Make sure to pay particular attention to these aspects of the essay as you proceed.
***Be sure to read through the entire essay-and the draft workshop sheet-before you begin the critique.
1. Does the opening paragraph ‘grab’ you? Does it begin energetically, with plenty of active verbs? How else could it be improved?
a) State the thesis of this paper. Does it interest you? Why or why not?
b) Does the thesis effectively link the writer’s focus of the essay with the text he/she will analyze? How could the writer improve the thesis focus?
How insightful is the paper? Give an example of a particularly analytical portion of the paper. Give an example of a place where the student’s observation is rather obvious.
Does each paragraph analyze a structural part of the article? Do they focus on parts of an essay rather than the content of the essay? Explain
Does the writer provide specific evidence to support their points? Do they quote? Is the quote accurate in terms of MLA format?
Is the works cited formatted correctly?
Think about the essay. What is the main strength of the essay?
What 3 improvements can you offer the writer?
What did you learn about how scholarly articles are structured based on the essay?