Peer Responses

As your peers make progress on their own papers, you will offer advice about their content to help them (and you) continue to improve. On the day a revised draft is due, you will comment on paper of a classmate (and one will comment on yours). Arrange with your group how you will distribute the sharing evenly.

This assignment has two main parts: (1) commenting on the paper and (2) writing a response to the student.

Commenting on the paper:

For full credit, follow these steps (times are guidelines, not requirements)

1. Share your paper with everyone in your group (2 mins)
2. Decide as a group who will comment on whose paper (2 mins)
3. Read the paper all the way through, multiple times (15 mins)
4. Make at least 4 comment boxes and fill each one with detailed suggestions for improvement: one comment for the beginning, two for the middle, and one for the ending (30 mins)

Your comments should be about ideas and logic, not grammar and style. As you read, ask yourself, "How can the writer help me see the meaning better? How can the writer improve connections through the paper?" Remember, the standard we want is effective communication. As Keith Hjortshoj tells us, "Effective writing, therefore, facilitates continuous reading from beginning to end" (115).

Writing a response to the student:

For the first paper, use LastName.FirstName.Paper.1.PR.for.Sally.F19
For the second paper, use LastName.FirstName.Paper.2.PR.for.Sally.F19
For the third paper, use LastName.FirstName.AB.PR.for.Sally.F19

For full credit, follow these steps (times are guidelines, not requirements). If you find yourself writing quickly and finishing soon, chances are strong that you could think harder and produce better content. Please take this into consideration instead of assuming you cannot do any better.

1. In your shared folder in Google Drive, create a document and name it based on the examples above (2 mins)
2. Reread the student's paper and your comments again (15 mins)
3. Write your first paragraph according to the instructions below (15 mins)
4. Write your second paragraph according to the instructions below (15 mins)
5. Proofread your work carefully after writing (10 mins)
6. Type "Dear NameofStudent" above your paragraphs and "Sincerely, YourFirstName" below them (1 min)
7. Share the response document with the student when you are finished (1 min)

Type a 200-300 word response to your peer's paper. In the first paragraph, offer a comment of approval about a particular paragraph that had a positive effect on your reading experience and why. In the second paragraph, offer a suggestion about a particular paragraph would improve your reading experience and why. Do not discuss grammar or word style. Instead, grapple with the writer's ideas and logic. For top grades, use specific examples from the paper of good content and poor content. You must identify one strength and one weakness in content and suggest improvements. Only write about 2 specific parts of the paper--elaborate on each one in a separate paragraph.

Refrain from superficial comments such as "I really enjoyed your paper!" or "If you make these changes, you could have a great paper!" Keep your focus on TWO specific parts of the paper only, one in each paragraph you write.