All the comments that I received during peer review helped my revision process, But the ones that I found to be most helpful were those which made me aware of areas where I moved on too quickly from a quote and didn’t take the time to explain it in my own words. This is something that I do with many elements of my writing because I often find myself wanting to jump into the next idea, rather than fully exploring the one I was already discussing. The reminder to not leave my quotes hanging was useful and likely not something that I would have noticed on my own. I also really appreciated the comments about what I did well in my draft, because it gave me a more clear idea of what to do, not just what not to do, and also made me feel more confident in my work. Another thing that helped me was reading and commenting on Aidan’s work, because it made me notice some things that I also need to address in my own work. The main thing I noticed was a lack of specificity, which I did make a good attempt to include in my own essay, but fell short in places due mostly to the aforementioned need to move on to the next idea, which I sometimes struggle with, especially when I am discussing one of my weaker points, or one I don’t identify with as strongly. Noticing places where Aiden’s essay could use more specific examples helped me to see where I could improve on my own specificity as well.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during peer review was that I had a hard time focusing on what I was reading because I felt like I was constantly scanning for things to comment about. It also made me a little uncomfortable reviewing someone’s essay while they sat next to me reviewing mine. The sound of them typing while I was left not knowing what they were saying made it difficult for me to write my own comments. But much of this stems from being generally unfamiliar with the peer-review process, and not being well-acquainted with my partner. I feel that it will be easier the more I do it.