Peer review

1)         2-3 pages double-spaced in Times New Roman, 12-point font. 2 pages minimum, please.

2)         Peer Response papers should reflect close reading of the peer’s story/poem/play, a deeper, more detailed reading than, perhaps, other classmates’. This should be demonstrated in the paper in the following three ways:

            1) The paper addresses at least ONE ELEMENT OF FICTION or POETRY in-depth. Begin the paper with this analysis, and write about a paragraph analyzing how that element functions in the story/poem—what works about it and what doesn’t. See the Elements of Fiction and Elements of Poetry pages in this folder. The "Ideas for Peer Responses" will also give you ideas for addressing the elements of fiction/poetry in your paper. 

            2) The paper addresses 3 THINGS YOU LIKED about the story/poem. These should be larger issues as much as possible; that is, cover the “big stuff”—instead of saying here that you liked a certain word used on page 5, or in line sixteen, if a poem. Instead of saying you like a specific word or a character’s name, discuss why you enjoyed the descriptions of the setting, or the overall way the theme was working in several scenes, the overall message of the poem, etc.

            3) The paper addresses 3 SUGGESTIONS FOR REVISION. Again, these should be on the large-scale issues. In general, avoid suggestions about fixing grammar or spelling—that’s the writer’s responsibility to clean the text up for the final draft. Think about what the writer really needs to know from his/her reader, what the writer might not be able to see about the piece for him/herself.