ENGLISH 100 PEER EDITING WORKSHOP

Essay Introduction
Peer Review Instructions

1. Upload your essay draft to the link on eLearn. Click “Add a new Entry.” Make
your full name the subject heading for your post (in the “Concept” box in the
form) Upload your introduction draft
2. In pairs or small groups, arrange to exchange papers with at least 2 other
people.
3. Find the paper submitted by each of your partners. Look for their work in the
same space you submitted your draft. Download and save a copy of each
paper on your computer so you can edit their work. Rename the file and add
your initials so the edited files are easy to identify.
4. Read through each partner’s draft once before making any notes.
5. Read it again. As you do so, provide feedback in their introduction. Indicate any
changes or problem areas. Respond to their ideas and provide leading
questions, helpful comments, kind words, and constructive suggestions. If you
save the material in a Word doc, you can highlight, change the font colour, or
use the “track comments” function in Word to give them specific feedback or
make personalized notes. (If they did not post their introduction in a Word
document, simply cut and paste the text into a word document, save it as “[their
name] Intro Draft 1” and go from there.) For instructions on how to insert track
comments and how to rename documents, see the last page of this checklist.
6. After you have read through their intro draft and made some line edits and
track comments, take their draft through the “Intro Feedback Checklist”
below.
7. Put it all together in one place: cut and paste the checklist at the end of the
Word document with their essay draft so all your feedback is in one
document.
8. Go to the UPLOAD Peer Editing feedback link (on eLearn. Create a new post
and title it “[your name]’s feedback for [their name].” Attach the marked-up
draft and the completed checklist to the new post.

9. Complete this process for each of your partners.

Technical Details

How to set up track changes:

How to insert comments:

To Rename and Save a Copy:

If the document was originally named Yanigabashi_ENG100_Paper2, then I would

rename it Yanigabashi_ENG100_Paper2_AD to show this is the copy I edited.

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Feedback Checklist
(CUT and PASTE this checklist into your partner’s Word Doc, after their Works Cited page,
and then fill it out!)

First Impressions

Does this paper adhere to the required MLA format? If not, let them know. Keep the
CapU MLA guide open so you can double-check the work. Remember that you can also
work into/from the Research Paper Sample Template (download it here). MLA includes:

- Double spaced
- 12-point font
- Times New Roman font
- First line of each paragraph is indented (tab button)
- Works Cited page at the end (on its own page) that adheres to proper formatting
guidelines [not completely necessary at this stage for just the introduction, but
you will need it for the full draft!]
- Correctly formatted in-text citations included for paraphrasing AND direct citation

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No. This paper needs to make revisions in order to fit the MLA guidelines.
Does this paper respond to the assignment as you understand it? (Does the central
argument clearly relate to – and offer a counternarrative in response to – a primary
text?)

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No
If not, let them know! This paper is not meant to discuss a general topic. You cannot
simply bring in a primary text or other course texts as examples. The paper itself must
be about some form of counternarrative to your chosen primary text.

Introduction

Does the essay introduce all primary texts in the introductory paragraph?

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No (Fix this!)
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Does the essay seem to have a primary text (see assignment guidelines) that they will
analyze as the basis for their argument?

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No (Fix this!)

Does the intro paragraph define the key terms and (historical, cultural, or social) context
needed to set up the thesis statement?

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No (Fix this!)

If they define key terms, which terms do they explain?

______________________________________________________________________

If the thesis is one that compares 2 texts, is it clear, from the thesis, why it is important
to consider these texts together?

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No (Fix this!)
Does this essay have a clear (approx.1-2 sentence) thesis statement within the
introduction?

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No (Fix this!)

Identify the thesis statement. What is it? (Copy here or underline/highlight it on the draft
for reference.)

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Is this thesis statement presented in the form of a question?

􀀀 Yes (If so, flag it so they can fix it. The thesis should not be a question; it is a claim,
or the answer that came out of their research question.)
􀀀 No, the thesis is presented as a statement.

Is the thesis clearly stated at the outset, at the end of the first paragraph, or is their
claim deferred until some point later in the paper? (For example: A deferred thesis is
where someone says “I will compare ___ and ___” or “I will consider ____” but then
doesn’t tell you, in the thesis, which conclusion they have reached as a result of that
comparison.)

􀀀 Yes, the thesis is clearly stated in the introduction.

􀀀 No, this paper still has a deferred thesis. (Fix this!)

Is their thesis too wide for the scope of this paper (does it make a big claim about a
phenomenon, a seemingly universal topic, or an undetermined group?) If so, flag it for
them.

􀀀 Yes, it’s wide. (Fix this!)

􀀀 No, the thesis narrows to a specific text, group, country, age group, or case study

If the thesis is quite wide for the scope of this (short) paper, what are some ways they
might be able to narrow it? What’s some smaller angle they might choose within this
topic?

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Is their thesis arguable? (Could an intelligent reader, who is familiar with the same texts
or issues, reasonably disagree with this claim? If so: good! Keep in mind: A yes or no
question isn’t arguable, and neither is a statement of fact, an obvious claim, or an
observation. The thesis should be narrow and arguable.)

􀀀 Yes
􀀀 No (Fix this!)

Does this thesis offer a reasonable counterargument for the argument or type of
represented outlined in the primary text? How could the thesis be more convincing?
Help your partner try to identify the holes in their central premise so they can then
anticipate and fill them.

What do you think were the most successful or interesting aspects of this essay topic or
approach so far? What did the author do that drew you in, what worked well, or what did
you like best about this introduction?