Please exchange
drafts with your partner and then take notes as s/he explains to you the following:
a) the purpose of the essay/what the writer's main argument is (e.g., what the
writer hopes readers will "take away" from this essay)
b) what aspects of the draft s/he would most like feedback on.
Then read your
partner's draft twice, the first time just to get the ideas and the second time
to provide feedback. Then commenting on the draft (with the comment feature,
track changes, or just typing on the file), please address the following questions.
The aspects
the writer asked you to focus on.
From reading
the draft (not from your conversations with the writer), what is your sense
of the writer's purpose? What do you think the main argument is?
Make a brief
outline of what you think the main points of the essay are. Do these points
fit with the focus of the essay?
Is there an
aspect of the issue that the writer does not address (either in the draft
or the outline) that you think is needed or would be nice to add? Conversely,
does the writer discuss something that seems unrelated and perhaps superfluous
to the main points of the essay?
Label and identify
the multiple perspectives on the issue that the writer presents and discusses.
Do you think s/he has provide enough multiple viewpoints so that the essay
engages in a dialogue about the issues? Make suggestions for where in the
essay s/he might do so.
Although effective
writers do not have to use all types
of rhetorical strategies (in fact to do so would probably cause overload
for the readers!), do you notice a particular strategy or type of evidence
the writer does not use that maybe s/he should?
Does the writer
include quotes from sources? If so, how well are these quotes integrated?
(review pages 168-175 in Everyday Writer)
Judging from
what the author has written and the outline provided, do you think the ideas
are presented in a logical manner? If I told you that you had to offer
a suggest for re-organizing, what other order might you suggest and why?
When you each have
read and responded to each other's drafts, then discuss them with each other,
sharing further ideas for where to go with the writing and avenues for further
research.
Also, remember
these are mid-process drafts, so at this preliminary stage do not mark spelling,
grammar, punctuation, syntax. Next week with the peer response for the concluding
revision draft you will have the opportunity to give and receive feedback on
these issues.
When you conference
with me, please bring to your conference the draft that your partner commented
on, and, if you have done further revision based upon peer response, then also
bring an updated copy of your essay.