Eliciting Methods: Questions, questions, and more questions

I. THE ASSIGNMENT

II. THE RELATED READING(S) III. THE CONTENT IV. ORGANIZATION V. ARGUMENT GLOSSING
Glossing simply means putting a label or tag on a passage in a text. You may have seen Bibles that gloss the verses in the margins--that is actually the origin of the word gloss. As a tutor working with a rough draft, you can gloss a student's paper as you read it, trying to get a grasp on the structure. Or, after you've read it, you can ask the student to gloss parts of the paper him/herself.
The questions to ask the student are: DRAMATIZING AND ROLE-PLAYING
Dramatizing and/or role-playing simply means that you and your tutor imagine different people's reactions to/statements about a given topic. This works particularly well for argumentative and comparison/contrast papers. For example, you might imagine: The student or tutor could assume the role of the teacher, another student in the class, a writer with an opposing or similar point of view, etc.
  1. The tutor may jot down statements/ideas as the dialogue unfolds. This list could serve as the beginning for a rudimentary outline.
  2. The tutor and student could create a matrix, with one column representing one actor and other columns representing other actors (and points-of-view, of course).
  3. The tutor could use HDWDWW questions to break down an idea that the dialogue uncovered.
SENTENCE PARADIGMS
Some composition experts believe that every genre of writing has basic sentence forms that constitute a core for that genre--seed sentences from which a text grows. Below are some of these seed sentences, which rely on sentence elements to make connections between ideas. The ideas are left blank in the sentences below: it's up to the student (with the tutor's help) to fill in the blanks. As far as constructing arguments go, however, these "sentence paradigms" may be more useful:


SIGNAL WORDS
 
Rhetorical Task/Concept Signal Words
Part/Whole includes, overlaps, example of, same kind of..., part of, made up of, complementary to, comprised of
List one, another, besides, also, furthermore, too, more, and, in addition, three things, several, many, a few
Time begins, next, then, from here, soon, shortly, after, meanwhile, later, at last, finally, due, first, second
Comparison/Contrast similar, like, in the same way, better, worse, faster, more slowly, but, however, nevertheless, in contrast, on the other hand, other, those, former, latter, different, 
Cause/Effect because, consequently, for this reason, therefore, on that account, so, hence, as a result of, so that, since, resulting in
Climax finally, thus, in conclusion, in summary, to sum up, looking back, most, best, least, most important, least important, most quickly, overall

HDWDWW
This acronym comes from Ann Berthoff, and it stands for How Does Who Do What to Whom? You can use this technique both as an invention device (generating ideas for a paper assignment) or to clarify a passage in a rough draft. For example, a student has been asked to write a paper on twentieth-century painters. You might start with Who:
 
 
WHO
Picasso
Mondrian
Kandinsky
 Then you might ask the student to answer Did What?
 
WHO DID WHAT
Picasso broke objects down into planes
Mondrian broke repesentation down into two-dimensional areas
Kandinsky presented color and forms without reference to real-life objects
And the final step would be to ask Why?
 
 
WHO DID WHAT WHY
Picasso broke objects down into planes to present multiple perspectives
Mondrian broke representation down into two-dimensional areas to challenge viewers through minimalist art
Kandinsky presented color and forms without referene to real-life objects to capture emotional/spiritual representations of reality

DOUBLE-ENTRY LISTING
Most useful for comparison/contrast or argumentative papers, this method simply lists opposing ideas in two columns. Yes, it bears a great deal of resemblance to the HDWDWW and Matrice methods. A good way of articulating points which need to be rebutted to strengthen an argument.

School Vouchers
PRO CON
School curriculum can fit student needs/aptitude Some schools will suffer financially
Will force greater accountability from public schools Will favor the affluent
Under-performing schools will be eliminated Has racial implications

MAPPING
Diagramming ideas can be used as an invention strategy or to help visualize, and then improve, the organization of a rough draft. Usually one starts with a main idea or keyword, circles it, then jots down other keywords or ideas. These may be connected to the original keyword, and so should have lines drawn back to it; they may be simply connected to each other or generate new connections. Ultimately, a writer could end up with an elaborate tree diagram, where a main idea forms the "root" of the tree and sub-ideas, with sub-sub-ideas, "grow" off the original keyword  or idea.


MATRICES

We mean here basically a table. This is especially useful for synthesis (and argumentative) papers, where several authors/texts/viewpoints are being balanced at once. Basically, the topics might be listed on the left, in rows; the authors or institutions might be listed in columns. Here's an example (but don't count on the veracity of these statements!):
 
 
ISSUE Republicans Democrats Third Party
School Voucher Favor to add accountability to pub ed Oppose because it undermines pub ed Oppose because of effect on pub ed
Strip logging Favor for economic dev Oppose on federal protected land Oppose totally as a procedure
Deficit Delay paying in favor of tax cut Pay down after SS, Medicare and small tax cut Pay down gradually; fund social services first; no tax cut