As you peer review your two assigned peer reviews through Canvas, use the questions below to help you evaluate your classmates’ drafts. Make at least one comment per question below. As you will see, some questions may require more than one comment. Also, please comment in the text, by highlighting a relevant section to attach your comment to. (Please watch the peer review video (Links to an external site.) if you have any questions about how to complete the peer review.)

If you cannot see their paper when you open their paper, and you see a little hyperlink that says “view feedback” on the right, click that link. The Canvas Community Page (Links to an external site.) also explains and shows what it looks like.

Note: Do not add comments to the peer review rubric. Instead, you should leave your feedback directly on the document that your peer submitted, as shown in the video. (Canvas may instruct you to leave comments on the rubric, but the rubric is for the instructor to complete.). Your comments will save as you go.

Note: You will need to open these assignment instructions in another window so that you can see the questions below while you comment on your peer’s paper.

Peer Review Questions

Answer the following questions by commenting in the draft.

1. Does the writer include an introduction that frames the claims? Is it well written and effective for their specific audience? Make a comment about why this is effective and/or what is missing/unclear/confusing.
2. Look at what they wrote at the top of the page for their audience and purpose — does it all match? Do you think the text (as a whole) is actually effective for that audience and purpose? Make comments about where they do this effectively or where this connection could be improved.
3. Does the student reference specific texts/assignments from our semester to support each of their claims? (Remember, there should be at least one specific class reference in each explanation.) Make a comment about the quality of the class references. For example, you might comment on a place where an example could be added, where an example be made more specific, where an example is unclear, and/or where an example seems unrelated.
4. Does the student reference personal experiences to support each of their claims? If so, comment on the relevancy and clarity of these personal examples. Point out which personal experiences are especially well done and which one(s) could be strengthened. If the student does not include personal experiences, identify places where these examples could be added.
5. There are always areas where we can be more specific or effective for our particular audiences. Even the BEST pieces of writing have room for improvement. Point out at least one specific part of the project where the student could add in additional explanation or ideas that will help them to more fully address their specific audience and achieve their specific purpose.
6. Look at what the student said about the genre they are writing in (at the top of the page). Is this document a good, effective example of that genre? Does it look like the genre? If so, what is especially well done here? Or, what do you think could be improved/added to make the document a more effective representation of this genre?
7. Is everything organized in a way that makes sense to you? Step back and look at the entire project. Would reorganizing anything make it stronger? Do the claims make sense in the order in which they are presented? Would it be more effective if one of the claims came before/after another claim? If the organization is effective, explain why. If there’s something that should be improved, comment on it.
8. Does the project have a title? If not, suggest one. If so, comment on whether it’s effective and appropriate for the audience/purpose.
9. Identify a section of the project that you think is particularly strong and explain why.
10. Make a comment on the bottom of the page about at least one thing think the author should focus on improving for their next draft.