Peer Editing Worksheet: Essay #1 (Defining a Thesis)
Elizabeth Losh
This peer editing sheet should take
30-40 minutes to complete. Don't leave any questions blank.
Your section leader may ask you to download two peer editing sheets
from the web, if you
are reading two different people's essays.
Remember that it is important to get feedback to the other person
promptly and well before the final draft is due so that the writer can
use your comments in the revision process.
Your section leader may allow you to use e-mail or you may contact your
partner in the dorms or by telephone to discuss your criticism so the
revision process can progress quickly.
Overly general or uncritical comments in peer editing will lower your
class participation writing grade.
This peer editing sheet includes page references to the Writer's Handbook, but you may also
want to point out helpful passages from Writing from A to Z. Remember
that both books have alphabetical indexes!
NAME OF WRITER ____________________________________
NAME OF READER ____________________________________
GENERAL RATING OF COMPLETENESS AND POLISH OF THIS DRAFT BY THE READER
(1-10, where ten is highest) ____________
GENERAL RATING OF THOROUGHNESS AND HELPFULNESS OF PEER EDITING COMMENTS
BY THE WRITER (1-10, where ten is highest) __________
1. The Writer's Handbook says
that a thesis statement should have a "specific" grammatical subject
(83). How could the writer improve the subject matter of
the thesis?
2. The Handbook also says the
thesis should be "arguing" rather than just "describing" (83).
How could the writer present a more arguable central claim?
3. List two interesting ideas in the body of the essay that you found,
which the writer could develop and incorporate into his or her thesis.
4. What logical relationships is asserted by the thesis, e.g. a claim
about comparison, contrast, causality, value, etc. (84-84)?
5. Is the thesis sufficiently "complex" and "sophisticated" (85)?
6. Show the writer and example of a "yes . . . but" thesis (85) that is
based on his or her two competing thesis. Work on the wording for
five minutes and write your best version below.
7. Take five minutes and write a "yes . . . but" version of your own
thesis for your own paper here. (You may not choose to use it,
particularly if you feel it makes your position or opinion less clear.)
8. What techniques of definition does the writer use (41-43)?
9. List five abstract nouns in the essay that could be more clearly
defined or specified from the most important one to the argument to the
least important one.
10. Where does the writer show that he or she understands the genre of the play Antigone (37) particularly well?
11. Where is the presentation of genre weaker? How could the
writer improve his or her analysis with more information about the
genre of tragedy? Or is an interpretation of genre unimportant
for the writer's thesis?
12. List all the specific techniques from the Analysis Checklist
(46-47) that the writer uses.
13. Which quotations best supported the writer's argument?
14. Which quotations least supported the writer's argument?
15. What page in Writing from A to Z
would you recommend to the writer to improve his or her grammar and
mechanics.