Workshop

 

Please address the following questions about the draft(s) you are reading. The purpose of your response is to provide helpful feedback and constrictive criticism so that the writers of the drafts you read can strengthen their essays. At this point in the writing process, I'd like you to focus on higher order concerns such as conceptual issues and organization, rather than on more lower order concerns such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar. In addition, it might serve you well to use this handout as a guideline for your own draft.

1. Identify, in your own words, the purpose of the essay you’re reading. How is this purpose articulated in the essay—that is, now cite the essay to demonstrate its stated purpose.
   
2. What’s the argument—again, in your own word and then as its found in the essay?
   
3. What major claims are articulated in support of this argument? How might the writer strengthen the support or the kinds of support/evidence s/he incorporates?
   
4. What is the nature(s) of the supporting evidence? For example, statistics, other scholars’ work, citations from the object being studied, etc?
   
5. Is there sufficient evidence and sufficient variety of evidence to adequately support the writer’s assertions? How might the writer strengthen this aspect of the paper?
   
6. How does the writer convince you that s/he is reasonably well informed about the texts/issues s/he's writing about? In other words, how does the writer establish his/her ethos?
   
7. Within what theoretical framework(s) does the writer place his/her analysis? Is this an appropriate framework? How might the writer strengthen the theoretical component(s) of the paper?
   
8. How has the writer acknowledged the sources s/he is citing? Is there sufficient and clear citation of materials, i.e. in text and in a works cited? Are the citations consistent in form?
   
9. What’s the title of the paper? Does it work both to draw the reader to the text and express the nature of the work that follows? Any ideas for other titles?
   
10. What do you see as the strengths of this draft? What are its weaknesses?
    
11. What suggestions do you have for the writer as s/he continues to develop the paper?