This week, we will begin giving feedback to our peers. Writing is an on-going conversation. None of us writes in a vacuum. Everything we write is in conversation, with the writers who have come before us, and with the readers. This is why giving and receiving feedback on our writing is so important. As we begin to join the conversation around our chosen issue, it is necessary to keep our audience in mind. What kinds of issues might appeal to our audience? How might we frame the issue so that our audience cares and takes action? Receiving feedback on your ideas from the start of the process will help you develop a project that moves your readers.

However, it is also important to give feedback. As you will see in this week's reading, when we can give substantial, detailed feedback to our peers on their writing, we can also begin to see where we might have strengths or need improvement. When we begin to articulate the choices we see our peers making in their writing, we can also make better choices in our own writing. 

This week's reading is "How to Write Meaningful Response Praise," by Ron DePeter. This essay gives concrete tips on how to tell your peers what you like about their writing in a way that can help them become better writers and help you become a more aware reader. As you read this essay, I recommend making a list of all the different ways he gives praise and a list of the different things he praised. What kinds of things does he point out in students' writing? What does he notice about how they write? And what kind of language does he use to let them know?

You do not need to turn this list in. It is for your own notes, but it will help you with your next assignment: giving meaningful response praise to your peers. In the embedded folder below, you will find your peers' responses to last week's assignment. Using the advice in DePeter's essay, you will use the guided questions to point out the strongest ideas that your peers have brainstormed.