Today I’ll be asking you to read and respond to each other’s work. You will be working in pairs of two. I want you to provide constructive feedback to author’s as they revise their paper. So, for each paper, please:
1. Underline the thesis statement / statements. If you were unsure what the paper’s specific purpose was, then let the author know at the end of the essay. Also, feel free to suggest how the author might make their argument more specific.
2. Look for claims and evidence. Do they supply evidence to support claims?
3. Pay Particular Attention to Transitions Between Paragraphs. Does the author make the connection between paragraphs clear? Are their sudden jumps?
4. Pay Particular Attention to what they do before and after quotes. Does the author transition into a source? Do they establish credibility for the source? Do they explain quotes? Do they do something with the quoted material, or move onto a new idea before making it clear why the quote is in the paper? Are they asking you to do their thinking for them.
5. Highlight ideas that grab your attention and interest them. Let them know what to do more of, what ideas to expand, what they are doing well.
6. Write a Quick Response.
This is the trickiest part. But after you have finished reading the paper, I want you to write a brief response. The nature of the response is up to you, but I would advise either asking the author a question that you have after reading the paper, or focusing on a part of the paper that either gave you pause (you weren’t sure you agree because reasons) or left you wanting more.
Don’t “kill” a paper. I’m looking for you to do two of the above on every page. Sure, you can correct grammar or formatting, but those aren’t the kinds of comments I’m looking for. I want something more constructive.
