Teachers spend enormous energy writing comments, but students often skim them for the grade and move on. One reason is that many comments are too general to guide revision. Looking at concrete examples from essays on The Inspector General shows the difference between feedback that gets ignored and feedback that gets used.

Consider a student paragraph that describes the mayor's panic on hearing that an inspector has arrived, and then moves on to the next scene. The paragraph is accurate, organized, and clear, but it does not say what the panic means. It is a good candidate for showing what different comments can do.

The gap between weak and strong feedback usually comes down to three qualities: specificity, direction, and respect for what the student did well. Comments that lack one or more of these tend to leave the writer unsure of what to change. Comments that have all three make the next draft almost write itself.

Examples of Weak Comments

A weak comment on that paragraph might read "Needs more analysis." It is true, but it offers no clue about which analysis is missing or how to produce it. The student may respond by adding another sentence of summary, which fails to solve the problem.

• "Good job" with no explanation of what worked
• "Be more specific" without naming what is unclear
• "Awkward" written beside a sentence without a suggested fix
• "Analyze more" with no indication of what to analyze
• A grade with no comment at all on a paper that scored in the middle

Examples of Strong Comments

A strong comment on the same paragraph might say: "You show clearly that the mayor panics. What does his rush to hide the hospital's condition reveal about how the town normally runs?" It credits the accurate summary, then asks a specific question that requires interpretation. The student knows both what worked and where to go next.

Another strong approach is to model a sentence. You could write beside a vague claim about corruption: "Try something like: the officials' panic suggests corruption is routine and only visible when someone is watching." The model gives a target without doing the writing for the student.

Building the Habit of Strong Feedback

Strong feedback takes longer to write, which is why it tends to disappear late in a grading session. One way to protect quality is to set a template of three moves: name a strength, identify one priority, and suggest a next step. Sticking to three moves keeps comments focused and manageable.

Another approach is to grade in short blocks with breaks, so that your tenth essay receives the same attention as your first. Fatigue is a genuine source of inequity in grading, and structured breaks are a simple remedy. Students at the end of the alphabet should not receive lower quality feedback by accident.

Where AI Can Support Comment Quality

AI-assisted tools can produce a structured first draft of feedback based on your rubric, including a strength, a priority, and a suggestion. The teacher reviews it, sharpens the language, and adds observations that only a human reader would notice. This can keep comment quality steady when time is short.

The measure of success is whether students revise better. If you notice that second drafts improve in the areas you commented on, the feedback is working. If they do not, it may be time to make the comments more specific or add a brief conference.