[Copy and paste these at the end of your peer’s draft, and answer the questions there.
- Read through the entire paper. Do the title and the first few sentences draw you in and make you want to read more? Does the introduction provide enough context for you to understand what the paper is going to talk about (pretend you don’t know the prompt)?
- Now, consider the organization of the paper as a whole. Below, make a quick “outline” in which you list the main points of the essay in the order they are presented. Does that order make sense to you, or does re-organizing them seem more logical to you?
- Next, consider how the paragraphs themselves fit together. Are there strong transitions, or do paragraphs seem disconnected from each other, as if they were their own separate unit? Show the author where stronger transitions and connections are needed, and which seem to be working well already.
- Now, check the paper’s topic sentences (first sentence of each paragraph). Does each topic sentence introduce the paragraph’s main point clearly and effectively? Does the rest of the paragraph discuss what you’d expect, given the introduction in the topic sentence? Mark topic sentences that need to be revised to fit their paragraph, and give helpful suggestions where you can. Mark topic sentences that are already strong.
- Now, consider credibility and support. What kinds of evidence does the author use? How effective is their use of that evidence? Is it incorporated smoothly, and does it support the claims of the paragraph and the thesis? Is it analyzed properly? Tell the author where their use of evidence is particularly good, and where it could be revised for improvement. Does the author seem credible, like they know what they’re talking about?
- Consider content. Mark places in which it seems to you like the author has a good idea, but needs to expand or clarify. List any ideas that you think need to be expanded to help you understand the main argument. Try to give helpful suggestions where you can.
- Now, think about the author’s word choice. Mark sentences that are too complex or unclear. Mark sentences that seem repetitive, just repeating ideas that have already been introduced without developing them any further. Is there variety in the sentence structure and length? How would you describe the author’s tone?
- Re-read the reflection portion of the paper. Can you tell that the author has thought carefully about this section? Does it consider the future implications of sections 1 and 2? How well does it address what the author learned from the experiment and how their new knowledge will affect their writing practice going forward?
- Does the paper address the prompt adequately? Could it be revised to do so better?
- Finally, describe what you think the strongest aspects of the paper are, and explain. Describe where the paper still needs improvement, and explain.