English classes’ most dreaded activity: The Peer Review

Peer reviews tend to make me feel ill, and skip class, but that isn’t possible in an online course. I could be puking right now, and I would still need to “attend” class. Even English majors dread peer reviews, so before reviewing my classmates’ papers this time around, I asked myself “Why?” Why does everyone hate peer reviews? I came to the conclusion that Krause had it right: it’s hard to be honest, and yet we all want everyone else’s complete honesty in return.

I had never completed a peer review using anything but red pen and paper, so Google Docs was a nice change. I’ve used Microsoft Word to do editing for my own papers in a similar way to Google Docs, and I’ve shared files over Dropbox before, but I’ve never used Google Docs. The interface is easy to use, and what I found really cool was that I watched one classmate edit my paper in real time (I hope that isn’t creepy).

Having all of my comments in one place where I can go back and edit directly onto is a really nice feature. I like that I can delete anything, bring it back, and see what I need while I go back to craft a draft to turn in. (I am opposed to “final draft” because no piece of writing is ever truly complete). I still have to get used to it, since it is a bit different than the Microsoft Word editing, but I am under the impression that I’m going to like Google Docs more.

There is only one real problem I had with the review process. I asked two very explicit questions on the EMUonline thread about my paper, but neither question was answered explicitly. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the comments and suggestions I received from my peers, but not getting answers to those two questions (at least in a direct and outright manner) really upset me. I tried to cover all the bases for the two peers I reviewed for, but who knows, I may not have said what they wanted either. I may have even pissed them off. I am blunt in my opinions, and don’t tend to hold back, so I told them what I meant, where I meant it.

I definitely don’t dread Peer Regoogling as much as I dread inking up someone else’s paper in red pen. I don’t think I’ll be coming down with any illnesses any time soon.