literature homework

 Peer Review Guidelines

(adapted from Kat Gonso, Northeastern University)

Peer review is an essential part of the writing and revising process. You will find that the more you peer review, the more you will learn about your own writing.  An effective peer review helps the writer think through the difficult challenges of an essay with the goal of producing their best writing. 

After you submit your first draft, you will be assigned a peer review group.

The Steps of a Peer Review

1. Read the writing once without taking notes or making annotations. Try to withhold evaluation. 

0. Reread the writing. Keep in mind that by the end of this process you will probably know the writing better than the writer. You will become an expert on this piece of writing. Therefore, you will have to read the writing multiple times.

1. Comment on the writing. In the margins, give the writer specific comments about particular parts of the writing. Think about the methods and techniques we have discussed in class. You can elaborate on these comments in your correspondence.

2. Correspond with the writer by writing a 500 – 600-word peer review letter. Post this letter as a REPLY to the writer’s original post under the appropriate link. Do not create a new post.

Your peer review letter should…

Praise. The first paragraph of the correspondence should tell the writer what they are doing well. When you point out what’s successful be sure to say why it is successful. For example, it isn’t helpful to be told that your introduction is “good” or “perfect,” but it is helpful to know that your introduction is successful because it helped the reader to understand the context of the situation you are addressing.

Critique. The rest of your review should critique the major aspects of the paper. This is where you evaluate. Your goal is to help the author revise the paper to produce as strong final product. 

· Review & Suggest: Identify the writer’s successful areas and the areas that could use some improvement. 

· Focus on global concerns rather than proofreading. Global concerns impact meaning and your audience’s understanding of the main ideas. For example, organization can impede how the audience receives your message. It is helpful to consider the audience, type of essay, writer, and purpose.  Introductions, conclusions, delivery, and evidence (quotes, summaries, and paraphrases) are also considered global. 

· Avoid local concerns. Local concerns like sentence structure and grammar don’t impact meaning. These issues should be tackled in later drafts during the editing process.

·  Be specific. Once again, it isn’t helpful to write vague comments like “the introduction is good” or “the introduction is bad.” Rather, take the time to tell the writer why the introduction is successful or needs improvement.

· Suggest revisions. Most importantly, offer suggestions. For example, how might the writer improve the introduction? Don’t be shy with your suggestions and feel free to offer more than one solution. Try offering up a question if you don’t have a solution. What do you mean by x? Could this go later in the paper? Why did you put this quote here? Questions will help lead the writer to discovering their own revision solution.

5. Instructor Review: After you have corresponded with the writer your instructor will read both the writing and the peer review that you posted on Moodle. You will receive a grade for the correspondence that you provide to your classmate.

Other Thoughts for Your Comments and Correspondence:

· Be restrained. Don’t try to cover every writing issue that arises. Choose a few areas that you believe could use improvement and dig into those issues. As Straub writes, “address issues that are most important to address in this paper, at this time.” 

· Be supportive. Writing is a vulnerable act and we should be respectful and considerate when approaching any piece of writing. 

· Be bold. Composition scholar Kenneth A. Bruffee notes, “you may find it hard to believe in your authority to review another student’s work and in another student’s authority to evaluate yours...Constructive reading establishes constructive relationship among student peers. You will learn to respect each other’s evaluative judgment of each other as you learn to read and write constructively. And as you learn to read and write constructively you will also learn to respect your own evaluative judgment and assume some responsibility for other students’ improvement as writers” (172). Trust yourself as a reviewer. Also keep in mind that there is a learning curve with this sort of intellectual work. Together, we will improve as we practice. 

· Be persistent. Peer review is often considered by students to be the most challenging aspect of the course. However, the rewards of such a challenge are many. If you persevere, you will learn a great deal, and you will feel intellectual pride and satisfaction. However, if you sometimes feel overwhelmed, confused or frustrated, remember that those feelings are a part of intellectual development.