Blog 10: Thinking about Peer Review.

Thinking about Peer Review.

The peer review that we do in class is effective in many ways. For starters, the questions on the peer review sheet are great. Having us underline the thesis and identifying the counterargument against it is a great tactic. It asks us to identify purpose and audience as well, which is great because sometimes when we write we don’t notice what we’re doing ineffectively, so getting someone else’s point of view is good. I am probably going to hate myself for this, but the fact that we can choose who peer reviews our sheet doesn’t help. I say this because I know I’m going to choose someone who I speak with a lot in class. Maybe pairing people up from across the room would help because you never talk to them so you don’t really know if they have another point of view to throw in!

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For my strengths as a peer reviewer, I would say that I’m good at reading a paper without being bias on it. Like for example, if I’m reading someone’s paper but I don’t agree with the point that they’re making, I won’t let that affect me when I’m reviewing their paper. I will not look at it as being wrong, but rather, did they argue their argument in a good way? But then again, it’s always good to play devil’s advocate! Sometimes it’s good to find a counterargument so that they can knock it down. I’m honest too. I don’t think it would hurt someone’s feelings if you say that a specific part of their paper was weak. It’s just writing, and there is always a nice way to say something. For my weaknesses, I would say that sometimes I don’t write enough feedback for their papers. I also tend to focus TOO much on the grammatical side of papers.

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My ideal peer review process does not include reading my paper out loud, to be honest. I don’t mind reading it out loud but I feel this does nothing to help my paper and no one really pays attention. It’s awkward too. It also makes you think too critically of your own paper. That’s not a bad thing, but the point is to get others to think critically of your paper. My ideal peer review would be in groups of 3, so that I can get two opinions at once! As for time, I feel one class period is plenty of time for peer reviewing.