For these assignments, you and a partner will begin by exchanging papers as per assigned on Canvas. Your instructor will gather all the “papers in progress” and then share with you a randomly chosen paper for you to peer edit.
Your job is to review and critique your partner’s paper based on the instructions outlined below, and then submit a professional peer edit MEMO to your instructor the following week. (You will also send a copy to your student partner on the day you turn in your memo so he/she can use to improve the final project.) As with every paper in this class, the quality of your writing will affect your grade!
This “paper-in-progress” will be graded by the instructor and is worth 100 points in addition to the 50-point peer-edit assignment described here. You must have made satisfactory progress in your paper. Those earning the maximum points (100) will have made significant progress in many areas of the paper, with a minimum number of placeholders.
Part 1. Getting background from your partner (via email or from context in the paper)
Get answers to the following questions about your partner’s document. Then type the answers to these questions on a separate sheet and turn them as an attachment to your peer edit memo. This will provide an overview for your instructor who is reading your peer edit memo and help establish your knowledge and comprehension of your partner’s project.
1. What is the topic and purpose of your partner’s document?
2. Why is this topic appropriate for a feasibility study?
3. What is your partner’s expertise in the content area?
4. Who is the audience for the document? (e.g., what is the audience’s education level, age, gender, knowledge of subject, level of interest in subject, disposition toward the subject?)
5. What is the status of your partner’s document? (e.g., are all sections written? what sections haven’t been written? what additional research does your partner plan to do?)
Part 2. Write a professional memo detailing your analysis and critique. Answer the questions below. Based on the answers to these questions, write a professional memo addressed to your recitation instructor. Keep the memo professional, courteous and constructive. Provide specific examples from your partner’s paper to support your assertions. Treat this memo as if it were a progress report to your boss on a fellow employee’s project.
1. Has your partner included all the necessary information, given his/her purpose and audience? What information, if any, is still needed?
2. Has your partner chosen a good document design? Does it look professional and reflect well on the author and his/her organization?
3. Is the information presented in a logical order? Are headings used to help readers find information? Does your partner use transitions effectively?
4. Discuss the clarity of your partner’s writing. For example, does he/she define terms for the reader?
5. Discuss the overall progress of your partner’s writing. How much of the final project is complete? What areas need to be completed?
6. What are some effective techniques or strengths that the writer is doing well?
7. What are things the writer could add or work on to improve his/her document?