Peer Editing Guidelines for
Assignment Three—Criticism of Othello

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. Once you have finished, discuss peer-editing comments with your classmate.

Answer the following questions on the back of the last page of you classmate's draft.

1. Approach—Does this paper satisfy the demands of the assignment? Does it analyze a specific element of Othello and analyze two critical approaches to it?

2. Thesis—What is the paper's thesis statement? Is it arguable? Could another writer reasonably argue the opposite of this thesis statement? What does the writer tell you about this text that you would not otherwise have considered after reading through the text only once? If you cannot identify a clear thesis statement, then tell your classmate and offer suggestions about how to formulate one.

3. Writing Style—Indicate any unclear sentences or any particularly effective sentences. Watch out for uses of the 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?

4. 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. Also consider paragraph lengths. Do the paragraphs tend to be too short (thus making the paper choppy and fragmented)? Or, are the paragraphs too long (thus leading readers to get lost in the flow of ideas)?

5. Evidence—Pay careful attention to your classmate's use of evidence in support of the argument about the two texts. Indicate any statements that lack support from a quotation though they need such support. 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.

6. Beginning and ending—Consider the opening and closing paragraphs of the paper. Does the opening paragraph provide you with enough information to make you want to read further? Does it give you a clear sense of what to expect in the paper? Does the closing paragraph provide a fitting conclusion to the argument? Does it in some way sum up the argument and look forward to potential consequences?

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

8. 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 nothing obligates you to follow all of your peer editor's advice. Remember also that the final draft should be at least five (5) pages long. I will look over peer-editing comments and give your peer editor credit for them when I grade the final drafts.