Will Hochman

English 101

Fall 2004

What is Peer Review?

How should we respond to our drafts? Please read the following thinking carefully before using the peer review worksheets in your groups. Certainly, we need to read, re-read and re-work our own writing as much as possible. College essays (except for in-class testing) usually require more thought and effort than what writers can possibly put into one draft.

One of the best ways to improve our ability to revise and edit our own writing is to practice these skills on other writersπ texts. If, for personal reasons, you are uncomfortable sharing your writing with others, let Will know before the class begins. You will still be required to help others, but you do not have to show your work to other students if this makes you uncomfortable.

In addition to using peer review to improve drafts and help others understand how to see achievements and problems in their writing, peer review allows us to practice some of the most important elements of critical thinking. For a clear focus of what critical thinking is really about, click on the critical thinking rubric link in our Reading section of the home page or go directly to http://wsuctproject.wsu.edu/ctr.htm .

Intelligent criticism should be clearly explained so that the main ideas of the writing will become more powerful. If we try to keep comments centered on the text, we can avoid personal conflicts. (Conflicts about ideas in the text are actually good though--they will help writers see a range of revisions possibilities to decide from later. Personal conflicts won't help our writing improve.) When practicing peer review, we need to read closely and carefully. Critical readers stop to think about what the writing makes them think about and how it creates such effects.

If we listen carefully to own thoughts as we carefully listen to a writer read his or her draft, we will be begin to realize what is working in the draft and what may be confusing or problematic. Try to think about what ideas engage your interests and how they are working to do so. Try to point to places you like or dislike and really think about why you like or dislike those points. Itπs especially helpful to point to places where you started to get confused or thought that the writing sounded wrong because writers often are so ≥into≤ their essays they stop ≥seeing the forest for the trees.≤

The most important peer review work is based on discussing the textπs ideas but of almost equal importance is thinking about how ideas are stated. Is the language articulating the thinking written well? Is there something in the draft that youπd change if it were yours? If you can think about another personπs draft as though you were now the writer, what would you do differently? The worksheet questions are designed to improve writing by encouraging reader-to-writer criticism. Writerπs should try to listen and collect comments, rather than negotiate them. Sometimes this is impossible and discussion is necessary, but peer review works best when writers really listen to other readers explain their impressions more than it helps when writers instruct readers about what was intended.

To do peer review effectively, readers should remember to be as kind and as specific as possible. Writers should remember to ask further questions of readers to ensure that they understand the criticism. Some of the best ideas for rewriting our essays can come out of peer conversations. As we practice peer review with and beyond these guidelines, remember that generating effective feedback requires the desire to make your criticism do more than simply praise, correct or complain. Think with other writers and you will become a better one yourself!