Martha Graham as a pioneering twentieth-century female artist

Peer Reviewer's Name And Email:

"As a peer reviewer, your job is not to provide answers. You raise questions; the writer makes the choices. You act as a mirror, showing the writer how the draft looks to you and pointing our areas which need attention." -- Sharon Williams

Don't overwhelm the writer with too much commentary. Stick to the major issues. You need not respond to all of the questions/suggestions in this form. Comment on all five areas, but within this framework choose the questions that are most appropriate for the specific paper.

Read the draft, record your first impressions, and respond to the five areas listed below.

Assertion:

Clarity, importance

This essay makes the case that Martha Graham is one of the leading female artists of the 20th century. It gives evidence of her life and career and shows how she became a celebrated artist. It pays attention to detail and is still a work in progress so the final product should be very interesting. Why Graham should be written about today is an important topic and so it is good to see this artist highlighted.

Evidence:

spelling, grammar, punctuation

Some of the paper's mechanics may need some attention. For instance, in the first paragraph, there is an incomplete sentence: "Prominent because, she made gender and personal identity the inspiration, and center of her work" -- and the comma usage here is another point that should be gone over. This can all be corrected, however, once the paper is finished and ready for editing.

Overall effectiveness

Overall the paper is effective and I look forward to reading the final product to see how it turns out.

APPROPRIATE, CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS

• Be respectful and considerate of the writer's feelings.

• Use "I" statements.

• Offer suggestions, not commands.

• Raise questions from a reader's point-of-view, points that may not have occurred to the writer.

• Phrase comments clearly and carefully so that the writer can easily understand what needs to be improved.

• Make sure comments are constructive and specific (not "This paper is confusing. It keeps saying the same things over and over again" but rather "It sounds like paragraph five makes the same point as paragraphs 2 and 3.").