Peer Review for Joanna Yu

To: Joanna Yu

From: Cynthia Li

Date: June 10, 2020

Subject: Peer Review of Definitions Unit 1:3

 

Name of Reviewer: Cynthia Li

Author’s Name: Joanna Yu

Date: June 10, 2020

Title of Expanded Definition: GIC (guaranteed investment certificate)

 

I have carefully read through your expanded definition on our team forum. Thank you for posting and for the thorough explanation. I really enjoyed reading through it and appreciate the clarity in delivery and the organization. I did not have much confusion after and found that each category was concise and meaningful. I would like to offer the following suggestions:

Objective, Situation and Audience: I think all areas provided information on the purpose as well as context for the next part of the assignment. It was easy to follow and understand.

Organization:

At first, the last sentence in Situation seems as if it could be a part of Objective

• The last sentence in Situation could possibly be entered into a new line just below (like a new paragraph) for the separation of the situation itself and the financial advisor’s purpose/responsibility. It creates a visual clue and makes it clearer to understand how they all belong in Situation even if the topic extends some into the importance of communicating terms precisely.

Labels: For the expanded definition, there were a few moments where I was unsure what method of expansion was being used.

• Would the Purchase Process of GIC’s be under “Operating Principle” or “Comparison and Contrast” or something else?
• Would How Investors Earn a Profit from Investing in GICs be under “Examples” or something else?

I found myself going back and forth and trying to see which method was used.

Jargon: 

• What is interest?

The term “interest,” though usually self explanatory, could possibly be given a brief explanation near the beginning because a new client may not be familiar with what it means and what it does. When it is later mentioned again, it slowly becomes clearer but can still cause pauses with an audience new to financial terms.

• Savings Account

The Purchase Process of GIC’s was thorough in depicting how GIC’s work and why they exist. However, I thought “works like a savings account” could possibly be confusing. If the audience is unaware of what a savings account is, only has a checking account etc., the analogy might raise more questions.

1. After the analogy, or somewhere, an expansion on “savings account” or a line explaining what it is might be helpful. For example, “a place a client can store money and be paid interest…” etc. Then being compared to a GIC would further clarify the analogy, such as “a GIC therefore works the same but is a contract” etc.
2. Or simply just listing the main difference between a savings account and a GIC would separate the two definitions from becoming too interdependent as the main focus is the definition of GIC.

Layout: The step by step layout of the definition was very helpful in understanding it. Especially the transitions from parenthetical to sentence to expanded- it was clear how each definition built upon the next. I think the overall layout and organization greatly reflected the first part, the objective, of the assignment in making sure to provide “level[s] of detail” so a writer can choose.

Visuals: The image provided was really effective in summarizing all that was explained above. It being used at the end was like a combination of the definitions and situation provided in the beginning. It felt like a practice question or template where I could apply everything I just learned into following along with the visual. The image in a way also served as a clear example.

Overall, your definition for a GIC was concise and made easy to understand for the target audience. I hope you find my suggestions helpful in editing this assignment. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.