Peer Review – CRUCIBLE CAUSE-EFFECT ESSAY
Peer doing the evaluation:__________________________________________________
Paper is by:_______________________________________________________________
Title of paper being reviewed:_______________________________________________
Instructions: Read through your partner's essay twice. The first time familiarize yourself with the subject of the essay
the place or object being described. The second time, read for the essentials. Mark the essay as you read and add
questions or comments on the writing. Please answer the following questions as completely and as accurately as
possible. Do not just give the paper and writer the stamp of approval, or a "yes" or "no" answer. You will be doing
your partner a disservice.
THESIS STATEMENT: Is there a clear thesis?
Is it specific, narrowed, focused?
Is the issue being analyzed clearly stated?
Are causes and/or effects for the issue clearly stated?
Is the thesis the LAST SENTENCE in the introduction?
Write the thesis statement here:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
INTRO/CONCLUSION: Is the introduction effective and interesting?
Does the author use a catchy introduction such as a case history or relevant statistics to catch the reader’s attention?
Does the conclusion add a note of finality?
DEVELOPMENT: Does the body of the paper support thesis and stay on topic?
Does it clearly and convincingly analyze and develop the causes and/or effects stated in the thesis?
Are there relevant causes/effects to the issue that the author has neglected?
Is the paper five paragraphs long?
Does the author state his/her organization in paragraphs two, three, and four? Write the topic sentences for each of
the three paragraphs here:
Paragraph 2: The first cause (or effect) of (topic)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 3: The first cause (or effect) of (topic)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 4: The first cause (or effect) of (topic)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ORGANIZATION/COHERENCE: Does the paper "flow"?
Are the ideas stated in logical order?
Are the transitions between sentences and ideas effective and clear?
Is the paper itself clear and understandable or confusing?
List any sections of the essay that are unclear or unfocused:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Does the author use good transition words within paragraphs and between paragraphs to make the ideas in his/her
essay flow smoothly from point to point? List an example of a good transition in the essay:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
IN-TEXT CITATIONS: Is all evidence that is not common knowledge cited correctly at the end of the sentence
(parenthesis, author’s last name or shortened title, year, p. # if a quote, close parenthesis, period)? Does each in-text
citation have a corresponding references page entry? NO web addresses in the in-text citations? Are there at least
two citations per page? Are quotes minimized?
MECHANICS: Check for errors in punctuation and spelling errors. Check for run-on sentences, comma splices, and
fragments. Mark on author’s paper and note here some persistent problems he/she
needs to address:
What could the writer add to this essay?
Finally, on a scale from 1-10, how much did you enjoy reading this essay? (A rating of 10 means it was very
enjoyable and interesting. A rating of 1 means it was uninteresting or a challenge to read.)
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Adapted from www.kareyperkins.com/classes/135/peercausal.pdf
www.eslbee.com/support/peer_review_cause_effect.pdf