When I came into English 110, I thought peer review just meant finding grammatical errors and fixing oddly worded sentences on a final draft. However, from what I have learned that is just one part of what peer reviewing is. We were told to help focus the idea of the essay and organization rather than correcting every single sentence. It was very hard for me at first to look past the little mistakes because I have always thought our first draft needed to be perfect. Throughout the semester, I have been given tools to focus on the whole process of writing instead of just the end.
My “Marked First Draft of One Peer’s Paper,” was right at the beginning of his writing process. He was full of ideas but lacked a central theme. To help him organize his thoughts, I tried to show him how I followed his essay by color coding the main points I saw. This was to help him figure out the big themes in his paper so that he is then able to create a strong and clear thesis. I also left comments on his paper that referred to the things I really enjoy and things that could connect to his thesis. Peer reviewing has been such a great aspect of my learning in English 110. It has helped me become a better editor and a better writer because I have learned about things to avoid and things to always do.
