Because the five paragraph essay here is meant to argue a point, I want to writers to remove all emotion and you reviewers to go in hard. This is your opportunity to call out every grammatical error, every misspelling, every logical leap or fallacy, every point with which you disagree. A good essay is so well-argued during its writing and editing that by the time it reaches the public, every argument has been anticipated and negotiated in its text.
For my essay, I would want a workshop partner who hates Parks & Rec, dislikes female leadership, and hates me the person. I like to have a real fight during the editing process so that I’m really ready to argue my points once the essay is completed.
I want a workshop partner to say, “But Leslie is too enthusiastic and emotional to be a good leader” so that I can work that argument into my essay, refute it, and move on. So I could include the line, “Leslie Knope’s enthusiasm, passion, and emotional interest in Pawnee when translated to national leadership would bring us progress and growth – just like it did for Pawnee.”
While usually I trust having a workshop partner you trust, who sees things your way, who knows where you’re coming from – in this case it can be best to have a partner with whom you actively disagree on a number of issues. That said, please still remain respectful of one another and one another’s work so I don’t have to conduct any divorce mediation on your group.