Peer Responding
How-to by: Joe Weinberg
Let's talk about revision. Revision is not checking for grammar errors. It's not checking spelling or even sentence structure. That's editing. I expect you to edit your own papers. Editing is fine, and editing is helpful, but that's not what peer feedback is for. That might be what peer response meant in high school, but that's not what it means in college. Okay, you know that. But if revision isn't any of those things, then what is it?
Good question. To answer it, let's first look at the word itself. Revision. Re-vision. What does that mean? It means to see again. To look at again. But let's put this in easier terms. Your initial vision is what you initially said. So we want to look at what you said, and see if there's a better way to say it.
What makes any way "better" than any other way? Well, we could think about clarity. Can you say what you just said in a way that is more clear? Or how about entertaining. Is there a more interesting way to say what you just said? Is there a more original way? A more clever way? What about a shorter way? If the way it's said now drags on, could you say it in fewer words?
We're talking big picture here. Overall appearance. Grammar is the trees. We want the forest. Does that make sense?
Checking grammar, spelling, that sort of thing is editing. Editing is important. But I expect you to edit on your own. The help you can get from your peers, the help you can give each other, is big picture help.
Big picture can still be specific though. Does the author use the same word three times in the same paragraph? If he does, does it work, or does it sound redundant? If it sounds redundant, what can you suggest to avoid that?
Maybe the whole paper needs to be changed. Is there a point the author didn't consider? Would the paper be stronger if it only talked about one thing? Should the author move an entire paragraph to the end, or maybe cut it out completely? Is there a point in the paper when you stopped and were confused? Even if you don't know why, point it out. Maybe the author can figure it out.
When talking about position papers, there's a lot to think about. Would it be best to first present the arguments in favor, then the arguments opposed? Maybe it would be better to do it the other way around. Or even go back and forth. What about the idea of just dealing with the opposition? You can argue your own position by arguing against the opposite. There's nothing wrong with that.
Not all revision has to be negative. It's nice sometimes to hear good things. So if there's a phrase that just sounds good, even if you don't know why, let the author know. Let them know if they surprised you in a good way, or if something is funny. Creativity is good. Encourage it.
Big Picture
Let's talk big picture. What is the big picture? Well, first of all, does the paper meet the assignment? I don't just mean page length. For paper one, the assignment was to focus on a single event that had lasting impact on your academic life. Paper two was reflecting on how that event was important and what lessons can be learned from it. Paper three was about arguing a position and showing both sides. Paper four is about arguing a position with research to support your position, still showing both sides. So does the paper meet the assignment?
Next, think of the audience. Does the paper recognize who the audience is? It's not just me, the one giving out the grade. Your audience for paper 1, if you remember, was someone else in the class. For paper two, the audience may have been someone who asked you for advice. For papers three and four, your audience is someone who knows nothing about the topic you're arguing, but does disagree with you about it. So does the paper recognize and address its audience?
The next step is focus. Does the author stay on topic? Maybe there's a much bigger issue that's related to what the paper already says, but is too big to handle in the pages allowed by the assignment. Maybe there's a tangent that has nothing to do with the paper. Either way, the author needs to know about it, so they can stay focused on the point at hand.
Now we come to style and voice. When you read someone else's paper, ask yourself what you think of the author. Do they sound friendly? Do you want to listen to them? Are they entertaining? Are they shoveling on the bullshit because they want to fill the space? Whatever the case, point it out to them. It'll help if they know. Wouldn't you want to know if it was that obvious?
Is the paper entertaining? Are there good word choices? Maybe there are a lot of big words thrown in for no apparent reason. Would the paper make more sense with simpler words? Before you answer that, remember to ask if it would sound as good. Maybe it's okay to be a little high flown. As long as meaning gets across, that's really all that matters. So let's make it interesting. Let's make it sound good.
Finally, we come to clarity. Does the paper say what it means to say? One way to check is to tell the author what you think the paper says, and then ask them if that's right. If there are sentences you don't understand, this is the time to point them out. If there are words in the wrong order, or repeated over and over, now's the time to tell the author. If you come across a sentence, or a paragraph, that could be taken more than one way, you need to make sure the author knows this. That way, they can make sure that the paper says only what they want it to say. That's important.
Okay. Now what?
When you're done all that, when you've done all the big picture stuff, then it's okay to talk grammar and spelling. You've looked at the forest, maybe offered ways to fix it. Now you can look at the trees. But if you think about it, what's the point? The author may have to change the paper all over the place. Maybe the surface errors you point out will be helpful. Maybe you'll fix parts that end up getting cut or rewritten. Seems like a bit of a waste of time to me. Wait until the author has made the deep revision. Then they can worry about editing.
Peer response can really help you. But only if you look at the big picture. Just editing doesn't fix the big problems. Editing might mean the difference between a C and a C+; Big Picture Revision can mean the difference between that C and an A.
