Please spend 40 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. In addition, discuss peer-editing comments with your classmate.
Approach—Does this paper satisfy the demands of the assignment? What is the most original point in this paper?
Thesis—Indicate the paper's thesis statement. Is it arguable? Could another writer argue the opposite of this thesis statement? What does the writer tell you about this poem that you would not otherwise have considered?
Writing Style—Indicate any unclear sentences or any particularly effective sentences. Watch out for uses of passive voice or excessively wordy sentences. Overall, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this paper's writing style? Are the sentences too complicated and hard to follow, or are they too simple and slow-paced, or do they strike a good balance between these two tendencies?
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. 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.
Evidence—Pay careful attention to your classmate's use of evidence to support the argument about the poem. Indicate any statements that are missing necessary support from a quotation. Also, indicate any quotation that does not receive enough analysis to make its inclusion in the argument worthwhile. Remember that each paper should include a Works Cited list at the end and page numbers for any quotation or paraphrase included in the body of the paper.
Questions? Write three questions you have about the paper that will help your classmate develop the argument further.
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. Remember also that the final draft should be at least three (3) pages long. I will look over peer-editing comments and give your peer-editor credit for them as part of the class participation grade.