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PAPER #2: PEER REVIEW
PART I: Reading and Marking the Text
Get into a group of three (there may need to be a group of four). You will need to read two of your partners' papers and have two people read yours. For each paper you read, do the following:
- Write "Read by _______" and insert your name.
- Mark any typos, punctuation errors, confusing passages, random thoughts, or sudden change in topics on the page.
- For each body paragraph, identify the key point being made and circle the key pieces of evidence.
- React to especially strong points in the paper so the writer knows what he or she did well.
PART II: Details
INTRODUCTION:
- Does the introduction avoid starting with only a biographical detail about Freire?
- Does it start with an attention grabbing sentence that relates to either education, Freire, the teacher, or the writer?
- Is Freire introduced in the introduction along with the title "The 'Banking' Concept of Education"?
- Is the teacher identified?
- Which direction did the writer go with their paper: they are analyzing the teacher using Freirean terms, or they are critiquing Freire using the teacher as an example? If it is not clear, please caution the writer to clarify.
- Has the writer included a clear thesis and a plan of development that identifies the major points to be discussed in the paper?
- Is there a clear statement about the teacher's pedagogy (banker, problem-poser, or blend)?
BODY of PAPER:
- Does the body have more than three paragraphs?
- Which transition at the start of a body paragraph is the best? Write out the transition and say how it creates a relationship between the previous paragraph and the paragraph it starts.
- Which transition is weak or lacking? Can you suggest a stronger transition?
- Does each body paragraph have a direct quote from Freire?
- Does each quote link to a specific example from the teacher's behavior?
USE of QUOTATIONS and CITATIONS
- REGULAR QUOTES: Does each quotation have a signal phrase, the actual words you are quoting inside quotation marks, an MLA parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence that allows the reader to find the source in the alphabetical works cited, and discussion? Did the author drop the final punctuation of the quotation (unless it’s a question or exclamation mark)? Is the citation before the final period of the sentence?
- BLOCK QUOTE: Do the paper have at least one block quote? Is it indented 0.5” from the left? Is it four lines (in the 1” margins) or longer? Did the author avoid indenting the first line of their text after the block quote in which they discuss the block quote’s meaning? Did they omit quotation marks for their block quote? Does the block quote citation come after the final punctuation of the quotation?
- Are additional facts/ideas/statistics not in the novel given a citation even if they are not quotations? Is there a source in the Works Cited for those citations?
- Do the author avoid putting a quotation in the first or last sentence of a paragraph?
CONCLUSION:
- Did the author avoid starting their conclusion with “In conclusion”?
- Does the conclusion restate the topic, all the major points in the paper, and the main thesis that offers a specific interpretation of the novel?
- Does the conclusion attempt to explain the broader implications of the thesis?
- If the point is to evaluate the teacher, is there a clear statement of which Freirean term applies to the teacher (banker, problem-poser, or blend)? Is there a clear indication on if the teaching approach was effective or not? Is the impact on the writer and other students made clear? Is there a final judgment about the teacher?
- If the point is to critique Freire, is there a clear statement indicating if Freire is right, wrong, or needs refinement in his opinion about either banking, problem-posing, or both? Is there a discussion of what that means for educational policy?
WORKS CITED PAGE
- Does the MLA works cited page start at the top of its own page using the insert page break command in MS Word?
- Do the words “Works Cited” (without the quotation marks) appear at the top of the page centered using the center command?
- Is there an entry for each key text mentioned in the introduction?
- Does Freire's entry follow the “Work in an Anthology” model?
- Is each entry presented alphabetically (do not alphabetize by the words “A,” “An,” or “The”)?
- Are the titles of shorter items (articles, individual pages on a web site, etc.) put inside quotation marks?
- Are the titles of larger items (books, newspapers, databases, web sites, journals, etc.) italicized?
- Did the author standardize all capitalization following MLA title rules?
- Did the use the hanging indent command to format each citation so that the first line touches the left margin, but the rest of the lines in the citation are indented 0.5”?
- Did the author turn off the gap between paragraphs on the works cited page?
- Is each citation double spaced?
- Does the works cited page look like the sample MLA Works Cited Page?
FORMAT
- Does the paper’s layout match the sample MLA paper?
- Is the paper double spaced?
- Are the margins 1” on each side?
- Did the author turn off the gap between paragraphs throughout?
- In the header of the paper, does the author’s last name appear in the upper right corner followed by a single space and the page number (using the insert page number command)?
- Did the author use Times New Roman 12 pt font? Even in the header?
- Does the information block contain the right information required by MLA format? Is the date correct? Did the author replace “Professor” with “Dr.”? Did they put a space between “Dr.” and the professor’s name?
WORD CHOICE/EDITING
- Did the author avoid “I” statements that are not about direct experiences being used as evidence (like “I think/believe/feel”)? (Use control-F to check for “I” followed by a space)
- Did they avoid “You” statements? (Use control-F to check for “you”)
- Did they use more specific language to replace variations on the word “thing”? (Use control-F to search for “thing”)
- Did they verify that the reader can easily understand what “it” refers to in the paper? (Use control-F to search for “it”)
- Did the author put a noun or noun phrase after the word “this”? (Use control-F to search for “this”).
- For the AUTHOR ONLY: Did you read your paper out loud to listen for problematic or incomplete sentences?
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Date site created: May 11, 2025