Peer Review Reaction

For me, the peer review process was extremely helpful. When I came to class, my rough draft consisted of loosely related paragraphs with no real underlying thesis. Infact, I did not even come in with an introductory paragraph. As I wrote, I tried to use prospective writing and come up with my thesis as I went along, but I found out that without a real foundation it is not so easy. My essay was really just me writing on various topics and seeing what stuck with the reader. The feedback I received was mostly helpful because it gave me a direction to organize my essay when I work on the final draft. Furthermore, the distinction between summary and analysis became far more clear to me. Originally I considered much of what I wrote to be analysis, yet one of my reviewers in particular thought it was basically all summary. Though it may just be the way I vaguely worded my “analysis”, it was helpful to see how another reader would view my writing. While I did not get much from other people’s essays in the way of content, I did gain a better understanding of what good analysis should be and how to properly connect the two texts. I can better understand where my paper falls short and work around those areas accordingly. This assignment in particular is difficult for me because of my high school experience. Instead of arguing something on the writer’s behalf, I have to come up with an original argument that synthesizes the two texts. The peer review exercise is especially beneficial because it gives me a good idea of where I can potentially take my paper.