English 421: Technical Writing

This is a very good article because it lets you know exactly how to respond to someone else's writing with the purpose of making their paper better.  Most students just take the easy route and say that the paper is perfect and doesn't need changed or they just leave feedback that doesn't really help the writer.  This could be because the student just doesn't care, or they aren't aware of how important a peer review is.  If the writer is actually expecting good feedback to go off of, peer reviews such as this can make it harder for the writer to correct their work.  Any class that has peer reviews should have to read this article or one like it.  This would more than likely give students the incentive to leave feedback that is actually going to make the writer's paper better. 

I think that all of the strategies in this article are worth using in a peer review for class and in the workplace.  It goes into extensive detail to show you exactly what to do to write a good peer review.  It talks about how to not sound like a teacher, a judge, or an editor, but rather to sound like you are talking directly to the writer.  This makes it easier to write what you mean and give constructive criticism without sounding like a jerk or like you know it all.  It also talks about the roles of the reader and how to comment on the paper.  The reader is not supposed to take on the role of and editor or a teacher.  This means you don't go through the paper destroying and rewriting things.  Rather, you make comments neat and just give suggestions.  I think these strategies are the most important for our class and in the workplace.