Research peer review 2

Hello, and welcome back from our unofficial ENG 202 hiatus! Today in class we'll be doing a second peer revew of your Research Essays. For this review, please find a NEW partner to work with: a classmate who hasn't already given feedback on your research draft.

Switch drafts with your partner, then answer the following questions in writing. (You can write these on the back of the draft itself or on a separate piece of paper: please sign your name.)

• What was your personal response to this essay as you read it? Give a "play by play" account of your experience as a reader: at what points were you interested in the essay, at what points did your mind wander, at what points did you ask questions about the research findings, at what points were you lost or confused, etc. Be as specific as possible: "I got lost around paragraph 3, but by paragraph 4 I realized you were trying to say X."
• Summarize the essay. In your understanding, what one main point is the essay trying to say?
• Describe your impression of the writer's relationship with her or his audience: what is the writer's tone, how formal or informal is her or his voice, and how is or isn't this tone & style appropriate for the essay's intended audience.

When you've finished answering these questions to the best of your ability, go back & number the draft's paragraphs. (If there are long paragraphs that cover more than one topic or main idea, feel free to divide those paragraphs.) Once you've numbered the paragraphs, on a separate sheet of paper make a list that states IN SENTENCE FORM the topic or main idea of each paragraph. (The paragraphs might already have topic sentences that you can copy, or you might have to come up with your own.)

Once you have a list of the topics covered in each paragraph of the essay, answer the following questions in writing:

• Where are there "gaps" or "holes" in the ordering of these topics? What could or should be added to fix these gaps?
• Where are there unnecessary or tangential topics that interfere with the "flow" of the essays? What could or should be done to eliminate these unnecessary diversions?
• In what ways could or should the paragraphs be re-arranged to make the essay flow more smoothly, logicially, or efficiently?
• Lastly, which of the points or topics raised in these individual paragraphs are the most pertinent, valuable, or important? If you had to pick the three most important points, what would they be?

When you are done, return the draft and your comments to your partner.