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QS 115 Professor A. Harrison Peer Reflection Response: Essay #2 DUE: 10/16 (Worth 0-25 points) This will be your second attempt at writing about a peer’s paper; since it is your second attempt, I will expect more and thus the grading criteria for the 25 possible points will be stricter to resemble that of the stricter grading criteria of this Essay#2 overall. Assignment: This semester you will not only write your own papers but you will learn to write about other people’s papers. It will not only help you to help them but eventually it will help you improve your own papers. You will take home a paper today and review it, completing the assignment below. You will write a paper in response to the person’s draft. In other words, pretend that you are the teacher and write comments much like I do at the end of all your final draft papers. Please spend time on this; treat your peer’s paper like you would want your paper to be treated. The purpose of this is to help you evaluate your own paper in these terms as well as support your peers so that everyone gets the best grade possible on this paper

Email  the  response  as  an  attachment  AND  pasted  in  to  the  body  of  the  email  and  CC  me   before  9:30am  on  10/16  (Thursday)  

  Each  response  must  be  500+  words  (you  may  always  write  more);  please  include  a  word  count  at   the  end  of  the  response  paper.  (Microsoft>Tools>Word  Count)  

• Make your comments and suggestions specific; support your assertions with examples from the papers you are discussing, and give concrete revision suggestions.

• You MUST cite the writer using in-text MLA formatted citations. For example, “In your paper, you state ‘Freakonomics express x, y, z’ (Harrison 3).”

• You will want to use terms we have studied in class: thesis, support evidence, ethos, pathos, logos, argument, organization, counterargument, etc.

• I suggest you have in front of you while doing this: the course syllabus, the assignment prompt for essay #2, YOUR previous papers with my notes on them, any emails I sent you with notes from your outline, peer review notes, etc.

• Be sure to discuss each paper’s strengths and weaknesses – Be specific! • Clearly indicate your name on both copies of each response, and the name of the writer whose

draft you are responding to – I need to know who to give credit to. • The response paper should follow our standard class formatting: 12 pt. Time New Roman Font,

double- spaced, with 1”margins on all four sides of the page, and use correct MLA citations. If you are still unsure of this, please see A Writer’s Reference. Your response should be clear, concise, well written, and free or any errors so that your peer can fully understand exactly what you mean.

• Do feel free to “mark-up” the person’s paper, correcting errors, addressing formatting concerns, etc.; however, your main task is to provide the response paper, not correct someone else’s typos.

• Finally, please re-read this assignment sheet before you turn this in to your professor and your peer to assure you have adhered to the criteria correctly.

Terms  to  Consider  (in  other  words,  what  you  are  being  graded  on):   1. Thesis:  the  position  you  take  on  a  topic  that  constitutes  your  debatable  claim  

 

2. Support:  reasons,  statistics,  facts,  examples,  and  expert  testimony  that  bolster  and  explain   your  point  of  view  or  claim;  backs  up  your  thesis  

  3. Audience:  the  readers  for  whom  you  are  writing;  they  are  specifically  defined  by  what  they  

might  know,  the  assumptions  they  hold,  what  they  need  to  know,  and  how  they  can  best  be   convinced  to  accept  your  position  or  at  least  respect  your  views  

  4. Counter  Argument:  views  that  oppose  your  argument,  and  the  reasons  and  evidence  that  

support  them    

5. Style:  the  sound  words  make  on  paper    

6. Tone:  a  reflection  of  your  attitude  toward  your  subject  matter,  which  is  closely  connected   to  your  audience’s  expectations  and  your  purpose  in  writing             *  an  academic  tone  is  usually  objective  and  serious,  avoiding  sarcasm,  colloquial  language,   name-­‐calling,  or  pedantic  words  and  structures  

  7. Global  Revision:  making  changes  in  content  and  organization;  adding  or  deleting  details,  

sections,  or  paragraphs;  altering  the  thesis  statement;  varying  or  strengthening  transitions;   move  material  from  one  position  to  another;  improving  clarity,  logic,  flaws  and/or  style  

  8. Editing:  making  adjustments  to  improve  sentence  variety,  vary  sentence  length,  correct  

errors  in  grammar,  spelling,  word  choice,  mechanics,  and  punctuation    

9. Logos:  appeal  to  reason,  Ethos:  appeal  to  the  character  of  the  speaker/writer,  or  Pathos:   appeal  to  the  sympathies,  values,  beliefs,  and  emotions  of  the  audience  

  10. Organization/Structure:  remember  our  friend  “classical”  here!