Peer Commentary on First Drafts
Due in class Wednesday, April 21
1. Your peer commenter will be assigned to you by Dr. Granata.
2. Each student must be sure to provide his or her peer commenter with a copy of the first draft of the research paper by the same time the first draft is due to Dr. Granata so that the commenter has time to prepare remarks.
3. The commenter must prepare written remarks on the content of the first draft in prose (not outline) form. The peer commentary must be a polished essay of approximately 4 pages (double-spaced) in length. The commenter will bring his/her prepared comments to class on Wednesday, April 21. Do not submit copies of your commentary to your peer in advance. Bring two copies of your comments to class, one for the professor and one for your peer.
4. The peer commenter will verbally deliver his/her remarks in class. The verbal comments must be approximately 7 minutes in length. Your comments (both written and oral) must address the following issues:
a) What is your view of the argument of this paper? Is it a compelling thesis? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the thesis?
b) What is your view of the primary source evidence used in the presentation? Do the sources adequately support the claims of the paper? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the types of sources used? Are there other potential sources which the author should consider using?
c) Do you agree with the way the presenter has situated his/her research within the larger scholarship on the topic? Is there a body of scholarship which may be relevant and helpful to the presenter which he/she has not yet considered?
d) What, in your view, is the main scholarly significance of this research? What larger themes does this research shed light on? Are there potential contributions of this research which the presenter may not be aware of? Did the paper raise research questions which could be explored further?
e) Assess the format, writing clarity, and style of the draft. Are there any significant, repeated grammatical errors? Does the paper properly follow the Chicago Style?
f) Overall, how closely does the draft meet the requirements for the final research paper?
5. Your comments must be constructive and professional. Begin with the strengths, raise constructive critiques of the argument, content, and style, and conclude on a positive note.
6. I will grade your peer commentary on content, style, and length. I will evaluate both the written and verbal commentary.