For the rest of semester, I am changing this assignment slightly. Rather than doing a peer review, I would like you to complete a self-reflection for Major Project 3, your research essay. You will have had some feedback from me on your first draft of your essay, but I would like you to answer the following questions to make sure that you have fulfilled all the requirements for the essay. Please see the questions below. Answer them and submit by Thursday November 30th.
INTRODUCTION
1. Do you have a hook to get the writer interested? For example, you could use a quotation, a question, an anecdote, or a brief example or brief case study.
2. Do you have a clear thesis statement?
3. Do you have a clear who, what, where, when? E.g. if you were writing on “Is it ethical to have pets?”, you might need to establish a few things.
WHO: Are you thinking of families having pets? Children? Single people?
WHAT: What kind of pets? Cats? Dogs? Birds?
WHERE: Are you thinking of people in the US? In the West? In China?
WHEN: In the past? In the present moment?
4. Do you have some clear signposting? E.g. “I will proceed to explore this topic/question by looking in particular at …., …., and ….. I will argue/explore….”.
MAIN BODY
5. Do you need to have a background paragraph explaining key ideas or terms?
6. Does each paragraph have one topic sentence? The first sentence of every paragraph should introduce the subject of that paragraph. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence, and all of the topic sentences should relate to your thesis. If you identify two (or more!) topics or topic sentences in one paragraph, make two paragraphs, each with their own topic sentence.
7. Does your evidence support your claim? Make sure that you not only identify evidence that will support your claim, but that you tell your reader why THIS evidence supports your claim.
8. Is there a clear relationship between paragraphs? Do you need more linking phrases or sentences? “Building on this point…” “Furthermore…” “In contrast…” etc.
9. Is your argument clearly focused and supported? There should be a logical progression to your paragraphs, and each paragraph should be integral to your larger argument. If there are paragraphs that are not important to the argument you are making, get rid of them.
10. Are counterarguments addressed? Your argument will be stronger if you anticipate possible criticism and conflicting viewpoints and address them.
11. Is your writing clear? Have you avoided big words and awkward sentence constructions?
CONCLUSION
12. Are you satisfied that the conclusion works to bring your writing to a close? Your conclusion should sum up your argument and demonstrate that you proved your thesis: think of this as a look in the rearview mirror, reminding the reader of where you have taken him or her. Beware of introducing new questions in your conclusion! You need to decide whether those new questions change your argument. If they do, they need to be addressed within the paper, not the conclusion.
PRACTICAL POINTS
13. Are your citations and references correct?
14. Did you explain the significance of quotations (using the three-part “quotation sandwich”: 1. Signify the author/context, 2. Give the quote, 3. Explain how the quote helps your argument)? Are ALL paraphrases and quotes properly cited?
15. Have you proofread your essay to catch grammatical or punctuation errors? Is your spelling correct? E.g, use MS Word’s grammar check up.
16. Have you read your essay aloud at least once?
17. Is your punctuation correct? See Week 1: Common Mistakes in Writing
18. Do you avoid contractions? E.g. it’s, doesn’t. wasn’t, I’m.
19. Is your work broken into paragraphs?
20. Are you using italics for book or film titles? Are you using single quotation marks for essay titles?
21. Is your font 12pt or above and is the text double spaced?
22. Do you have a bibliography?
23. Are you uploading an MS Word doc file?
