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Activity 1: What is peer review?
Have you ever participated in a peer review session? If so, what did you do? In this class, you will critique two of your classmates’ projects, and you will receive feedback from 2 of your classmates as well This process will help you reflect on your writing/ work, and revise it.
Here are the peer review questions we will use:
Peer Review Questions:
- Does the draft include a conclusion/ thesis statement? What is it? Is it clearly stated? Is it arguable?
- Does the draft include at least 3 premises that support and develop the conclusion? Explain.
- Is all supporting evidence directly connected to the conclusion? Explain.
- Does the draft include 3 sources, at least 2 from CQ Researcher? What are they?
- Does the research support the conclusion without replacing the author’s voice? Explain.
- Does the author include at least 1 premise with an opposing viewpoint and a rebuttal? What is it?
- Is the draft well-organized, easy to understand?
- Are the grammar, syntax and vocabulary consistent and appropriate for a college level paper?
- What are the strengths of this draft?
- Do you have any comments or suggestions.
Activity 2: Your draft
Your project draft should include:
- Your working thesis statement/ conclusion
- At least 3 premises and supporting evidence, including one counterargument with your rebuttal
- your plan for the final product (see options in week 8)
Activity 3: What to do?
Go to Peer Review in our Discussion Board. Submit your draft of the argument project. Review two of your classmates’ projects using the Peer Review Questions by replying to their posts with drafts. The goal here is to select drafts that haven’t yet been peer-reviewed or that have been peer-reviewed once. If this isn’t possible, you may comment on any draft available. Please note: if the deadline for the draft submission has passed and there is only 1 draft for you to review, your job is to only review that 1 draft. If there are no drafts to review, review your own. I will not penalize you for not reviewing work that isn’t there, but you must still complete the assignment to receive credit. Ideally, everyone will receive feedback from 2 classmates, and provide feedback to 2 classmates. Good luck.
50 points: you submitted your draft by the deadline
50 points: you peer-reviewed available drafts by deadline
25 points extra: complete one of this week’s extra credit assignments
Activity 4: Submit annotated bibliography on Blackboard.
You are writing an annotated bibliography as an indication of the sources you intend to use for your essay. The goal here is to continue thinking critically about your topic and the sources you decide to incorporate into your essay. Your annotated bibliography must include at least 4 sources relevant to your topic. For each source,
- write 3-5 sentences summarizing or describing content, including the main idea/ argument
- 1-2 sentences providing an evaluation of the source’s usefulness: why the source is interesting or helpful to you.
I encourage you to (re)use your source from the Summary and Response assignment here. Review the sample annotated bibliography here (and for complete argument project instructions, see here: argument project).
Sample-Annotated-BibliographyActivity 5: Extra credit opportunities
Select 1 of the 3 options below for up to 25 extra points on your peer review grade.
- Schedule an appointment with a tutor at BMCC’s Writing Center or CRT tutoring. Bring your project draft and project guidelines. Take a screenshot of your confirmed appointment. Write a brief paragraph stating what you worked on during the session. Submit both on Blackboard under Week 10 Extra Credit.
- Read one sample argumentative essay, and answer this question: how can reading the sample essay help you with revising your own project? Be specific. (200 words min)
- Once you have received feedback from classmates, think about how you may want to revise your draft. Address the following questions: What, according to your critics, are the strengths of your draft? Do you agree? What, according to your critics, might you need to work on? Do you agree? How do you plan to revise and improve your draft? Be specific (200 words min).
Activity 6: Sample essays
Read one or more of the essays below as you think about how to revise your own draft. Please note that this past semester was my first time giving students more options for the argument project than simply writing an essay. I have received a few excellent podcasts but cannot share those here due to privacy issues. Instead, see the two sample essays below for argument structure and supporting evidence.
mackay-essay crt-final-essay-sample-Activity 7: Cartoon
Go to Blackboard to see this week’s cartoon. What is the message?