Peer Editing Guidelines for English 1907
Assignment 1-Analysis of a Brief Passage

Please spend at least 30 minutes reviewing your classmate's paper according to the following guidelines. If you finish early, do not stop editing. Take the extra time to go back over your comments and make sure they are clear. This may require you to add more comments and add emphasis to comments you have already made.

First, read through the paper once without writing anything down. Then, read through it again making some comments in the margins. After this, address the questions below on the back of the last page of the draft.

1. Thesis—What does the writer argue about the meaning of the passage he or she has chosen? What does the writer tell you about this passage that you would not otherwise have considered after reading through it only once?

2. Detail—In analyzing a passage in close detail, it is important to pay careful attention to its language. Which details does the writer use to make his or her case? Indicate those details that work particularly well and those that do not work so well. If you notice any additional details in the language of the passage that might contribute to the writer's argument, mention those as well.

3. Organization—Provide a brief outline of your classmate's paper. If there is anything about the paper's organization that is unclear, explain to your classmate how she or he can make it clearer.

4. Transitions—Transitional words or phrases serve as signposts leading a reader through an argument. (Three examples: A transition such as "consequently" establishes and causal relationship between two ideas, whereas "on the contrary" establishes a change of direction. "Subsequently" signals that one thing follows another without a causal relationship.) Examine the transitions the writer makes from one paragraph to the next and from one point to another. Indicate particularly effective transitions between ideas as well as those that could use improvement.

5. Opening and Closing Paragraphs—After reading the opening paragraph, explain what compels you to read the paper further. If nothing compels you to do so, suggest ways to change this paragraph to make it more engaging. The closing paragraph should conclude something as a result of the argument. What does this paper's closing paragraph conclude? How might the writer make this conclusion clearer?

6. Questions? Write three questions you have about the paper that will help your classmate develop the argument further.

7. Sign your classmate's draft after you have peer-edited it.

Please turn in one peer-edited draft of your paper along with the final draft. When I grade the final draft, I expect some revisions in response to peer-editing comments though students must undoubtedly reject some of the advice as well. I will look over peer-editing comments and give your peer-editor credit for these comments as an informal assignment grade.