Peer Reviewing and Other Thoughts Over the Last Few Days

I really enjoyed and benefitted from the peer reviews we did on Wednesday. I was fascinated to find that the two people's papers I reviewed were completely different in terms of tone, organization, style, and effect. This was very enlightening, especially since my paper was very different from the two I read. My paper was fairly formulaic in its five-paragraph approach. After writing so many essays in this style, it's kind of hard for me to break free of it. It's so natural and second-nature now that it's almost like a function of my brain that helps me to organize, qualify, and quantify the contents of my mind in relation to an assigned topic. At some point, I should probably try to break free of this habit just to stretch me mind and improve my talents.

I thought it was interesting that I did a lot in the way of correcting grammar and other mechanical errors in the papers. During the writing center meeting on Friday, it was emphasized that, as tutors, we should worry less about technical problems and more about issues related to writing processes, organization, the formation of thoughts, and the logical support of statements. This is something that I could improve upon in my efforts to tutor my classmates and my writing center clients.

I like the books that we've been reading this semester. They're all so different in their style and approach. I like how Grammar Snobs makes me laugh so much, how Mary Pipher's book gets me pumped about writing, and how the Bedford Guide gives practical ideas for improving as a tutor. If only there were more time to dig deeper into each of these books and other related ones. All of these books exemplify different kinds of good writing that all contribute to my own. Now, I just need to try to make my writing more entertaining, informative, and inspirational.