ABSTRACT
Pronoun substitutions frequently occur when restating self-based prompts. Most pronouns must be changed to have the writing make sense and sound syntactically acceptable. Responders should stick to exact word match on nouns, bypassing a common practice among students of replacing nouns with pronouns. One way to develop skill and understanding of this part of the process is to show students some of the unacceptable, overly detailed answers, which might look correct, followed by acceptable gist answers. The kids need to remain steeped in simplicity, because what lies ahead is a somewhat nebulous phase of the process——one that asks students themselves to develop a gist answer. Many students fall prey to shallow introductions that, in turn, create shallow evidence and minimal details. Closed restatements that offer a sense of quantification (several, many, a number of) generally possess a gist quality about them.
