One way to do peer review is to have stations, so that students are responsible for reviewing only one aspect of multiple papers. For example, students could be separated into groups of "experts" - one group for introductions, another for topic sentences and transitions, etc. Each person will spend roughly five minutes reviewing and commenting on the introduction in the paper they have in hand. After five minutes, the instructor signals the time, and the group passes the papers on to the next group (conclusions, maybe). The paper will be read by eight different people, all focusing on different parts.

The benefit of this is that students really can show their expertise in one area and also can practice explaining that area to their peers. They are, and become, experts in that regard. The downside is that the overall flow and content of the paper isn't reviewed as strongly. For this, I recommend that students have one peer who they exchange their draft with and take it home to write overall comments. This can also be done by the instructor, time-willing.

Some possible groups:

• Introductions
• Thesis and Purpose Statement (evaluate for strength of idea)
• Topic Sentences and Transitions
• Integrating Sources
• Conclusions
• MLA Formatting

A worksheet for this is available here, but needs to be updated. This workshop can easily be done without a worksheet.

A note: this workshop style seems to work best towards the end of the semester, after students have a feel for workshopping the whole paper and are thinking more closely about the formal elements of the essay rather than how to write a rhetorical analysis.