As a mid-process draft, your essays are still in the development and potentially major revision stage. For this reason, in your peer response today you will want to focus on idea development, organization, use of supporting evidence, and how well the writer shares and analyzes the culture s/he’s chosen to describe. At this point in the process, it doesn’t make sense to focus too much on what are called “later-order” concerns, such as grammar, punctuation, and spelling. (Why correct grammar in a paragraph that might get revised out of the essay?)
So the steps for today’s peer response are as follows:
1) First, talk
with your partner about what specific types of feedback you would like to receive
and what specific questions/concerns you have. Are there specific aspects of
your writing at this stage that you would like him or her to focus on? Are there
areas where you've been struggling and where you especially need your partner's
feedback?
2) Swap essays
(either emailing to each other or switching computers). Read your partner’s
essay once through without commenting.
3) Then, re-read
his/her essay inserting comments (**See Below**.) Type your responses on your
partner’s essay.
4) Talk again with
your partner about their essay.
Guidelines for Feedback for part 3:
1) Comment on the aspects and places your partner asked you to address specifically.
2) Is the introduction interesting? If you *had* to make a suggestion for how to change the intro (and you do ?), what is that suggestion?
3) What culture is your partner describing, and what aspects of that culture specifically? Do you feel that enough details/examples/facts/etc. are provided to really give you a strong sense of that culture? Mark places that have really good detail. Mark places that could use more specifics.
4) Were there any places you were confused or had questions? Mark those places/ask those questions. (e.g., something like, you say here that your way of speaking is different when you’re with the group, but what exactly do you mean?)
5) Is the paper clearly organized? Suggestions for re-organizing?
6) Does the conclusion “fit” the essay? Does it do more than just summarize what happened and instead end with some bizazz? If you *had* to make one suggestion for revising the conclusion, (and, again, you do ?), what would it be?
7) Overall, write
(either here or on your partner’s essay) your reaction to their piece.
What do you remember most? What particularly struck you? What did you want to
hear more about?