Peer Review

Peer review is the evaluation of a person's work or performance by a group of people in the same occupation, profession, or industry. (dictionary.com) when it comes to literature this means you will evaluate your peer’s writing and help them to make changes. In English 101 you will be asked many times to read other students writings and find mistakes, try to suggest helpful changes, or just give a second opinion and view the writing in a different way. This is the time to address any questions you may have and ask for advice on how to revise your work. This helps the author or your peer gain better Academic Writing skills as well as help them to expand their writing and improve its quality. This is a required part of your writing process and you will be graded on how effectively you can peer review. Contents

1. Drafting 1.1 Writing strategies and techniques 1.2 Applying learned terms 1.3 Class discussion and workshop 2.Constructive Criticism 2.1 Writing Center 2.2 What to ask yourself 3.Finalizing the paper 3.1 Making changes 4.References

Drafting
Before you even get the chance to peer review you have to focus on the importance of drafting. Drafting is defined as the process of putting words on paper or screen. Writers often write several drafts, revising each until they reach a goal or deadline. At that point they submit a final finished draft. (Lunsford 992) 1.1 Getting started can be the most challenging part of writing a paper. Ways that help some people get started include; making an outline, Brainstorming, or free-writing just to get words on the paper. 1.2 Before we start writing each paper we learn specific terms and characteristics the writing should include. These should be the building blocks of your paper and the criteria that you use to peer review someone else’s paper. For example, in an argumentative paper stating an explicit position is a characteristic feature, (Lunsford 66) so when reading over the paper you want to make sure the author included their position. 1.3 It is also very helpful to have class discussion before writing a paper. The class is very interactive so if you’re confused about something or have a comment to make, Instructor Matthew Loudon or one of your peers could discuss it with you. You and the rest of the class also get to decide what you want to be graded on specifically. Having these requirements or standards set can be very beneficial when reviewing your work. While peer reviewing, you should be looking for specifics and focusing on details. So you should be asking yourself; what is the purpose of this essay, what elements are working well together, and what elements could use some work? As you go through and read the writing you will have a paper to fill out that you can then give to the person you have peer-reviewed so they understand the strengths and weaknesses you found in their paper. Also the mini-workshops in class help to start your writing process. In these workshops you will learn how to use an appropriate tone, different writing styles, and what audience to target.

Constructive Criticism
The only way to really benefit from peer review is by learning to take constructive criticism. One of the most challenging parts of peer review is hearing something about your paper that is negative and then learning how to make changes and apply what you’ve been told. But honesty is key if you want to improve your paper and if you want to help improve someone else’s. 2.1 The Writing Center at IUP is a place you can go specifically for peer review. A graduate or undergraduate student who is trained in tutoring will be there to help you answer any questions you may have or read over your paper and make suggestions. This could be beneficial to your writing. 2.2 When you are peer reviewing you should be asking yourself some basic questions such as; Who is your audience, does the text fulfill its purpose, what’s the genre, what’s the stance, consider your design etc. In other words you should be looking for the  The Rhetorical Situations. (Lunsford 20-23)

Finalizing the paper
Eventually you will get to the point where you have made multiple drafts and your deadline is quickly approaching. Hopefully with the help of peer review and what you learn in class you will feel confident that your paper is now the best it can be. 3.1 Making the changes to your paper or at least considering what was suggested is a step to having a strong paper. In this class some of the English 101 grading is made up of the different steps we take to improve our papers this includes; Pre-writing, peer review, work-shopping, and final submission. It could be challenging to re-word something or remove something from your paper that you thought was good. But you need to remember that if another peer isn’t fond of it then your audience might not be either.

As you can see, peer review is a key component to the writing process and can be very beneficial to your growth as a writer, if you take advantage of it. It is also a component to your success in English 101.