An underlying assumption of writing at college level is that students are writing for their peers or their "equals"--other students.

Essentially, peer revising groups--in which students are set up to read and respond to each others' papers (in draft or not-yet-finalized form)--are set up by instructors for several reasons.

They help form a sense of community in a classroom. While writing may be a "one-person" show in the initial stages, essentially writing is for public consumption. Peer revising groups bring this fact into focus.

The meeting of such groups provides student writers with a readership, an audience to whom to write. This emphasizes the idea that the writing product has an end point, a receiver to whom the ideas and thoughts and feelings are written.

They aid students with open-mindedness about their writing. Such groups offer students a chance to get different perspectives about their writing in order to improve.

These groups help students to see where information is missing in their writing, which points are unclear, which parts are over-stated, and so on. Such constructive support is crucial for revising purposes.

Such groups help students to read their own works with a critical eye--without defensiveness. All essays are seen as works-in-progress and imperfect. That is not a criticism, only an observation. Such an approach helps students to focus more on the process of writing than the finished product.

While peer revising approaches are different for different instructors, the following is a copy of one which is in use here.

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FOCUS: Is there a clear thesis which is supported well?

INFORMATION: Did the author include enough information? What parts involved too much information?

ORGANIZATION: Did the author follow directions for the essay format? Did the author organize the information in a readable and logical way by strong paragraphing?

TONE: Did the author use the appropriate tone (e.g. formal, informal, friendly, seriously, and satirical) for the material and the audience and purpose?

PURPOSE: Did the author seem to have a clear purpose in writing this essay? What is the apparent purpose? Does the essay have "social value"?

PACING: For the writer's purposes, did he/she pace or move the essay's action at a proper speed--not too dull or slow, not too fast for comprehension?

DETAILS: Are the details supportable, memorable, and well-described? Do these use all five senses (if appropriate)?

INTEREST LEVEL: Does the author manage to keep up your level of interest from beginning to end? Is there a good catchy title and lead-in/introduction, tightly-edited middle without wordiness, and an end which clinches the essay with a powerful thought or image?

UNIQUENESS AND DEMONSTRATION OF STUDENT PERSONALITY: Does the writing show authorship?

EDITING: (This is of secondary importance for this revising assignment.)

MECHANICS: Are there any spelling or punctuation mistakes?

VOCABULARY/DICTION: Are the words chosen and used well? Are these words appropriate for the audience at hand (an assumed audience of peers)? Are these powerful university-level words or words which help make the points the author wants?

(Revised 1998)