Handout 6: Peer Review Questions for the "what is technical writing" paper

You've all written peer reviews before, and you may or may not have felt these were a useful part of your writing process. Some students believe them a waste of time on grounds that the instructor holds the grading power.

Actually, the review is an important professional genre that you will do well to master. There is no greater favor you can do your colleagues than to provide a careful reading of their work, one that points out passages that don't work and passages that do, ALWAYS giving reasons. As Dawn Perry pointed out in her talk last week, she's used to having an editor go over her work carefully and call for massive revisions. She noted that it's really hard to get enough distance from your own writing to be able to critique it. And this is true of all of us.

Use the following questions and suggestions to guide your review:

1. Is it a quick and informative read? After a single reading, can you list major points and say whether they were persuasive? Try it. Read the paper at a reasonable clip and then tell the writer what you heard. For the next questions, read more slowly and carefully.

2. Has the writer gathered a sufficient amount of information to make a case? Has she or he used the information strategically? Give an example of "strategic use."

3. How has the writer established ethos? (There are lots and lots of ways to work on ethos.)

4. Mark the strongest passage in the letter. Then mark the weakest passage. See if you can explain your decisions in terms that help the writer understand her strengths..

5. What techniques has the writer used to get herself on the same page as the editors, that is, to ask the same questions the editors are probably pondering? (To answer this question, you have to get yourself into the position of an editor, so imagine you are charged with making this textbook a go and that your reputation is on the line.)

6. Note anything else that might help the writer revise.