Possible questions for peer review of first draft or exploratory essay

 
  • Do you have a sense of why you should be reading the essay? (the “so what” question) What is it?
  • Does the student writer use details and language to convey personal experience or observations in a compelling manner.  Where?
  • Where do you see the writer reflecting upon the meaning of (1) the personal experiences/observations s/he has shared and (2) a reading from Presence of Others?
  • Does the writer use personal experience and the reading effectively to help you see the significance of the question being asked?  Where especially?
  • Where would you like to see more of the writer’s thinking?
  • Do you have a sense of what all the pieces of the essay add up to? Where does the writer articulate this sense clearly?
  • Does the writer help you get from one paragraph to the next so that you have a sense of direction throughout the essay?  Identify where you get confused.
 
   

Notice that the peer review questions are not entirely generic.  They focus on some of the key writing tasks for an essay that critiques another essay.