Peer Review
For the peer review, you will exchange drafts. Read the draft completely before making comments. Then reread, marking sections as necessary (for corrections, comments, etc). Then write your responses to the following questions. When you have finished, return the draft and your comments to the author. The author will hand in the peer review and the draft when I collect the final research essays.
1) Who is the audience? Be as specific as possible (not "general audience").
Why would this audience be interested in this material?
2) What is the purpose of this essay?
Is this purpose appropriate for this audience?
3) What is the thesis or main point of the paper?
Does this thesis fit the intended audience and purpose?
4) 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.
5) Does each topic sentence support the thesis?
Are the topics in the best order? How might they be re-arranged?
6) 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.
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