How to Answer the Local Revision Questions
The following collection of revision prompts (and their subsequent explanations) are designed to give you a helpful framework for critiquing your classmates’ papers. You should first read your classmate’s paper carefully and then make the most helpful critical commentary you can.
You will notice that these local revision prompts assume a fairly finished draft and address some surface issues which are corrected by editing.
What do you like about the content of this draft?
Do you find the idea especially intriguing? Did the paper offer examples that you had not seen or had not thought of yourself? Did the paper “move” you intellectually or emotionally? Did the paper change you in some way?
What do you like about the writing style?
Is there a strong voice? Did the paper read smoothly or did you have to constantly re-read the draft? Did the writer compose an especially effective sentence or turn a humorous or striking phrase?
What is the main idea of the draft?
What sentence or group of sentences imply or state the purpose, focus, and issues of the paper? Quote the thesis statement. If you can’t find one, create one that you think would work. How could the writer make the thesis more clear?
How effective is the introduction? What could be done to improve it?
Does the introduction capture your interest? Does it present you with a clear understanding of where the writer is about to take you? Does it explain the premises of the paper? Does it focus the topic?
Does each paragraph act as an integral part of a unified presentation?
Look at each paragraph in the draft. What is the purpose of the paragraph? In other words, how does each paragraph function in the overall effect of the draft? What is the purpose of each paragraph, and is the purpose significant? How is each body paragraph related to the introduction? To the next paragraph? To the paragraph before it? How would the draft be different if the paragraph in question were eliminated? How would the draft be improved if the paragraph appeared somewhere else in the draft? Where would you place this paragraph and why? What would you do to improve the purpose of each paragraph?
How well has the writer organized the paper?
Are all the paragraphs in the best logical order? Does the argument of the paper follow in an effective and appropriate sequence? If you were writing this paper, how would you “re- shuffle the deck” to make the argument stronger? Offer a new arrangement of ideas for the writer. At what points in the draft did you find yourself muttering “Why is the writer telling me this?” or “What does the writer mean?” Also, at what points did you find yourself having to stop and return to an earlier section of the paper to try to recreate your path?
What ideas, paragraphs, sentences need to be cut out of the paper?
What parts of the paper are superfluous? Which paragraphs, ideas, etc. do you feel have nothing to do with the paper, or at least contribute too little to warrant remaining in the draft?
Has the writer used effective documentation?
Does the writer provide sufficient professional or authoritative support for the argument? Or does the writer use so many citations that the paper’s perspective is unclear? Has the writer used MLA style? Are the parenthetical references correct? Does the draft have a Works Cited page? Is the page set up correctly? Has the writer included only those works that are actually cited in the draft?
Has the writer used standard English spelling, grammar, punctuation and syntax?
Do you see any nonstandard usages anywhere in the paper? Is the punctuation around quotes done properly? Does every question have a question mark? Are apostrophes used properly? Are numbers and numerals uses properly?
How effective is the ending of the paper? What could be done to improve it?
Are you left with a sense of closure and satisfaction? Are you left with the feeling that you’d like to or need to hear more? Are you left shrugging your shoulders with apathy? Do you find that you want to seek the writer out and continue the discussion?
General comments:
What is your overall impression of the paper? In general, do you find the topic to be an interesting, manageable one? What do you see as the clearest direction for the next draft to take?