The two peer reviews that I completed today were different from peer reviews I have done in the past. Before, I was told not to drastically change another person’s essay because that is their work, not mine. Edits would almost always be surface level, including spelling, grammar, and diction. Occasionally, I would make a comment about a paragraph as a whole, but I would never try to change the structure or ideas in the essay. This review was different for me because I could offer ideas I had in order to improve my peers’ papers. The comment guidance was very helpful i helping me make useful comments. Without them, I probably would not have suggested adding entire paragraphs or developing further because that has always been the job of the teacher.

At the beginning of class, we did an activity in which we had to color code the parts of our essay that were our own story and the parts that connected to outside sources and analyzed our story. I immediately noticed that my paper was mostly my personal story, with just two paragraphs of connection and analysis. I was trying to think about how I could add in more connection, but was stuck. The comments on my paper from my peers really helped with ideas to incorporate Dweck and Alexie into my paper more. I am glad I have their comments to guide me through editing my paper.