Peer Review
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Your rough draft is complete, and your professor has assigned you to peer review. You're going to have to give and accept opinions on each other's essays! What to do? What to write? And why do we peer review, anyways?
Why we Peer Review
The purpose of peer review is to provide feedback on the drafts of fellow writers. This is common practice in writing classes (both academic and creative writing) for two reasons. And both of them are more about you than about your fellow students.
Writers become better writers when they seek out and listen to the advice of fellow writers and potential readers
Novelists hand their drafts to friends and family for feedback before passing a manuscript along to their editors, and editors (who work for the publishing house) give additional feedback and advice before a novel moves forward to publication. As a student seeking advice from fellow students, the point isn’t that you’ve had a professional “correct” your writing. Rather, your classmates are test readers and they’re letting you know: this doesn’t follow the assignment, I didn’t understand your point about ____, or I wish you had spent more time discussing ____. They should also give feedback about what’s working well in a draft. This is a huge advantage to you, the writer. Now, when you sit down to revise a paper, you’ll know which areas are effective and which need your attention.
Sadly (but not surprisingly), students who ignore the advice they receive in peer reviews consistently receive lower grades on their submitted papers.
Writers become better readers when they peer review
The errors you notice in a classmate’s paper should lead you to look for those same errors in your own writing. Similarly, realizing that a classmate’s topic sentences or way of introducing sources are better than how you’ve been doing things should prompt you to go back to your paper and emulate the writing techniques you’ve observed. In other words, reading your classmate’s essays and providing honest feedback should translate into the practice of reading your own drafts with a critical eye.
What about hurting your classmates’ feelings?
That’s a valid concern. One way professors combat that is by providing that list of specific questions to answer. The questions direct you to key areas to look at in the drafts you’re reviewing (and in your own draft when you go to revise). These are areas that are important to a successful paper and/or that professors know students struggle with. When you answer these questions, professors asking for honest observations, not nitpicks.
Your thoughts matter
You might think, "what do I know? I'm just a student." But your advice as a reader and as a student writing from the same essay prompt is valid and worth hearing.
How not to peer review
The "Yes Man"
Everything is great! Everything is wonderful! Wow, amazing! Absolutely no edits needed! 100% perfect A-plus paper right here!
Why doesn't this help? It is a sign of respect to offer a thorough critique. It means the person's writing is worth taking seriously. If you don't critique, the author gets no substantial feedback from you.
The fix: realize that your thoughts and opinions have value for the author. One quick trick is to pick up on areas where you feel confused or intimidated. Chances are, the author hasn't explained the subject clearly in that area.
The “Grumpy Cat”
Everything is terrible! This is awful! And I'm only on the first paragraph and there are already seventeen misspellings!
Why doesn't this help? receiving a draft covered in negative reactions can be discouraging! Chances are, there is something positive to be said about the paper.
The fix: if every error bothers you, notice patterns and and leave a general comment on each pattern. For example, if there are twenty-seven capitalization errors, you might leave one comment: "hey, you might want to check for capitalization errors."
The "Riddler"
I liked the beginning, but not the end.
Some of these ideas are good.
Mostly good job.
Why doesn't this help? Super vague statements are like riddles- they're hard to interpret and don't help the writer know where they need to improve, or where they're doing well.
The fix: We need details! What exactly did you like about the beginning paragraph- imagery? Word choice? If so, which images, and which words? Be super specific.
Strategies for Successful peer review
Read it Twice
The first time reading through a paper can be overwhelming- especially if you aren't familiar with the author's subject.
Give yourself time to form meaningful comments and suggestions by reading the paper twice before you begin.
Listen to your Confusion
Sometimes students don't want to admit when they're confused by a draft. Whether it's one sentence or a whole paragraph, chances are that if you're confused, the writer may not be explaining the concept clearly. There may also be missing words or details.
Let the writer know where and when you're confused!
Ask a Question
Some students have trouble giving criticism. They are afraid they will sound mean or judgmental.
If this is you, no worries! Just frame your criticism as a question.
For example, instead of, "you have missing words in this sentence" you might just ask, "are there missing words here?"
Be Thoughtful
Often, professors will provide prompt questions for peer review. For example, they might ask, "Is the thesis narrow, debatable, and researchable?"
Instead of just writing "yes" or "no", think of this as an essay question to be answered in several sentences.
Your answer might look like: "Yes, this thesis is narrow, debatable, and researchable because...." or "This thesis is narrow, but not researchable because..."
Peer Review Ideas
One-sentence Peer Review: each student chooses one sentence that they feel is "off". As a class, give suggestions to improve the sentence. This allows students to hone their editing instincts, and chances are, there are clarity or grammar issues in the sentence that can be applied to the rest of the draft.
Round Robin: students look for one specific area to suggest on per "round", lasting anywhere from 5-10 minutes. When the time is up, move onto another area on a different student's draft. For example, the first 5-10 minutes might look at commas, while the second 5-10 minutes might look at theses.
Cut and Color Peer Review: In this type of round robin, students cut apart and mix up paragraphs, tape them back together, color on the draft, and generally play with drafts.