English 302: B12
George Mason University

Spring2010

Please print these questions and bring them to class. In class, you will each exchange a printed copy of your draft with another student. Read the draft, then respond to the following questions:

1. What is the thesis or main point of the paper?
   
   
2. Locate and list the topic sentences of each paragraph.
   Some paragraphs, such as transitionals, extended examples, and summaries, may not have clear topic sentences. For short transitional paragraphs, topic sentences are unnecessary; for extended examples and summaries, try to express the main idea of the paragraph (or sections of paragraphs) in a sentence or two.
   
   
3. Does each topic sentence support the thesis?
   How are the topics organized (chronology, induction, deduction, etc)?
   Is the organization effective?
   
   
   
4. Within the paragraphs, are sources used to support the main idea as expressed in the topic sentence?
   Do most of the key points have more than one source of support?
   Are the citations clear?
   Identify any points which rely on only one source, or an ambiguously cited source, for support.
   
   
5. What is the paper's conclusion? Does the conclusion match the thesis?
   
   

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.