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English 103–Essay #1: Peer Review Worksheet of the fictitious…
English 103–Essay #1: Peer Review Worksheet of the fictitious trial of mary Barnett
Write your answers below each of the questions or on a separate sheet of paper.
Main Idea: Peer Review Worksheet on Mary Barnett’s trial.
1. First, begin by reading the essay through non-stop. What is the purpose of the essay? Write a
few sentences about your overall impression. Summarize the main idea of the essay as you
understand it. Who do you think is the audience for this paper?
Next read the essay to yourself slowly and write your responses to the following questions, or
make notes and marks on the essay as necessary. Avoid useless Yes or No answers; offer
complete responses and suggestions you feel would help to improve your peer’s draft.
2. Find the thesis sentence in the paper and underline it. What argument does the thesis make?
What do you enjoy most about the writer’s approach?
Introduction and background information:
3. In the introduction, does the author give an adequate amount of background info or would
more information be helpful? What’s missing?
4. Is there a brief overview of the essay in the introductionsome indication as to how the
author will develop his or her ideas?
5. Are there any terms used in the essay that require explanation or special definition? List them.
Important terms should be defined in the introduction.
6. Use of Deductive / Inductive Reasoning: Does the author apply a definition of second degree
murder to the evidence in the case, and then provide evidence proving or disproving the verdict?
What could be added to strengthen the argument?
Development and Support:
7. Examine one paragraph. Choose one body paragraph to examine in detail. The purpose of the
body paragraphs is to take one aspect of the thesis statement, explain it in detail, and support it
with quotes or references, explaining how the quote proves the author’s point.
A. Topic Sentence: Find the topic sentence of the paragraph, and underline it. The topic
sentence in the paragraph should express the paragraph’s main point, which supports the
paper’s thesis. Is the point of that sentence sufficiently clear? If not, how could it be
improved?
