Tibetan And American Culture

Working in groups of three to be assigned in class, you will offer feedback on two of your peers’ work. This means you will also receive feedback from two peers. This feedback will take the form of a letter to your peer of approximately one-page, single-spaced.

There are two major benefits to this exercise. First, seeing your paper through the eyes of a real reader is invaluable. You may find, for instance, that an argument that is crystal clear in your mind has not translated effectively to the page. Second, reading someone else’s work with a critical yet generous eye can help you learn to turn that critical yet generous eye on your own work. 

A few notes on Peer Review:

• Remember to be kind. This is a writing class and we should all feel the freedom to experiment and try things that might be outside of our comfort zones. That’s why we are here!
• Use I Statements (“I found this sentence a little confusing”) instead of You Statements (“you need to make this sentence less confusing.”)
• You may find it helpful to quote directly from the paper
• When you read your peer review letter, keep in mind that you do not have to take every piece of advice you receive. You are the author and ultimately you get to decide which advice to take. That said, your peers have excellent insight as readers, and you should seriously consider their feedback.

Your letter should include the following sections, in the following order:

1. A personal salutation
2. A paragraph describing the thesis statement. Begin by quoting the thesis statement. Go on to consider: is it clear? strong? arguable? did the body paragraphs link to it explicitly?
3. A paragraph responding to the author’s question
4. A paragraph describing your favorite element of the draft or the strongest element of the draft
5. A personal sign off

• Grading Criteria: If your work shows effort and fulfills the criteria of the assignment, you will receive 15 points per peer review. If your work is incomplete or does not fulfill the criteria for the assignment, you will receive 10 points per peer review. If your work is minimal or you do not hand in the assignment, you will receive 0 points.