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Peer review guidelines
- 1. Peer Review Guidelines:
Please consider each AREA for revisions, looking at the SPECIFIC tasks asked of you.
Comment on where you think the author needs to address them.
It is helpful to create a numbered list for the sections below, and write down (quote) examples
for each question, referencing where it is in each paper (i.e. “In the third paragraph on the second
page…”. Feel free to mark on your partner’s page if you’re meeting in person, but type up your
answers to send to me.
1. Word choice
Style: This paper should try to find a style that sounds naturally like the author, but is also
more formal than, say, a blog post. One extreme to avoid is: high stylization, or
super-academic sounding language. Often, this sounds like someone reaching for formal or
technical phrases that a) don’t sound like their voice, and b) are often used incorrectly, or can
throw readers off. Point out anywhere you see this.
The second extreme to avoid is being too casual, like addressing the reader as you would
in conversation, like, “You know,” “Don’t get me wrong,” “Now I’m not saying,” etc. Say what
you need to say - don’t sidestep into it. Point out areas where this seems to happen.
2. Visualization:
Concrete details are GREAT! Where is the writer doing well at describing what
something looks like, felt like, or sounded? Where can they do this more? This NEEDS to
happen in a specific place, which leads right into…
3. TWO Forms of a Medium
In many papers, I only see ONE specific example of the “message” being communicated
- there needs to be TWO! There should be two different types of forms the message takes: i.e.
verbal, print, digital, visual (video - a photo would be print). Often times, I see the medium
mentioned, but it needs to be described. This is where concrete details come in - I want to know
what the medium looked like, sounded like, what kind of paper/ screen/ object it was on, what
the colors were, how someone talked, stood, interacted, their attitude. **This is the most
important thing I’m looking for: DESCRIBE WHAT THE MESSAGE ACTUALLY APPEARS
ON** and how that affects the meaning. Point out (or ask) where your partner needs to do this.
4. Cliches:
Don’t do them. They’re boring, and they don’t mean anything new. If it’s in a pop song,
don’t put it in your paper (unless one of your mediums is a pop song). Try to find a fresh way to
say it, a way that relates to your experience uniquely. As far as the “message” itself - a lot of
- 2. these can sound like cliches, if they are ideas that are fairly common. Try to relate it to YOU:
instead of saying “The only way to succeed is to work hard,” say “The only way I can succeed is
to work hard.” Point out where your partner is doing this.
5. A Moment of Tension
One of the prompting questions was, what was it like when “your” message came head to
head with another message? Show an EXAMPLE of this. I see people say things like “I used to
worry about other people thought, and now I don’t.” Instead, SHOW a time when someone
expressed an opinion about you they wanted you to react to - how did you react? Point out
suggestions for where your partner could do this - or, do they need a moment of tension in the
first place?
6. Hanging Quotes
“Hanging quotes” are what it’s called when there is just a quote dropped in without any
introduction, explanation, or connection by the writer. The quote is all alone there on the page.
Even if you are quoting something that seems obvious, you as the WRITER need to make it
connected to your own sentence. Before or after listing the quote (in the same sentence) tell who
it is by or where you got it from. In a separate sentence, make an interpretation, or explain why
you used it. Point out areas where your partner needs to do this.
7. FORMAT:
Should be 12 pt font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, one-inch margin on all sides.
There should be no extra space after paragraphs. Is there a title? Is it gripping? For now, the
paper at least needs the student’s name and my name on it somewhere, along with page numbers.
Does it meet the length requirement of 2.5 pages? Is it no longer than 4? If the paper is not in
these parameters, can you point out an area you’d like more information if it needs to be longer?
If it needs to be shorter, is there a section that doesn’t seem as important, or is repetitive?
Thanks, all! Remember, each revision you make for your partner and vice versa is suggestive -
you don’t have to do it.
TURN IN your typed-up answers on BbLearn, under the “Peer Reviews” section below Essay 1.
Due by midnight Wednesday.