SELF AND PEER CRITIQUE GUIDE/CHECKLIST
Name: _______________________________________ Date: _________________________
1. _____ Does my essay have enough content (1000 words double-spaced pages typed in
Times Roman pt. 12)? If not where can I add content or take content away?
2. _____ Does the essay accomplish its rhetorical purpose? Is it narration, expository,
argumentative?
3. _____ Is the essay appropriate for the audience
4. _____ Does the essay have an appropriate tone for my purpose and audience?
5. _____ Does my essay have an engaging and appropriate title? If not, what might be some
other possibilities? (You might want to give the essay a read through before commenting
on the title.)
6. _____ Does the essay have an engaging introduction? Might another strategy of
introduction work better?
7. _____ Does the essay include an effective thesis that lets the reader know the specific
focus. Does the thesis suggest this strategy?
8. _____ Does the essay have effective organization for the subject matter and purpose?
(Think in terms of architecture, plan, and sequence of ideas.)
9. _____ Does the essay contain at least two topic sentence paragraphs with (1) strong
topic sentences with controlling idea(s), (2) plenty of development, (3) unity, and (4)
coherence achieved with transition words, pronoun reference, and repetition of key
words?
10. _____ Do sentences in the paragraph contain appropriate emphasis by placing important
information that supports the controlling idea in main clauses and minor information in
phrases and dependent clauses?
11. _____ Is some paragraph variety achieved with any of the following options: transition
paragraphs, short simple sentence paragraphs, rhetorical questions, and/or dialog
paragraphs?
12. _____ Does the essay have an effective conclusion? Does the conclusion point back to
the introduction to “frame” the essay?
13. _____ Does the essay contain sentence variety (simple, compound, complex,
compound-complex)?
14. Does the essay contain correct and effective diction (word choice): connotation and
strong verbs?
15. _____ Does the essay contain sentences with correct parallelism if used?
16. _____ Do the sentences exhibit correct modification (avoiding the dangling modifier
and misplaced modifier)?
17. _____ Do the sentences contain correct subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent
agreement, pronoun reference, and pronoun case?
18. _____ Is the essay free from fragmented (unless intentional fragment for dramatic
effect), run-on, and comma spliced sentences?
19. _____ Does the essay contain correct punctuation and spelling?
20. _____ Are any intentional fragments marked in the margin: int. frag. [int. frag.]
Jeff Lindemann, English 1301
1