Peer Review Form

Authors first and last name: ________________________________

Topic of their essay: ___________________________________

1) Overall evaluation: Is your classmate on track to accomplish the objectives of this assignment (i.e., dispute a specific use of their chosen word by referencing dictionaries and other sources to establish precedent)? If yes, what is the person doing well? If no, what is the main problem with the essay in its current form?

2) Summaries: One of the hardest parts of the Meaning Of…essay is establishing how someone else defines the word in question. The draft essay that you review should identify the instance under dispute (i.e., the text that will be disputed). It should also begin to show us how that disputed text defines the word by pointing to verifiable evidence. Does your classmate provide verifiable evidence to support their summary of the disputed text? Do they avoid speculating? Is their summary convincing?

3) Establishing precedent: Another challenge of this assignment is establishing precedent for a preferred definition. The draft that you read should begin to do this by citing at least one dictionary and one other reference that defines the word in question as your classmate plans to define it (or very close to how they plan to define it). Is your classmate making wise choices in their selection of references? If not, what are the problems? Is there some other reference that you would recommend instead? Again, are they supplying verifiable evidence to support their claims?

4) Explaining what is at stake: The last part of the Meaning Of…Essay requires you to explain what is at stake in defining a word one way versus another. Your classmate might not have this section drafted yet. If they do have it drafted, tell them how it reads. Do their arguments make sense? Do they lose you at any point? If they don’t have it drafted, evaluate the overall trajectory of the essay in its current form. Can you see that something important or significant is at stake in this dispute? Based on the information you have, what do you believe is at stake?

5) Sources and citations: Does the author include a correctly formatted works cited page (don’t lie!)? Share any ideas you have for other sources that your classmate might cite, especially other dictionaries.

Grading

This assignment is graded on completeness.