Thursday, October 3, 2013

Peer Editing your partner's Personal Statement


Name: _______________________________________________________________________ per:_____________

Name of the person whose essay you’re editing: ______________________________________________________

NOTE to AP students: since you’re accessing your partner’s personal statement via blog, I recommend you copy and paste the text into a word doc and edit it there using the “review” feature, or print it out and edit it by hand.  If you and your partner want to email each other a word doc instead, or use Google docs, that’s fine too.  Please still post your personal statement on the blog for a grade. (And so I can make sure you’re making progress! J)

Personal Statements Peer-editing

After checking for each bulleted point, initial beside the bullet to indicate you did this piece of editing.

·         Read through the essay aloud, slowly, to the writer and any other peer editors.  As you read, mark the following:

o   awkward phrasing with a squiggly line and an “awk” notation.

o   circle any misspelled words

o   circle any misused or missing punctuation marks

o   suggest corrections for any awkward word choices

o   draw a question mark next to anything confusing

o   THESE ESSAYS NEED TO BE LITERALLY PERFECT IN TERMS OF GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND SENTENCE FLUENCY.  MARK ANYTHING THAT IS NOT PERFECT.

·         It is imperative that this essay flows smoothly.  Note on the margins where the essay seems choppy or disconnected.

·         Assess the intro hook:

o   Is it attention getting? 

o   Is it overly cheesy?  Does it feel forced or strained?

o   Does it make sense?  Does it leave too much information OUT?  Remember: the hook should make you want to know more, but it should not make you feel confused and/or frustrated.

o   WRITE ANY NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARGINS

·         Assess the story telling

o   Does it convey the writer’s “voice”?  Does it sound like them?  If it’s not written yet, do you think the story sounds like it will be true to the author?

o   Are there good sensory details?  Are there too many?  Too little?

o   Are there story-telling devices, like dialogue and/or anecdotes?

o   Do you feel like you’re being “shown” the story, rather than “told” the story?  Offer suggestions of how the author might improve his/her story-telling.

o   WRITE ANY NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARGINS

·         Assess the discussion of strengths

o   Does the author smoothly transition into talking about his/her strengths?

o   Are there too many strengths being discussed?  Should the author focus more on just discussing one or two?  If so, help the author pick which strength(s) to focus on.

o   Does it sound braggy?  How might the author better illustrate his/her strengths, rather than just naming them?

o   Do you feel like you’re being “shown” the strengths, rather than “told” the strengths?

o   Are there details to back up the author’s strengths?  In other words, if the author describes him/herself as strong-willed, do they provide evidence to prove that?

o   Does the discussion-of-strengths paragraph seem connected to the story?  How might the author better connect this paragraph to the story framework?

o   WRITE ANY NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARGINS

How does the author do connecting back to the story?

o   Does it seem forced?  Or does the story flow from one paragraph to the next?

o   How is the essay’s organization?  Does it seem to make sense?  Do the different points logically connect?

o   Are there good connecting phrases?  How might the author improve his/her connection from one thought to the next?

o   WRITE ANY NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARGINS.

How is the wham, bam, slam it home?

o   What final impression of the author does it leave you with?  Does it seem desperate or forceful?  Does it seem inspiring and relatable? 

o   Is the slam-it-home somehow connected to the rest of the essay’s content?

o   How does it conclude the essay?  Does it seem to provide a satisfying finish?

o   Does it leave you feeling confident about the author’s capabilities and readiness for college?

o   WRITE ANY NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MARGINS.

How is the essay as a whole?

o   How is the organization?  Do the different ideas connect to one another?

o   Is it a “likable” essay?

o   Did you learn something new about the author?

o   Did it seem personal and conversational while still sounding wonderfully intelligent?

o   WRITE ANY SUMMARY NOTES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE.

No comments:

Post a Comment