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Your instructor may arrange a peer review session in class or online, where you can exchange drafts with your classmates and give each other a thoughtful critical reading, pointing out what works well and suggesting ways to improve the draft. A good critical reading does three things:
It lets the writer know how well the reader understands the point of the draft.
It praises what works best.
It indicates where the draft could be improved and makes suggestions on how to improve it.
One strategy for evaluating a draft is to use the basic features of a proposal as a guide.
A PEER REVIEW GUIDE
Click the Peer Review Guide to download.
| A Focused, Well- |
How well does the writer establish that the problem exists and is serious? Summarize: Tell the writer what you understand the problem to be. Praise: Give an example where the problem and its significance come across -effectively such as where an example dramatizes the problem or statistics establish its significance. Critique: Tell the writer where readers might need more information about the problem’s causes and consequences, or where more might be done to establish its seriousness. |
| A Well- |
Has the writer argued effectively for the solution? Summarize: Tell the writer what you understand the proposed solution to be. Praise: Give an example in the essay where support for the solution is presented -especially effectively— Critique: Tell the writer where the argument for the solution could be strengthened— |
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| An Effective Response to Objections and Alternative Solutions |
Has the writer responded effectively to objections or alternative solutions? Summarize: Tell the writer what you understand to be the objections or alternative solutions that he or she is responding to. Praise: Give an example in the essay where the writer concedes or refutes a likely objection to the argument effectively, and where reasons showing the limitations of alternative solutions are most effectively presented. Critique: Tell the writer where concessions and refutations could be more convincing, where possible objections or reservations should be taken into account or alternative solutions should be discussed, where reasons for not accepting other solutions need to be strengthened, or where common ground should be sought with advocates of other positions. |
| A Clear, Logical Organization |
Is the proposal clearly and logically organized? Summarize: Underline the sentence(s) in which the writer establishes the problem and proposes a solution. Also identify the places where the writer forecasts the argument, supplies topic sentences, and uses transitions or repeats key words and phrases. Praise: Give an example of how the essay succeeds in being readable— Critique: Tell the writer where the readability could be improved. For example, point to places where using key terms would help or where a topic sentence could be made clearer, where the use of transitions could be improved or added, or indicate whether the beginning or ending could be more effective. |
Before concluding your peer review, be sure to address any of the writer’s concerns that have not been discussed already.
Making Comments Electronically Most word processing software offers features that allow you to insert comments directly into the text of someone else’s document. Many readers prefer to make their comments this way because it tends to be faster than writing on hard copy and space is virtually unlimited; it also eliminates the process of deciphering handwritten comments. Where such features are not available, simply typing comments directly into a document in a contrasting color can provide the same advantages.