Peer Review - Routine Message

PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST

PART I: Get Oriented

HOW TO ACCESS YOUR CLASSMATE’S SUBMISSIONS

YOU CAN ACCESS YOUR CLASSMATE’S ASSIGNMENT BY:

· Clicking on one of your classmates' names on the right-hand side of the Rough Draft of [Assignment Name] landing page.

· Clicking the "Show Feedback" hyperlink in the upper right-hand corner of the central white portion of the screen.

· Maximizing the editing box by clicking the diagonal arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the gray window that appears on your screen.

HOW TO PEER REVIEW YOUR CLASSMATE’S WORK

YOU CAN PEER REVIEW YOUR CLASSMATE’S WORK BY:

· Reading your classmate’s submission once, in its entirety, without making any comments.

· Reading the assignment 2-3 more times, using the checklists below (in Parts II and III) to help you identify the various writing errors and issues most likely to appear in your classmate’s work.

· Leaving a comment, using the Canvas editing tools, for each error or issue you identify in your classmate’s work (see below for details). PLEASE NOTE: If you cannot find at least three points to criticize in your classmate's draft, instead leave comments detailing what you liked or found effective about their draft.

· Linking each of your comments to one of the categories of the rubric, available at the bottom of the Rough Draft of [Assignment Name] landing page.

HOW TO COMMENT ON AND GRADE YOUR CLASSMATE’S WRITING

YOU CAN LEAVE COMMENTS ON AND GRADE YOUR CLASSMATE’S WORK BY:

· Clicking the buttons for the pointer and highlighter editing tools in the top right-hand corner of the editing box to leave at least three comments on your classmate's draft. PLEASE NOTE : Use the pointer tool to comment on individual words or punctuations marks; use the highlighter tool to comment on words, sentences, or phrases.

· Closing the editing box and clicking the “Show Rubric” hyperlink on the right-hand side of the screen.

· Completing and saving a rubric for your classmate's draft (based on the instructions in the checklists below).

· Repeating the process above for the other person whose draft you've been assigned to review.

PLEASE NOTE: You will not be assigned drafts to review until you arrive in class on the day when drafts are due.

PART II: Check for Grammar, Style, Format, and Organization

GRAMMAR ERRORS (Deduct 4% of total points from “Grammar & Professionalism”)

☐ RUN-ON SENTENCE / SENTENCE FRAGMENT

· DEFINITION:

Run-on sentences are units of text that include:

· two independent clauses [i.e. subject-verb pairs] joined without an appropriate conjunction or punctuation, or;

· an independent clause and a fragment joined without an appropriate conjunction or punctuation.

Fragments are:

· Units of text that do not contain a complete subject-verb pair, and/or;

· Subordinate clauses that are not attached to a dominant clause.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ HOMOPHONE ERROR

· DEFINITION:

When writers confuse words that sound the same but have different meanings.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ POSSESSIVE ERROR

· DEFINITION:

When writers incorrectly indicate a possessive relationship between two nouns.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ AGREEMENT ERROR

· DEFINITION:

When the subject of a sentence disagrees in number with either its verb conjugation or with subsequent possessive pronouns.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DANGLING MODIFIER

· DEFINITION:

When the implied subject of a subordinate clause does not correspond to the subject of a sentence’s dominant clause.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

MISCELLANEOUS STYLE ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Style & Diction”)

☐ WRITER-FOCUSED WRITING

· DEFINITION:

When writers organize their sentences around themselves and their needs rather than their readers and their needs.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ AWKWARD, OVERBLOWN, OR UNCLEAR WORD CHOICE

· DEFINITION:

When writers use language that is unclear, needlessly complex, or inappropriate for its context.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

CLARITY ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Style & Diction”)

☐ PASSIVE VOICE

· DEFINITION:

· A sentence or clause in which the verb acts upon the subject (rather than vice versa);

· A sentence that obscures the logical order of causation:

· Actor → action → recipient of action.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DUMMY SUBJECT / VAGUE PRONOUN

· DEFINITION:

Sentences without a clear actor.

· Dummy Subjects: Sentences that begin with meaningless placeholders like “there are,” “there is,” or “it is” (when “it” does not refer to a noun from a previous sentence).

· Vague Pronouns: Sentences that begin with demonstrative pronouns like “this,” “that,” “these,” or “those” (and that are unaccompanied by a subsequent noun).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ BURIED VERB

· DEFINITION:

Verbs that have been transformed into nouns.

o (Tip: Many of the most offensive nominalizations end in “-ion” or “-ment.”)

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ INACTIVE VERB

· DEFINITION:

Verbs that refer to states of being rather than actions.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ NEGATIVE LANGUAGE

· DEFINITION:

Sentences that contain the word “not” or other negations.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

CONCISION ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Style & Diction”)

☐ LENGTHY / RAMBLING SENTENCES

· DEFINITION:

Long sentences are sentences that require more than two full lines of text (using 10-12 point font).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ EXCESSIVE USE OF MODIFIERS

· DEFINITION:

Modifiers include amplifiers like “very” or “really,” as well as adjectives (words that modify nouns) and adverbs (words that modify verbs, typically ending in “-ly”).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ REDUNDANT LANGUAGE (REDUNDANT PAIRS AND MODIFIERS)

· DEFINITION:

Two common forms of redundant language include:

· Redundant pairs (paired words that have the same meaning), and;

· Redundant modifiers (adjective-noun / adverb-verb pairs where the modifier [i.e. the adjective or adverb] conveys a meaning that that noun or verb implies).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ EVASIVE OR OBVIOUS STATEMENTS (HEDGING AND METADISCOURSE)

· DEFINITION:

Two common forms of evasive or obvious statements include:

· Hedging (ambivalent language that weakens your message), and;

· Metadiscourse (writing about writing).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

CONTINUITY ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Style & Diction”)

☐ WEAK LINKS BETWEEN SENTENCES

· DEFINITION:

Sentence pairs that writers fail to link using one or more of the main continuity principles.

· Use sequencing to link sentences with different subjects

· Use transitions to indicate logical relationships between sentences

· Use common subjects to link sentences with shared subjects

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

COHESION ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Style & Diction”)

☐ WEAK PARAGRAPH HEAD

· DEFINITION:

Paragraph heads are 1-2 sentence summaries of a paragraph’s content and purpose that appear at the beginning of all well-constructed paragraphs.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ WEAK MAPPING STATEMENT

· DEFINITION:

A mapping statement is statement that previews and/or summarizes the structure and arguments of lengthier documents. It typically appears in a document’s introduction and/or conclusion.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

FORMATTING ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Format & Organization”)

☐ WEAK VISUAL APPEAL

· DEFINITION:

The phrase ‘visual appeal’ describes documents that appear well-organized and easy-to-navigate. Documents with strong visual appeal typically feature opening and closing salutations, short paragraphs, bullets points, and/or signposts (include section headers).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ IMPROPER DOCUMENT FORMATTING

· DEFINITION:

Improperly formatted documents use a document format (ex.: email, memo, or formal letter) other than the one the assignment requires.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ IMPROPER USE OF BLOCK FORMATTING

· DEFINITION:

Block formatting describes the standard method of formatting the body of business documents. Texts that use block formatting feature single-spaced, left-justified text with a ragged right margin; un-indented paragraphs; and full line spaces between paragraphs.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

ORGANIZATION ERRORS (Deduct 2% of total points from “Format & Organization”)

☐ PARALLEL PHRASING ERROR

· DEFINITION:

When writers construct items in a series or list using more than one grammatical form.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ WEAK FRONTLOADING / SUMMATION

· DEFINITION:

Frontloading describes the process of summarizing one’s main point at the beginning of a message (where appropriate); summation describes the process of summarizing one’s main point at the end of a message (where appropriate).

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ INEFFECTIVE DOCUMENT STRUCTURE

· DEFINITION:

The phrase ‘ineffective document structure’ describes documents or units of text that are organized in an ineffective, hard-to-follow, or unintuitive way. These documents may follow the prescribed structural guidelines for the message type in question but nevertheless be deficient in other areas of organization.

· HOW MANY ERRORS: Click or tap here to enter text.

·

PART III: Check for Content

ALL MESSAGES (Deduct 4% of total points from “Content” for each “No”)

☐ IS THE MESSAGE EASY AND/OR ENJOYABLE TO READ?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DOES THE MESSAGE MAINTAIN AN APPROPRIATE TONE?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DOES THIS MESSAGE SEEK TO DEVELOP GOODWILL WITH READERS?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

SUBJECT LINES (Deduct 4% of total points from “Content” for each “No”)

☐ IS THE SUBJECT LINE ACTION ORIENTED?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DOES IT INDICATE THE ACTION THE WRITER WANTS THE READER TO TAKE?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DOES IT SUMMARIZE THE MAIN POINT OF THE MESSAGE?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

ROUTINE MESSAGES (Deduct 4% of total points from “Content” for each “No”)

☐ DOES THE FIRST SENTENCE SUMMARIZE THE MESSAGE’S MAIN POINT?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DOES THE MESSAGE CONTEXTUALIZE ITS STATEMENT OR REQUEST (IF NECESSARY)?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ DOES THE MESSAGE SUCCESSFULLY CONVEY ITS STATEMENT OR REQUEST?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.

☐ WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO AFTER FINISHING THIS MESSAGE?

Answer “Yes” or “No.” If you answer “No,” explain why: Click or tap here to enter text.