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:

o two independent clauses [i.e. subject-verb pairs] joined without an appropriate conjunction or

punctuation, or;

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

Fragments are: o Units of text that do not contain a complete subject-verb pair, and/or; o 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: o A sentence or clause in which the verb acts upon the subject (rather than vice versa);

o 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.

o 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).

o 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:

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

o 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:

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

o 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.

o Use sequencing to link sentences with different subjects

o Use transitions to indicate logical relationships between sentences

o 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.