paper?

A – Uh, I had to revise a paper like last week for my lab report and I had to print it out like four times to make sure I highlighted everything, cross it out, make sure everything was there correctly.

H – So that’s how you usually like revise?

A – Yeah, usually.

H – Okay, tell me about a time you didn’t revise a paper.

A – Uh, one time I forgot to do my homework and I had to hand it in an hour later, so I typed my paper really fast and handed it in. (Laughter)

H – (Laughter) Fair enough. (Laughter) Procrastinator problems.

A – Yeah, I just forgot.

H – (Laughter) We’ve all been there. Um, okay. So my next question is, what’s the reason you didn’t revise, but it’s because you didn’t have time.

A – I didn’t have time, yeah.

H – Okay, so would you mind telling me like which paper you did better on?

A – Uhhh, I actually did pretty good on both of ‘em. Like I actually got A’s on both, uh but the like higher A was the one I revised because I actually took the time to go through everything. Um, the one I rushed through, I ended up getting a lower grade because I missed stupid grammar mistakes.

H – Okay. Um, so how do you revise your papers? 1:35

A – Um, I usually at first I’ll read through my entire, my entire paper like on the computer. I’ll read it out to all of my family members to make sure there’s nothing wrong with that either. Then, I’ll print it out and I’ll cross out words. Print it out again, highlight what’s wrong. I’m, I’m pretty crazy when it comes to looking at my paper over and over again. (Laughter)

H – How many times do you usually like go through the cycles?

A – Um, I try to do my paper days ahead of time so that way I can come back a day later and relook at it because if you keep looking at your work like over and over again you’re not gonna see the mistakes. You have to do it over a period of days.

H – So. . .

A – About four times I say I look back at my paper.

H – Okay. That’s good. I really like revising. (Laughter)

A – Me too. I’m crazy.

H – (Laughter) Um, so when did you first like learn about revision?

A – Honestly, this is gonna be really embarrassing, but like in high school, I never revised any of my stuff. I kinda just handed it in and I didn’t care. Um, my freshman year of college I learned my revision and like taking the time to actually go print things out and relook at it over again. Freshman year of college (Laughter) That’s sad.

H – No, that’s when I learned like the really good revision techniques too. Yeah, I wasn’t that good in high school either. (Laughter)

A – Yeah.

H – With revising. Um, speaking of high school, could you describe the high school you went to?

A – Sure, I went to a private high school, Cardinal McCarrick High School and like we all had to wear uniforms and like we had a really intense academic curriculum. Like I was in honors since I was like a freshman, so it was really intense. And like senior year, when everybody else was goofing off, I was like in all AP Courses.

H – (Laughter)

A – So everyone was like, “Yay,” and I’m like, “Wah.” (Laughter)

H – (Laughter)

A – So, yeah, it was really intense.

H – Okay, um. How did your high school English teacher tell you to revise? 3:33

A – Um, it depends on the one that you—what I was talking about because like every single year each one would be of a different kind of intensity. But my senior year, my um AP like College Writing teacher, who was like English teacher technically, she taught us to do the same thing like that I learned my freshman year of college, but I didn’t listen. She told me to also, like print out a couple of times, look it over, like go talk to my parents about it. Like read it out to them and stuff, but that’s all they really went into detail.

H – Mhmm, so like when you were in like your freshman year of high school, did you—

A – They didn’t really talk about it.

H – Okay.

A – Honestly, they didn’t really say like, “Oh you should go home and like revise it a million times.” They don’t even really talk about revision. They just say, “Do your paper.” (Laughter)

H – So it wasn’t until you were like a senior that you really felt they actually emphasized it?

A – Yeah, definitely.

H – Okay, interesting. Um, so did you like find yourself following that method of revision in high school or . . .

A – Um, when I was in high school, no. But now that I’m in college I don’t even remember like half the stuff they talked about in high school. I kinda just remember what I’ve learned in college because it’s been a whole different experience. I haven’t really been following everything they said to do, just what my professors tell me now.

H – Hmm, okay. Um, so how were you taught to revise in college?

A – In college, all my professors like tell me to take my time and actually go through all of my work and like do it days ahead of time like I said earlier, rather than like wait til the last second and like look it over then ‘cause that’s not accurate. You have to wait like a couple of days so like you see, uh, like your mistakes you made. So that’s mainly what they say, you know, just make sure you do it ahead of time.

H – Yeah, I was told to always look at it with like “new eyes.” Like that’s why you had to wait the hours or a day. Yeah. Um, so I assume that you, um, you follow that method of revision now.

A – Yeah, definitely, all the time, other than the way that they taught me in high school ‘cause the way that they taught me in high school doesn’t seem like college level. It seems more of like a high school kind of way. 5:57

H – Yeah, that makes sense. How do you feel about revision like overall?

A – Um, I think it’s really important. Like the people who don’t do it and like they ask me to look at their paper, I’m like, “Look at all these mistakes. Like you could have got a lower grade.” I do that all the time. I revise people’s papers and like I think it’s kind of exciting to do because your paper in general could be really good, but like you’re kind of just adding make-up to it to make sure that it’s perfect. You know? Okay. (Laughter)

H – Nice analogy with adding make-up!

A – Yeah, that’s what you’re doing, just fixing up the little corrections. I like it. Revising is really important, to me anyway.

H – Now do you feel that, um, like English majors, that they revise better than other majors or like it doesn’t really matter?

A – I feel like they probably do because like they know all like the mistakes they have to look for. I have to say I don’t like look if there’s like a verb in a sentence, but they’re probably going to ‘cause they know what to look for.

H – Your revision seems really good for like another major like psychology. Like you seem like you have more of a—oh no, this sounds really assuming—but you seem like you have more of an English background.

A – Yeah, only because of like, uh, the first college that I came from. Uh, usually people consider it a joke, but when I went to Middlesex County College, they had a really good English program there and they made sure that like all the students knew what they were doing. So, yeah, I have a little bit more of an English background than a regular college student might have if they didn’t go there.

H – Do you find yourself ever like writing like outside of school, like not for graded assignments, like…

A –  Oh yeah, definitely. I keep my own journal with my boyfriend. We both write in it all the time. Um, I used to write poetry. I used to write short stories and stuff like that, but now I don’t like do it much anymore because I’m always in college doing stuff. I try to write whenever I can. It’s fun.

H – Did you ever find yourself revising that, like that outside work?

A – Um, not really. I mean like when I was into poetry like I had to I guess because I was handing it into somebody, even if it was for fun, because I’m part of an online writing community also, so I had to revise it for them, but not for anything else really. I never had to like revise my journal.

H – (Laughter) Darn! Um, how would you define revision in your own words? 8:30

A – Hmmm, if I had to define revision, I would say that revision could be, um, looking at all the mistakes of your paper, whether they be like spelling, grammatical, or anything else and making sure that they are all corrected and like how they need to be. Like as I made the analogy before, like it’s kinda like putting make-up on your paper. Like you’re fixing up every little correction and just making it the best it can be. Yep.

-We took a brief break because I got a little tongue-tied and needed to regroup.-

H – Now, um, so you, do you feel more, um obligated to revise if the assignment is graded?

A – Uh, yeah definitely because I wanna get a better grade on something. If they’re not gonna like grade it, then I’m probably not gonna sit there and like go through every little word and print it out a million times.

H – Okay. Do you feel even more obligated if you’re in like an English or a Writing class, like a class that the main focus is writing. Do you feel more. . .

A – Yeah, I feel more obligated there too, but I wouldn’t say that’s like my number one class where I feel obligated to revise. Science is my number one class where I revise things because I know that their grading is much worse than any English class.

H – Really?

A – Yeah, science is insane, especially since you can’t use first-person ever, no matter what. I notice in some English classes they’re more lenient with that rule. Um, in science you can only use third-person, like the group, the people. Like you can’t say, “Oh, well, me and my group.”

H – No?

A – Yeah, so science is my main subject area when I focus on like making sure that I revise, not really English.

H – And have you, like was it like that in high school too or…?

A – Oh my God, definitely! Science has always been a constant struggle for me because like every single teacher that you have in science looks at every little detail in the experiment. Meanwhile, in like English, they’re not gonna take the time to look over like whether you used first-person or third-person. That’s not their concern. They want like the details so…

H – I’ve  never heard of that before. Like most of the uh science teachers that I’ve had, it’s just like if your information is correct, that’s what I’m looking for. I’m not looking for …

A – Really? See for me it’s always been the exact opposite. Like my science teachers have always been to the point like, oh my God, it’s crazy. They grade like harsher than anyone else, especially now in college. Forget about it. 11:36

H – What do you usually write like in science?

A – Um, like lab reports, um, essays on like specific kinds of research that you were like talking about before. You know, like interview someone or look up scientific articles. It’s a pain in the butt. (Laughter) And like it’s difficult because I’m not like used to writing like “the group,” ”the people.” Like I’m not used to that, so it’s kinda hard for me.

H – Um, this is, this is because I’m not that into science, but what do you usually like write with a lab report? I never had to do it before.    

A – Really? For like a lab report you always have to do, um first you have to do an introduction of what the experiment was about. Then you have to like do like um all the materials you used in the experiment. Then like the method so your methods alone can be like five pages. It’s literally step-by-step of what you did during the entire experiment. So if the experiment took two hours, you have to do every single step. So my Biology lab every week is three hours, so I have to do three hours of steps.

H – Oh my gosh!

A – Yeah, and then you have to discuss why you did the experiment, even if you didn’t want to. (Laughter) And then you have to do like graphs and conclusions. It usually comes to about thirteen pages for like a three hour lab.

H – Wow!

A – And like they pick the lab subjects so it’s whatever they choose.

H – See, that’s crazy to me.

A – I have to do one every two weeks.

H – Oh my gosh! Well, good for you though!

A – Well, in high school I was kind of already prepared, at least I have like a foot in the door already ‘cause everyone in my class is like an idiot. And like they were like, “Oh, I never had one before. I never went to biology!” I’m like, “Where were you? Like you didn’t go into Biology ever. . . ” (Laughter)

H – (Laughter) Um, so this is kinda like seguewaying into another topic. Let’s just go with it! (Laughter) Um, do you think that revision is only like proofreading? 

A – Umm, no. I think proofreading is taking it more lightly. I think that –clears throat- excuse me. Proofreading is kinda  just going over it a couple times on your computer, not really going through the whole process of crossing out and highlighting and speaking it to other people. Proofreading to me is just a quick look over. 14:00

H – So you feel like there’s definitely a difference between revision and proofreading?

A – Oh God, yes! Revision is much more serious, at least in my opinion. I take it to the extreme!

H – No problem with that!

A – (Laughter) I want my A!

H – Um, do you feel that like professional writers, do you think that they revise more or like they’re more serious about it?

A – Honestly, no. Like I feel like they probably don’t even have to revise half as much as we do because they already know like everything they have to do correctly. Like I’m sure they look over their stuff. That’s not what I’m saying, but I highly doubt that they like print it out as many times as like a college student would. They probably just look it over once and say, “Okay, it’s fine.”

H – (Laughter)

A – Because I’ve seen mistakes in books before a million times

H – Really?

A – Yeah, definitely. I’ve looked at professional books and articles and there’s spelling errors so clearly they didn’t look it over as many times as I would. 

H – Maybe they should call you to revise! (Laughter)

A – Yeah, I’ll be their editor! (Laughter)

H – Yeah, see, I feel that they don’t, um, revise as much because they have like an editor there, but I don’t know. I mean different people do different things.

A – Yeah, I don’t know. Like maybe people take it more seriously. I guess if it was like a scholarly journal, maybe they would look over it more better. It needs—(Laughter) more better—because it needs to be like for professors and people that actually have like a high scholarly title, rather than just average people who are reading a book that wouldn’t notice spelling mistakes. So, I guess it depends on who’s writing it and what it’s for.

H – Yeah, that makes sense. Um, I see, well, I’ve seen through this interview that you’ve had like a change from high school to college with your revision. Do you think as you go forward, like I don’t know maybe five years, ten years in the future, do you think, if you’re gonna have to write that your revision style would change or you’re pretty much. . .

A – I think it would pretty much stay the same. Um just because like what I’ve learned in college I kind of plan on taking with me everywhere I go. Just because I feel like that is the best method. There’s no point in getting lazy after this point. Once you’re crazy, you’re always crazy. That’s not changing. So like I think it’s like better to keep the habits I have now, rather than decline and possibly go back to what I did in high school, which was nowhere near as proficient, you know? So I would keep the way I do things now forever more.

H – Um, what career are you looking to get into?

A – Honestly, I don’t think they’ll be any writing involved with it, but I plan on working in a psychiatric hospital, hopefully as something known as an Illness Management Recovery person who actually helps out um people with mental illnesses and helps them gain goals for when they get out of the hospital. Help them possibly get home, you know jobs that they could look into, and stuff like that. I don’t really think there’s any writing in that, but if there is, I know how I’m going to already overcome everything like regarding my revision with my patients and stuff.

H – Okay, sounds good. Um, is there anything that we haven’t talked about with revision that you feel like that you want to add? Any topic?

A – Uh, uhhh. Just about how like I think it should probably be taught at an earlier age. Like I think in high school it should be taken a lot more seriously so that way it isn’t just something you learn when you’re in college. Like people would get into way better colleges if they knew that beforehand. Like they could have written way better essays. Like unless you were at home and your mother was like an English major, you’re not gonna know how to do all those revision things or unless you went to like some preparatory school in like the richest place ever. So I think it should be taught at an earlier age. 17:49

H – Do you feel like you would have benefited much more if you would have learned it at an earlier age?

A – Definitely! (Laughter) Like I would have been in a way better place right now because I know that like when I was younger, I was able to write, I’ve always been able to write like good, but it was never the best it could possibly be and I really believe that’s because nobody took the time to sit down with me and be like, “Get to the point.” Like nobody ever told me, how to get to where it should be, they just said, “Okay, it’s fine. You did it.” You know? So, I definitely would have come out as a better person if it would have been introduced to me earlier, smarter even!

H – Um, how early do you think it should be taught?

A – I think it should be incorporated into curriculums like as soon as possible like maybe even as soon as middle school. Like revision should be started at that age, not like intense, like print it out a million times, but like by then, it should be introduced to them. And by like the freshman year of high school, you should already know what it is and you should know like the clear difference between proofreading and revision. That isn’t something you shouldn’t know, you shouldn’t have to wait until your senior year to know how important revision is for a college essay, you know? So, freshman year is when it should get really intense, in my opinion.

H – It’s smart. I think that’s good, yeah.

A – Especially for SATs and stuff because they comes up like a year later! You have to be ready for everything. Um, I don’t know about HSPAs because I didn’t go to a public school. I don’t know if there’s any writing with that, but I’m sure that would help. I’m sure if there’s a reading section or something else, by knowing writing skills, you’re going to be able to pick out things and reading is a lot easier also. It’s not only just the writing, so.

H – So you feel that revision can even help you—

A – In other subjects, I mean like if you have to read something, I know on the SAT section, there is a critical reading section, where you have to pick out specific words that may have been spelled incorrectly or something with a grammatical error. It can definitely help. If you’re taught revision at a young age, you’ll be able to pick things out easier, so I don’t know. I know I did pretty bad on that section so if I would have been taught that earlier, it would have helped a lot.

H – And you also said you feel like it helps when you’re reading too, like reading critically?

A – Yeah, definitely. Um, if you, uh, I know when you have midterms in college sometimes, I know specifically in English courses, you may have to read passages and pick specific things out. I know I had to do that in my English class. And I feel like that would help so much because you know how to revise other people’s work and think logically about what they have to say. Revision can help in so many ways and like it helps in all subjects, not just English or anything else. It helps with speeches, with science, like I said before. It’s so important in my opinion.

H – Thank you. That was a good point, it really was a good point!

A – Yeah, you can use it everywhere.

H – Alright, thank you for interviewing with me on my first interview! You were a great subject!

A – Aw thanks.