Peer Review—Final Paper

English 217, American Literature Since 1865

Dr. Michael Filas

Due Thursday, April 28 (2 copies: one for writer, one for me with my copies stapled together)

• Mark the pages with marginal comments.
• Type a one-page (one full page, 500 words, single-spaced, include word count) response for each paper.
• Peer review is a constructive process—be critical but remember that the writer has feelings too.
• Save comments and corrections to grammar and minor layout things for the hand-written marginalia.
• Make sure you respond to the following in numbered sections:

1. Restate for the writer your sense of his or her thesis. Use your own words or quote their work providing a description of what the text is about, what lies at the core, major theme and what the main argument is. What is his or her claim? This is necessary even if you are guessing a little bit.

2. Evaluate the paper on the principles of SOIDE, and write comments for each of the following:

• S – Specific, how specific is the thesis/focus? In what ways does it risk being too broad?
• O – How original? Why is it original? What makes it original?
• I – How impassioned is the paper? Where do you sense the passion or lack thereof?
• D – How well does the paper connect and interrogate the book(s) we’ve read? Does it specifically and usefully cite, mimic or engage with the texts? Does the writer effectively involve her- or himself with important and distinct themes, characters, issues, and elements of the text(s)?
• E – Execution. How well is the paper written? Are there abundant grammatical errors and typos? Is there word count included on p. 1? Are the quotations in MLA format? Are the works cited presented properly? Are the pages numbered? Is spelling correct and layout clear and consistent?

• Remember to be honest, respectful, and constructive while maintaining a high standard of careful critique. For each of the above elements, be sure to quote specific examples from the paper to demonstrate and support your observations.
• Remember that great writing comes from the depths of someone’s mind and heart, and the more courage a writer shows to access his or her passions, the more powerful his or her writing will be. We can critique in a sensitive way so as not to discourage the opening of powerful creative and intellectual channels. Try and include, in the SOIDE comments, some balanced comments about aspects you liked and some you did not like.

In addition to the above, consider these instructions also when reading creative papers:

• Special Considerations for Creative Papers: Make sure to look for some key elements such as a solid connection back to the original material through stylistic (form, character, strategy, narrative voice, atmosphere, characterization, sentence structure, symbolism, language…) consistency with the original. Look also for the presence of an original use or commentary in the new version—how does the student writer update or revise the original purposes of the literature in the treatment? Although a paper is creative, it must still be correctly spelled, grammatically correct except for where it seems to be intentionally incorrect, and properly laid out with page numbers.

Considerations for your final revision:

After you make the changes inspired by peer review, you should attend to the following for research papers:

- Review MLA format and citation style to be sure you are introducing each source and properly punctuating and citing.

- Review MLA paper format checking for things such as page numbers, indented long quotes, works cited page (i.e. hanging indent on entries in works cited), and other details.

- Review carefully for misspellings, typos, wrong words, punctuation errors, capitalization errors, and grammatical problems.

- Engaged language—a tone of passionate investigation of your topic.

- Sentence variation—avoid repeating the same sentence structure. This makes your paper more readable and authoritative.

- Language variation—use pronouns and mix up your vocabulary to avoid clunky prose.

- Cite lots of specifics—depth over breadth depth over breadth depth over breadth—avoid the vacuum that draws you into broad generalizations and unsupported opinions.

- Revise to remove 30,000’ perspective, descending into your topic and ascending again away from your topic at the end. Dive right into your discussion and stay focused throughout.

- Review for clarity and purposeful writing—you do not need to repeat your main points in a paper of this length, but rather complicate them and investigate possibilities.

- Read your paper out loud or have it read to you to hear the clunky parts.

After you make the changes inspired by peer review, you should attend to the following for creative papers:

- Your work is a forgery, and should thus echo the use of key symbols, gestures, and dialog ticks from the original. I will re-read excerpts from the original side-by-side with your paper to test your accomplishment in forging the style, language, perspective, and views of the author; you should do this as much as possible in revision.

- Your work should have a discernable purpose in the twist or modification it makes to the original.

- Avoid forgeries that engage with the original at only a broad and generalized way. The way to defend your argument is to be true to the original while still mixing it up by twisting things just a bit to make your point.

- Be sure that your grammar, spelling, punctuation, and writing is correct and exact, with variations only for the sake of matching the style of the original.

- Be sure to number the pages in MLA style.

- Do not include your thesis statement in the paper, but make sure you have one that is reflected through the action and characterizations in your fiction.