There are some exceptions to the kinds of criticism I can swallow, namely the way my professor (who will remain anonymous) took a chainsaw to my class's papers last week. Basically he spent the entire seventy-five minute class telling us what was wrong with our papers. He took wrong parts from all our papers, which he said were "not hard to find." He was so picky it was not even funny. I even had taken my two papers to the Writing Centre, knowing he was very particular about grammar, but he still tore them to shreds. Yes, he said he was doing it for a learning experience and, to be honest, I did learn some things. But his manner of addressing our papers was way too critical -- he did not even say one positive thing to counter all the negatives. Plus, we are not writing any more papers for him, so it is too late to improve on any of the things he critiqued. This type of criticism is too much for me.
Peer editing, on the other hand, is something I can take. I have really appreciated the feedback or "criticism" on my essays in this class this semester. I have learned so much from reading other people's writing and having people honestly evaluate my work. My writing skills have grown in leaps and bounds over this semester. Plus I have learned to love editing. My eyes have been opened to how below par my first drafts are and I realize the need for multiple drafts. I can actually see major improvements in my drafts and I love having a good, revised final draft, one that I know has been put through the fire and has come out for the better.
See? I can handle some criticism. But sometimes it just goes too far and then it isn't even useful anymore.
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