Peer Review One Guideline Sheet

ENGL 1102

Insenga

Assigned: January 15

Due back in class: January 17

Follow each of the steps below as you examine and comment on your Peer’s complete draft. For this Peer Review, you will need A Writer’s Resource, the assignment sheet, the text on which your peer has written, and your detailed class notes. Most students prefer that comments are recorded directly on their draft to facilitate easy revising.

1. Write your Peer Review nickname to the right of your Peer’s heading. Remember to do this, as it is the only way I will know who completed a Peer Review and who did not.

2. Examine first your Peer’s introductory paragraph. After your read, record answers to the following questions on this sheet and then offer specific and facilitative comments on your Peer’s draft.

a. During class discussion, we worked to identify and practice strategies for introductory paragraphs. Which strategy does your Peer’s essay utilize? How do you know? Does the method interest you as an audience member and how so (or why not)?

b. Underline your Peer’s claim. Using the claim, map out below what you think your Peer’s paper will look like. That is, if we consider an introduction and claim as parts of an essay that act as a “road map,” what will the trip through the essay look like? If you cannot predict the structure, alert your Peer and make initial suggestions for revision.

c. What assignment option has your Peer chosen to work on for this Essay Project? How do you know?

3. Now, read the remainder of your Peer’s draft. As you read each paragraph, underline the topic sentence and circle the author’s evidence. Then, next to each paragraph, note two things in the margin: In what way does the topic sentence of the paragraph relate back to the author’s central argument? Think about whether or not the paragraph helps to prove a part of the author’s central claim. If you note that topic sentences are not arguments related to the central claim, a lack of evidence, or paragraphs that simply summarize, please alert the writer and offer advice for improvement.

4. Work to locate places in the draft where you feel the author proved his/her point well and/or places where you are confused. Also take note of ways in which the author considered his/her audience, or if there are ways in which the essay does not consider the audience. Offer praise and/or specific pieces of advice for the writer. Take time, too, to check formatting and documentation by referring to the reading from chapter six, assigned last week.

5. Finally, attend to the concerns and/or questions at the top of the writer’s draft by offering thoughtful, written advice.

Suggestions for Peer Review Success:

-Remember, your role is to review, not to edit. You are reading for arguments and support of those arguments, for structure and for logic, not for grammar errors.

-Be honest and offer specific advice. Give the sort of written advice you would like to receive, the sort of advice that will help the writer revise.