Doing this peer review has helped me to better understand close readings. However, at the same time,I am also having a hard time figuring out what I am looking for. I also have a rough time reviewing others work because I do not like to comment on others work. I always feel like it is going to be taken personal. It is an uncomfortable situation for me.

Thanks for your feedback, Onilee. There's an art to offering criticism that is positive enough to be reassuring, but specific and serious enough to be helpful. That's the chief reason I'm not asking you to publish your criticism on your weblog. (It's okay to disagree in public as long as you're polite, but when it comes to suggesting specific revisions or pointing out revisions, it's better to do that in private.)

Giving and receiving contstructive criticism is a valuable skill that will help you as a writer, thinker, and citizen of the world long after you leave the class.

Students often say that the peer reviews are among the most helpful activities that they do in my classes, so I appreciate your willingness to give it a shot.

Dr. Jerz,
I have my peer reviews finished. Is it okay if i give them to you, or back to the authors on Thursday?

Thank you,

I always feel this to be a good exercise. It is a fine line for me to be critical as I have a humble opinion of my own abilities.

However, spotting things in other students' papers perhaps makes a mental bookmark in my own noggin that later allows me to catch the same goof in my own writing.

Matt, you've hit on it precisely. While I'm happy to see good writing come out of this class, I'm more intersted in creating good writers -- and to do that, it's very helpful to get feedback from a wide range of sources. Some of the feedback may be contradictory, but even that's helpful because it gives you practice learning what possible revisions to reject and what possible revisions are the most helpful.