September 13: Peer Review

Revision – Writers Workshop

Construct a brief outline of your paper. It should look like this:

1) Introduction
2) Supporting Paragraph
3) Supporting Paragraph
4) Supporting Paragraph
5) Conclusion

Depending on your topic it may look different. For instance if I were writing a paper about my mom’s trip to the ER, it may look something like this.

1) A mother’s love.

a. Interrupted circumstances (For instance, what happens when something threatens to break the bonds of mother/daughter).

b. On Monday, August 23, something tragic happened that threatened the relationship I had with my mother. One emergency room visit awakened me to the possibility that I may lose my mother.

2) The ER visit.

a. The day’s events leading up to the ER visit.

b. The pain my mother felt.

3) The ER process.

a. The tests the doctor ran.

b. The painful enduring wait.

4) The results.

a. What this means for my mother.

b. How I have reacted.

5) What my mother means to me.

a. Use showing details, not telling.

b. For instance, I may use supporting detail about how my mother traveled with me to Cincinnati, OH to support me at a conference where I gave a presentation on blogs. AND she also went with me to Oxford, OH where I had an interview for a PhD program with Cindy Lewicki-Wilson.

6) Conclusion

a. The bonds of mother/daughter

b. What my mother means to me. Reinforce supporting detail by using showing details, not telling.

Your outline may not be this detailed because it is only a rough draft and that is ok. The outline of your paper should be constantly reworked as you revise your draft each day this week. An outline is a perfect opportunity for you as you read your task paper to go back and see if the flow of the paper is consistent. For instance, if your outline and your task paper looks nothing a like, what is the problem?

Once you have constructed your outline, get in your peer review groups and begin peer review. I will allow 30-40 minutes of peer review (e.g. meaning that each person should have roughly 7 to 10 minutes a piece with each draft. It is up to you how you would like to conduct peer review. If you would like to pass around your draft and have each person respond silently, that is appropriate. If you would like to read the paper aloud and receive oral feedback, that is appropriate. However, I have provided each person with peer review sheets that will need to be filled out and given to each writer. Use this time wisely. On each sheet, record the peer reviewer’s name and the writer’s name. An example is given below.

Peer Reviewer: April Gibson
Writer: Colton Allan