1) Describe the audience for this paper. Who would be interested in it? What do you expect them to know about the topic already, before reading your essay? What do you hope they will do after reading your paper?

2) At this point, you should be confident in your argument. However, the reality is that even in the best arguments, some supporting points are stronger and more persuasive than others. Which paragraph in your essay do you think presents the best argument in support of your thesis? Which paragraph, on the other hand, is the one in which you have the least confidence?

3) As I noted, a rebuttal makes your argument stronger. By rebutting one of your sources, you demonstrate that you engage thoughtfully with the existing material on your topic, rather than uncritically accepting everything you have read. At the same time, quoting someone merely to say he or she is wrong can come across as a straw-man argument. The best approach is usually to acknowledge that your source has a point, but it is flawed. Where is your rebuttal? Describe your process in deciding to rebut this particular source?

4) Reflect on your organization. Did you structure your essay as closed-form or open-form? Where exactly is the thesis? If you used subheads, explain why you put the breaks where you did. In any case, what criteria did you use to order the body paragraphs: are they chronological in some way, or thematic, or did you consider the strength of each paragraph’s argument?

5) How did the peer response process go and what changes did you make after receiving your peers’ comments?  Describe how you spent your time in revision. What portion of your time did you spend working on the argument, improving the organization, focusing on clarity of expression and sthyle, and cleaning up technical problems with the citations and the works cited?