large order concerns


This activity not only provides an early opportunity for peer review but introduces you to revising and editing tools in Google Docs that we will use throughout the semester, allowing you to track revisions using the "suggesting mode" and to "insert comments" on your peer's draft to reveal any revisions or suggestions you make during the process. 

Follow the steps below as you review and comment on your peer’s first draft.
  1. Have each member of the group briefly describe the main point of the essay.
  2. Trade papers (switch computers) with someone in your peer group.
  3. Read your peer’s paper through one time without making any marks on it. Does it follow the author's intentions as stated in the thesis statement and as described in his or her own commentary?
  4. Read it through a second time, this time starting with the last paragraph, highlighting and/or correcting any "surface errors" such as spelling or grammatical concerns. If using a computer to revise, be sure to activate track changes before making revisions to the essay (under the "review" tab).
Now focus on each of the parts of the essay, asking yourself the following questions for each section. Place two constructive comments in the margin of each element (including two for each body paragraph). Computer classes, select the word or phrase you wish to analyze and use the insert comment function ("review" tab); please avoid selecting complete sentences when using this function.

INTRODUCTION: familiarizes the reader with the "big issue" surrounding your essay before revealing the focus of your argument or point in the thesis statement
  • Do its details about the "big issue" move from general to specific?
  • Does it lead up appropriately to the thesis statement?
THESIS: guides the shape of your paper by indicating the direction of your analysis
  • Does it include a single, straightforward point that your reader can identify?
  • Does it include an evaluative statement or slant about that theme or is it merely a statement of fact?
  • Is it just one sentence?
  • Does it fit within the context of the introductory paragraph? Are additional transitional phrases necessary?
BODY PARAGRAPHS: aim to ensure unified, organized support for your thesis
  • Read through each body paragraph again, one at a time.
  • Does each paragraph start with a strong topic sentence? Highlight it.
  • Write/type in the margin your perception of the topic of each paragraph.
  • Is the paragraph unified? Does it only talk about one topic, or does it present multiple ideas?
  • Are quotations included and properly cited?
  • If dialog exists, how does it "sound"? Does it make sense?
CONCLUSION: closes the essay and guides the reader back out to the "big issue" without restating the thesis statement
  • Does it include the phrases "in conclusion," "in summary," "to reiterare the thesis"? IT SHOULDN'T!
  • Does it stay on topic with the "big issue" ideas posed in the introductory paragraph?
Before returning the essay to its author, insert a comment at the end of the last page of text two things that the author did well and two things you think they should focus on as they prepare their final draft.