The Peer Review Process Described: You will submit your first draft–a complete one with intro, body and conclusion–in the Essay 1 or 2 or 3 Draft for Peer Review link.

QUESTION

The Peer Review Process Described:

You will submit your first draft–a complete one with intro, body and conclusion–in the Essay 1 or 2 or 3 Draft for Peer Review link. The link opens up a workshop where you submit your drafts, access other people’s drafts, respond to the peer review questions, and submit your feedback to the writers of the drafts. The goal of the peer review process is to provide purposeful and helpful feedback. So you are not correcting and grading your peer’s draft.

IN ORDER TO ACCESS THE 2 DRAFTS ASSIGNED FOR REVIEW, YOU WILL NEED TO ACCESS THE CANVAS COURSE SITE WITH YOUR BROWSER AND DO NOT USE THE CANVAS APP FOR THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS.

Described below are the peer review questions and prompts that you will respond to for the two drafts assigned to you. Complete your feedback in a separate document and save it as a pdf –before you send it along to the writer of the draft. You can also submit your feedback directly on the comment stream. In order to facilitate the process smoothly, the common file type to be exchanged for the feedback is a pdf. No Microsoft word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs will be accepted for feedback files.

Some suggestions for the Peer Review Process:

• Read the first paragraph ONLY. What do you think the main focus of the essay will be?

This shows the importance of the introduction and the beginning paragraphs for setting the focus for the rest of the essay. Remember that there has to be a some purpose and reason to read the rest of the essay.

• Read the entire draft. Indicate with a question (or simply a question mark) any places in the essay where you are confused (even momentarily, even if you can eventually figure out what the writer means). Find the place in the essay with your cursor, insert a space or two–so that it stands out for the writer–and put a question mark. Note that you may need to copy and paste the draft onto your feedback document and then insert the question marks in the draft.

By marking instances where you are confused, you are providing the writer of the draft helpful feedback about clarity not only of language but also of thought. If you cannot mark the submission, copy and paste the problematic section, sentence, phrase, word with a question mark in the response box.

• Having read the whole draft, summarize the thesis of the essay in your own words. What’s the overall argument?

Read the entire draft before trying to articulate in your own words the writer’s argument (major claim, thesis, analytical idea). Remember that the beginning of the essay contains only a working thesis and not a fully developed or evolved one that the conclusion may have.

• Explain whether the writer states the overall argument clearly and explicitly enough in the essay; if not, suggest where and how it might be stated.

If you could not figure out the writer’s argument, this is an opportunity for you to comment and suggest where and how it can be stated clearly and explicitly as the essays progresses.

• In your own words, summarize the representative example and the main points that support the thesis of the essay.

Comment on the claims that the writer makes, how they may or may not address the thesis and representative example. You will comment on the individual body paragraphs in the next two prompts and questions, so this one is a more general comment of the overall cohesiveness of the draft.

• Evaluate the balance between analysis and summary. Does the balance need to shift one way or the other to be satisfying?

Too much summary? Not enough of the writer? Too much about the writer?

• Does the writer clearly indicate what the argument of each paragraph is, and how that argument relates to the overall argument of the essay? The topic sentence is an ideal location for such statements.

Comment on the clarity of the topic sentences, evidence and explanations, focusing not only on these elements but also the connections between evidence and claim.

• Is the essay’s thesis interesting? What’s at stake in whether this argument carries the day? Does the writer adequately set up why her/his thesis matters?

Comment on the plausibility of the writer’s interpretation and her or his analytical approach.

• Come up with at least one complicating evidence that you think the writer should consider.

To be most helpful, try to find evidence from the text that the writer is analyzing, something that you think is significant enough to consider. If you cannot find one from the text, come up with an outside example that you think is relevant and will help to develop the writer’s interpretation and approach.

• Come up with at least one suggestion to improve the essay.

Try to be thoughtful and helpful here.

How Peer Review is graded:

Your peer review grade will be based on the effectiveness of your comments and responses to the peer review prompts and questions. Try to be as specific as possible when you write your responses. You peer review grade is out of a scale of 10. NOTE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN PEER REVIEW UNLESS YOU SUBMIT YOUR FIRST DRAFT BY THE DEADLINE. Peer Review is time sensitive as the writers of the drafts need enough time to take the feedback under consideration. Remember that as a writer you are the ultimate decision maker when it comes to figuring out what feedback to use. You should not feel coerced to make the changes that your reviewers suggest; however, if your reviewers comment on the same weaknesses, take it as a message to review your draft and revise accordingly. The peer review process accounts for 10pts (10%) of your grade for the final draft.

ANSWER

The peer review process is a valuable step in the writing and revision process, providing an opportunity for writers to receive constructive feedback from their peers. It involves submitting a complete draft, including an introduction, body, and conclusion, to a peer review workshop where other participants can access and provide feedback on the drafts.

To effectively engage in the peer review process, it is important to follow certain guidelines. First, readers should read the first paragraph of the essay to identify the main focus. This highlights the significance of a strong introduction in setting the tone and purpose of the essay.

Next, readers should read the entire draft and mark any areas where they are confused using question marks. This helps the writer identify potential issues with clarity and coherence in their writing. If unable to mark the submission directly, readers can copy and paste problematic sections into their feedback document, accompanied by a question mark.

After reading the entire draft, readers should summarize the essay’s thesis in their own words and assess whether the writer has clearly and explicitly stated the overall argument. If not, suggestions can be provided on where and how the argument could be better articulated throughout the essay.

In addition, readers should summarize the representative example and main points that support the thesis in their own words. They can then evaluate the balance between analysis and summary in the essay and suggest any necessary adjustments. This involves considering whether there is too much summary, not enough of the writer’s voice, or an imbalance in focus.

Furthermore, readers should assess whether the writer clearly indicates the argument of each paragraph and how it relates to the overall argument. Clarity of topic sentences, evidence, and explanations should be evaluated, with attention given to the connections between evidence and claims.

The essay’s thesis should be evaluated for its interest and the stakes involved in accepting the argument. It is important for the writer to effectively set up why their thesis matters. Plausibility of the writer’s interpretation and analytical approach should also be commented upon.

To provide additional depth to the analysis, readers should suggest at least one complicating evidence that the writer should consider. This evidence can come from the text being analyzed or an outside example that supports the writer’s interpretation.

Finally, readers should offer at least one suggestion to improve the essay. This can range from suggestions for further development of ideas, strengthening arguments, improving clarity, or refining the structure.

In conclusion, the peer review process plays a crucial role in providing purposeful and helpful feedback to writers. By following the guidelines outlined above and providing thoughtful feedback on the main focus, clarity, thesis, supporting evidence, balance of analysis and summary, and overall improvement suggestions, peers can assist each other in enhancing the quality of their essays.