Blog 13- Critique of "The First Five MInutes: Setting the Agenda in Writing Conferences" by Thomas Newkirk

In Thomas Newkirk’s essay “The First Five Minutes: Setting the Agenda in a Writing Conference,” he discusses the importance of having an agenda understood by both the teacher and the student in writing conferences. He uses a dialogue from three writing conferences between students and their composition teachers to illustrate how each conference either fails or accomplishes this goal. Then he explains each outcome using specific examples from the conference

Each conference is given a title and an introductory paragraph giving background information on the student’s paper. This is followed by a dialogue of the conference and then a thorough explanation by Newkirk about why the conference works or does not work. Newkirk uses specific parts of the dialogue to show where the teacher attempted to set up an agenda. In two of the conferences, the students are unaware or confused about the teacher’s intent for the conference and as a result have an unsuccessful conference. Newkirk uses specific things said by the student and then draws on it by giving insight about why the student might have said those things

The form that Newkirk uses to explain these conferences creates a model for successful conferences. His detailed explanations of each conference work as an example to tutors or teachers who strive to have meaningful meetings with their students. Using the conferences (both successful and unsuccessful) as examples becomes beneficial for the reader of the essay.