RHT 101 BRACKETT
PEER REVIEW FOR OBSERVATION ESSAY
Name of Reviewer:______
Title of essay being reviewed: ______
Writer of essay being reviewed: ______
Read quickly through the essay once, and then read it again more closely as you respond to the points below. After responding, please hand this form to your peer, along with that peer’s rough draft. He/she will keep your peer review, and you will keep his/hers. Hand in the peer reviews in your two-pocket folder at the next class meeting.
1. Write out the essay’s thesis. If you cannot locate the thesis in the first paragraph, please note that fact for your peer.
2. Read the first sentence, the topic sentence, of each supporting paragraph. Do they each relate to the thesis? If not, alert your peer, indicating the paragraph that needs a revised topic sentence.
3. Examine the essay for sensory imagery. Note the images that you find most effective, quoting a few words from each and mentioning the paragraph in which you find them.
4. Find examples of images that depend on a sense other than sight. Note those images, quoting a few words from each and mentioning the paragraph in which find them. If none appear, alert your peer to this fact.
5. Note examples of comparisons by quoting a few words from each and mentioning the paragraph in which you find them.
6. Note examples of additional rhetorical strategies, as discussed in class, by quoting a few words from each and mentioning the paragraph in which you find them. Examples might include a description of how things changed during observation, a clear idea of the writer’s point of view, a mention of how the observation met or did not meet expectations, or the inclusion of an anecdote.
7. After re-reading the essay closely, describe why you find the thesis/main idea to be appropriate or inappropriate, based on the information in the essay’s body.
8. Is the conclusion satisfactory? Be sure that no new information appears in the final paragraph. It should simply summarize. If it does not, alert the writer.