Peer Critique:  Position Paper

Please read your peer’s draft and answer the following questions thoughtfully and thoroughly on a separate sheet of paper.  Simple “yes” and “no” answers are not acceptable.  This is not a test to see if you have done things “correctly”; rather, this is an opportunity for you to receive responses and feedback about what you have written from a reader who is familiar with the goals of this assignment.

After you have finished with your response, make sure your name is on the critique you have written.  You will then give it back to the author, and the author will read it and make necessary revisions.  Each author should have a peer critique with a name on it in his or her folder when turning in the position paper.  I will look for the name on your sheet and give the appropriate person credit for completing the critique.

1.Does this paper have a title? Is it both interesting and informative?

2.What is the issue that this paper will discuss? How does the author introduce the issue? Does the introduction grab your interest?

3.Does the author give an adequate summary of various positions already taken on this issue? What are the various positions as described by the author?

4.Does the author convincingly explain how he or she is entering into the conversation about this issue?

5.Are you convinced that the author has provided readers with enough background so he or she can become a credible part of this conversation? Copy some sentences that convince or do not convince you.

6.How does the author build his or her ethos? Does the author explain where he or she is coming from? Copy some sentences that support your answer.

7.Write down the author’s claim.  If you have trouble finding it, say so.  How does this claim differ from what’s already been said about this issue?

8.What evidence does the author use to support the claim? Do these sources offer support by way of ethos, pathos, logos, or a combination? Are the sources credible to you? What additional evidence might be needed to support the claim in this paper?

9.What is the most powerful evidence? Why?

10.How does the author address audiences that might disagree with his or her claim?

11.Jot down the organization of the essay in a brief list or outline.  Are there any places where you became lost? Is the organization easy to follow? Does it make sense?

12.Does the author include a rebuttal? Copy some sentences that support your answer.

13.How does the conclusion bring the audience to closure? What feeling does the ending leave you with?

14.Does this paper convince you? Why or why not? What does this paper need to be more convincing?

15.Add any editing suggestions you might notice while you’re reading.

16.What additional suggestions can you give the author?