Peer Review: Improve Your Evaluative Essay

One of the biggest challenges writers face is reading a draft of their own work as a reader rather than as the writer. Because you know what you’re trying to say, you find it easy to understand your draft. To determine how you should revise your draft, ask a friend or classmate to read your essay and consider how well you’ve adopted the role of evaluator.

Purposeimage
  1. What subject does the essay address? Is it a subject that readers will need or want to know about?
  2. Does the thesis statement clearly convey an overall judgment?
  3. What role does this essay take on? Is it recommending improvements or making a final judgment?
Readersimage
  1. Did you find the essay interesting? Why or why not?
  2. Does the evaluation address my readers’ needs, interests, and backgrounds?
  3. Do the criteria seem appropriate for the subject? Did I use too many criteria? Too few? Should I add or remove any criteria?
Sourcesimage
  1. Have I provided enough evidence to support my judgments? Too much?
  2. Have I relied on a particular source — or a particular type of source — too heavily?
  3. Do my sources strike you as reliable and appropriate? Does any of the evidence I’ve used seem questionable?
Contextimage
  1. Have I provided enough information about the subject? About my reasons for evaluating it?
  2. Do the judgments made in the essay seem fair? Did you detect any bias or agenda in the way I presented my evaluation? Do you know of any alternative points of view that I should take into consideration?
  3. Is the physical appearance of my essay appropriate? Should I consider adding headings or lists?

For each of the points listed above, ask your reviewers to provide concrete advice about what you should do to improve your draft. It can help if you ask them to adopt the role of an editor — someone who is working with you to improve your draft. You can read more about peer review in Chapter 4.