I am a freshman in college, seeking higher education. Iāve just finished my first set of peer reviews, just four of my classmates. We did an image analysis on the image of our choosing. But I am disheartened, shocked, and frustrated. I really came close to banging my head into the wall.
Only one person cited their sources. ONE! Another put their images at the bottom of their piece which means reading in order involves discussion on pictures I havenāt seen yet, their piece was okay other wise. The next though didnāt include any image, no image whatsoever in an IMAGE ANALYSIS ESSAY! On top of that the thing he was analyzing was an ad. Which would be fine, the one before him did, but that would only be so if he analyzed details of the image. But he analyzed the ad, what it was trying to portray, and had only one detail about the image it self being of a specific body type that is not averageā¦
My first one took me three hours, it was great. It analyzed an image, obviously didnāt have sources, but was, unfortunately for me, written by an English second language student. It was full of grammar and spelling errors, very tedious. The last one was great, just a few small errors and a definite relief. They actually cited their sources!
But Iām exhausted and my brain is fried. I know Iāll have many more to do in the future and I have no clue how to cope with that truth, nor how to handle them when I encounter them. Today was exhausting, Iām just lucky Iām good at being factually blunt, but also encouraging. I managed to find a few positives even in the worst pieces Iāve encountered in my life. Give me advice, please.
First, let me offer my congratulations on your acceptance into higher education. I can tell you have a solid work ethic and a resolve that will get you ahead.
That said I can commiserate with your frustration. Many people, for various reasons, come into higher education settings with a range of skill sets and competencies. Things you take for granted of knowing may have been neglected in the education of another. At this point in the game, I would take these errors and omissions with a grain of salt. Perhaps they were not taught properly. Perhaps they merely require practice.
If some of these errors persist beyond the first semester or two, then it becomes less of a knowledge gap and more of some sort of inability or unwillingness on their part to follow the instructions. Luckily, you job is not to be concerned with why they are like this- your job is to offer critique.
Now, onto the critique itself. First - while I have never had to do an image analysis, I have had to read the essays and assignments of others, and I can assure you, the more you do, the faster you will be able to do. The more you will be able to filter out the unnecessary and instead focus on what matters - your comments will be more insightful, but at the same time you will learn to skim the material. You will find a balance between efficiency and thoroughness.
Second, I am pleased you have discovered the art of finding enough positives to balance with the negatives. This is a secret I learned in my years of tutoring as a Prefect. You must instill the confidence in them to fix the errors, not dishearten them entirely.
Also, as time passes, in theory, everyone's work shall improve, so reviews will be easier in that regard. So you shall have the combination of enhanced ability to perform a review and better work to review as well.
It gets better, and after a while, you may even find it fun. I enjoyed tutoring the younger students by the end of my tenure as Prefect, to the point in which I had seriously considered becoming a professor.
Best of luck to you, and feel free to consult me with any additional inquiries regarding your academic career,