Posted: January 10th, 2017

Point out specific places where the evidence or reasoning should be strengthened. How effective is the organization of the paper?

Remember you are required to review and provide feedback to two (2) of your peers’ papers, and this is a significant part of the grade for this discussion. You will download your classmate’s essay and save the file so that you can respond to both the macro (large) and the micro (small) issues in the essay. For more information on macro and micro revision topics, see the Introduction to Peer ReviewPreview the documentView in a new window .

To help you respond to the macro issues, such as content, organization, and other global issues needing revision, copy and paste the following questions at the end of the essay and respond to each in detail.

What is the writer’s claim (thesis statement)? What three reasons does the writer give in support of her/his claim? Evaluate the effectiveness of the writer’s reasons. Does the writer provide sufficient evidence and reasoning to support the claim? Point out specific places where the evidence or reasoning should be strengthened. How effective is the organization of the paper? Do the ideas flow smoothly with strong transitions between different topics? Are there paragraphs without strong topic sentences? Be specific in pointing out any areas of weakness. Does the writer use credible (believable) sources? What characteristics of the sources lead you to conclude they are credible or not? If you were to change one thing about the essay, what would it be? Please don’t respond with “Nothing.” Almost any piece of writing could be improved in some way. Think about places in the essay where you may have been confused or wanted more information if you are having a hard time thinking of anything. To address the essay at the level of micro details that require editing, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation, use the comments and track changes functions in Word to respond directly on your classmate’s paper. For more details about micro issues, see the Introduction to Peer Review. Even if you think you don’t have valuable feedback to provide, any question or comment that will make your classmate look more closely at an essay can be helpful. As you get more experienced at the peer review process, you will quickly learn that you are a much better editor of someone else’s work than your own