Paragraph cutting exercise

Use this exercise to focus on the paragraph as a discrete unit. Consider the following questions and comment on them as you review your peers' paragraphs:

Read through the paragraph in its entirety, making surface revisions as you see fit.

What kind of paragraph is this?

If an intro paragraph:

• underline the thesis statement and comment on it. Is it an argument? How do you know?
• comment of the flow of the paragraph. Consider the entry point of the author. Does it make sense?

If a body paragraph:

• circle or identify the main idea
• comment on the unity of the paragraph

If a concluding paragraph:

• circle or identify the main idea
• comment on how the reader appears to move from a focused point to something larger

Does the paragraph include quotations?

• If any quotations are complete sentences in themselves, comment on  how the peer author might integrate the quotation better by selecting a key phrase.
• Are all quotations cited correctly using MLA formatting for parentheticals?

Is punctuation for quotations correct?