Reaction to Peer Review

I thought that the peer review experience was very enlightening. Since we were all talking about the same topic, the other kids' essays helped me understand the two readings even more because they were coming from different perspectives. Also, it was interesting to see how even though I initially thought that the essays would be very similar because the questions were rather specific, the responses to the questions were various and had different opinions on a lot of things. For example, I thought that Davidson and Johnson had the same stance on the education model and crowdsourcing, but one of the students's essays that I reviewed made some valid points about how Davidson rejects the role of the expert while Johnson embraces the role of the expert. And I realized my own flaws in my essay and how I could improve my essay because my perspective had changed thanks to the other students' analysis. I also found the packet that we had to fill out for other students very helpful. It helped me realize what I was lacking, such as introducing quotes and citing them and was like a checklist for myself, in terms of formatting, analysis, and how the essay took form. I realized that in order to write the essay, I needed a more adequate introduction instead of diving right into analyzing Davidson's work. I also think that I might need more pages to express my opinion because I realized through my peers' critiques that my thesis was not clear enough. I really do think that this peer review was helpful because the students who critiqued my essay were really clear and precise on what they thought that I had to improve on. And I agree with their critiques and I am really thankful that they are making my essay become a better one!