Peer Review for Erin McCabe

How did you practice your editorial skills this week in peer review?

I oftentimes struggle with being critical. It just makes me uncomfortable to feel like I’m being mean. But, in this situation, the more critical, the more helpful. So, I tried to give helpful and constructive criticism instead of just saying, “Bravo, it’s great!”

I reviewed Erin McCabe’s podcast, “Project 2 Rough Draft”. Because Erin admittedly had not yet worked on the genre conventions, I decided she might find a content review most helpful.

I think erin was struggling with hitting the central idea of the project. I was not quite clear on what her genres were and did not know what her field of study was by the end of the podcast. I also did not notice the use of any rhetorical concepts. I helped her by pointing out the lack of clarity and offering some suggestions as to how she might improve her project.

On Pages 71 and 72, “Getting the Most from Your Workshop Experience” explains the ways in which you can most helpfully peer review someone’s project by highlighting unhelpful, somewhat helpful, and truly helpful comments. I tried to structure my comments in the way the the most helpful comments were structured - I tried to be specific and constructive as well as offer suggestions for improvement.

I really enjoyed Erin’s narrative of her interviews. That is something I have not included in my own project but think would be interesting to try to include. Instead of just quoting her interviewees, she narrated the interview and gave quotes as they would have happened in real time. It was very enjoyable to read.