Essay Portfolio 1: Peer Review | English 200W: The Essay (Sp21)

Completing a peer review is a required part of Essay Portfolio 1. By giving your peer feedback on their own work, the hope is that you’re not only helping someone else out, but you’re able to re-see your own piece differently.

Several people have suggested that it would be helpful to have some flexible options for how to complete a peer review. I have given two options below. If you and your peer would like to do something else (i.e. meet outside of class and have a conversation, and then write me an e-mail letting me know what you discussed? something else?), I’m open to that. But please be in contact with me first.

Option 1: Fill out the whole form.

This option is similar to the Give Feedback option from weekly work. You just fill out the form below. When you submit it, the form will send me an e-mail, and I will forward the e-mail to your partner and put a label in your Slack channel to confirm that I got it and that it met requirements.

If you have had problems with the form, or you’re having internet access issues, it’s also fine to just answer the questions from the form in an e-mail and send that to me instead.

Option 2: Fill out the top part of the form, include an attachment or a Google Doc link with your line edits / comments, and write a substantial end comment (200-250 words).

In this option, you’ll fill out the top part of the form, and then attach a Google Doc link or a MS Word attachment with additional comments and feedback. In addition to in-draft comments, please write an end comment of between 200-250 words that addresses the questions in the form and also your partner’s feedback request. You are welcome to give additional feedback as well.

Option 3: Do something else, but clear it with me first.

In class on March 10, I’m going to give you and your peer some time to discuss what would be most helpful for moving this piece forward. If you review these options and don’t think they’d work for you, feel free to propose another way to approach peer review. Please clear this with me first before deciding to choose option 3.

The form:

Name
First Last
Email
Your peer partner's name
Which peer review option are you choosing? Remember that you can find the option descriptions on the course site. The link is below. If you are pursuing Option 2, you may attach a draft or a link with your comments and hit "submit." Please use the questions below to structure your feedback, and don't forget the end comment!
If you are pursuing option 2, and you and your peer are using a PDF or MS Word, please attach a draft with your comments before submitting.
Max. file size: 128 MB.
If you are pursuing option 2, and you and your partner are using a Google doc, please paste the link below before submitting.
For peers pursuing option 1
You only need to fill out the rest of this form if you are pursuing option 1 and not attaching a draft with your comments. If you are pursuing option 2, attach a draft of your comments and submit this form. You do not need to fill out the rest of the boxes, but you can use them to guide your feedback.
What is the specific venue that your peer has chosen as the audience for this piece? (i.e. Queens Memory COVID-19 Project; a specific scholarship; a specific graduate program; a specific news outlet — tell me which one). If your peer hasn't specified a venue, what SPECIFIC venue could you imagine for this piece? (please DO NOT say "a newspaper")
What is the purpose of this essay? Is your partner calling the audience to action? Inviting them to share their own story? Entertaining? Educating an audience who doesn't understand something? Building solidarity with an audience who is similar to the writer? Something else?
Find a couple of specific moments in the piece that are good "showing" (not "telling") moments and paste them below. What makes these moments impactful and effective?
Find a couple of specific moments in the piece that are doing more "telling" than "showing." Paste them below. How could your peer make these into "showing" moments?
Note any moments below where you wanted your peer to expand.
Note any moments below that made you confused as a reader. Why were you confused?
Note any moments below where your peer used cliches (commonly used phrases that don't really mean anything) in their writing.
Note any moments below where your peer made punctuation choices that were unfamiliar or distracting to you as a reader.
Note any moments below where your peer made word choices that were unfamiliar, distracting, or inconsistent with the rest of the tone of the piece to you as a reader.
What was a moment in this piece that felt impactful to you or stood out to you the most?
Address your peer's feedback request in this box if you have not already addressed it above.

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Option 1: Fill out the whole form.

Option 2: Fill out the top part of the form, include an attachment or a Google Doc link with your line edits / comments, and write a substantial end comment (200-250 words).

Option 3: Do something else, but clear it with me first.

The form:

For peers pursuing option 1