Peer Editing Instructions I: The Three Ied Monster

For each main body paragraph, in color-coded pen or highlighter, label the identification, illustration(s), and interpretation(s).

IDENTIFICATION (topic sentence):

-       Does it make a debatable claim?

-       Does it support the thesis statement?

-       Does every sentence in the paragraph support the topic sentence?

ILLUSTRATION:

-       Does every claim have an illustration to support it?

-       Is every quote grammatically integrated into a sentence?

INTERPRETATION:

-       Is every illustration accompanied by interpretation?

-       Is the interpretation in-depth enough?

-       Does the interpretation tell you something you hadn’t thought of before?

Peer Editing Instructions II: MLA Format and Grammar

A. Quotations -- If any of the following is wrong, make a written note for your partner.

1. Is every quote grammatically integrated into a sentence?

2. Does the quote include forward slashes at the line breaks (assuming it is not a block quote)?

3. Are the closing quotation marks, punctuation, and parenthetical citation in the right place?

4. Are block quotes properly formatted?

5. If an essay contains more than one block quote or any block quotes of more than 4 or 5 lines, tell the writer to cut them down.

B. Grammar -- Find and mark all of the following so the writer can omit them from his or her paper.

1. “I,” “me,” “we,” “us,” and “you”

2. Passive voice (“to be” verbs followed by past-tense verbs)

3. Tense shifts

4. Pronoun agreement errors (shifts from singular to plural or plural to singular)