Peer Article Review (Essay Sample)

Peer Article Review
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Introduction
The article about education is coherently written with concise points and simple, well-constructed sentences that are easy to read. The main gist of the argument is well brought out in the introductory paragraph, leaving the reader in no doubt that the issue of education is about to be discussed. Specifically, the writer introduces three main points to ponder about education which are utilization of knowledge, environmental education and development of productive as well as reproductive processes. Perhaps one main weakness of the first paragraph is that there is no citation from authority throughout. The three points for instance must have been derived from somewhere. Authorities help to authenticate arguments presented in academic writing (Misser & Bell, 2014).
The Arguments in the Article
The first argument presented is that knowledge should be utilized rather than just remain inert. There is an improvement at this point as the writer cites Alfred North Whitehead. Since the same point about knowledge utilization is mentioned in the first paragraph, maybe this citation should have first appeared higher up in the first paragraph. The argument that inert ideas do not inspire or transform students is a strong one. It is well supported with the further assertion that when students actively interact with the knowledge they acquire through practical analysis and utilization, they internalize the ideas and develop ownership of them. The author advocates that students should learn fewer subjects in-depth, rather than many subjects shallowly. This is in line with May and Aikman (2003) who state that one of the current issues in education is application of the knowledge acquired to daily existence (p. 151).
The third paragraph on environmental education is too long. Such lengthy paragraphs tend to water down the ability of the writer (Booth et al, 2008). After successfully prosecuting the first point discussed above, it would help to use short paragraphs to argue out the second point. This would give some room to also develop the subsequent point. However, the writer delves into a needlessly long paragraph that is seemingly endless. In this way the author makes two fundamental mistakes.
First, the everlasting paragraph messes up the structure of the essay. Long paragraphs not only discourage readers, but there is also the danger of forgetting what was said at the beginning by the time a reader reaches the end (Booth et al, 2008). The paragraph could have been successfully divided into three separate paragraphs. Secondly, such a lengthy paragraph portrays the writer as an amateur (Booth et al, 2008). This may shape the reader’s attitude negatively against the article no matter what the merits of the arguments presented. The writer appears to have been carried away by the one point at the expense of proper structure.
Having run out of space after dwelling too much on the second point, the author then squeezes the subsequent point into a short paragraph and speedily dispe...