PRE-THANKSGIVING PEER REVIEW

Please read and mark your partner's paper for the following:

• Grammar issues
• Transition issues
• Paragraph focus on a central claim
• Strong use of evidence to validate claims
• Clear connection between evidence and claims
• Each quotation has a signal phrase, quote, citation, and discussion
• Paraphrased ideas, statistics, or unusual information is cited, not just quotations
• Effective points, humor, and language choices

Then write a note discussing the following:

• Does the author provide a clear context for addressing his or her topic? In other words, why do we need to know about the issue based on the introduction, and what change does the writer want to convince us to make in our actions, policies, or understanding of the issues?
• How clear is the argument in the introduction? Restate it as best you can, and suggest ways to improve it. If there isn't a clear thesis beyond giving information, be sure to let your partner know because that will severely weaken the paper.
• How effective is the use of research in the paper? Comment on the formatting issues with quotes, paraphrasing, citations, and the works cited page. Are facts and quotations aligned with claims that support the thesis? What other information should the author seek?
• If there is a conclusion at this point, how well does it tie the context, issue, thesis, and evidence together to make a broader point at the end?
• What three suggestions do you have for the author to improve the draft?