Things to look for—
Focus
- Is the
thread of the paper clear? Can you
follow the connection between ideas?
- Does
the paper go deeper, beyond simple, obvious answers “Smoking is Bad”? Does the paper go to the level of cultural
critique? How could the paper go
deeper? What could be explored?
- Look
for places where additional information would help to make the writer’s
point.
Sources
- Are
all three types of sources (personal, interview and library) evident in
the piece?
- How
would you assess the level of quality of the sources?
- What
information would enhance the support for the argument of the paper?
- Are
the sources summarized, paraphrased or quoted appropriately? Were you able to identify the sources of
all of the quotes? Watch out for
dropped quotes.
- How
smoothly integrated were the sources into the paper?
Voice
- Is
there an enticing lead?
- Is
there a personal voice? The voice
should be engaging and communicate directly to the reader throughout.
- How
well does the piece read?
- Edit
for unnecessary words.
- How
clear are the sentences? Are the
ideas expressed in a fresh and interesting manner? How could this be improved?