SELF/PEER CRITIQUE CHECKLIST
Essay #1: Memory and Memoir
Your name: ______________________________________ Date: _________________
 Check each blank after you have answered these questions about your draft:
1. _____ Does my essay have an appropriate and interesting title? If not, what are some
other possibilities?
2. _____ Does my essay have enough content (750 words or no more than three double
spaced pages in Times Roman point 12)? If not, where can I add meaningful content?
3. _____ Is the content interesting and engaging? Does it have reader interest? If not,
what can I do to improve this feature of my essay?
4. _____ Do I have an engaging exposition with setting, point of view, and tone?
5. _____ Do I have a thesis appropriate for a memoir that is primarily narrative?
6. _____ Do I have a focused conflict and do I build suspense? Have I handled
resolution (or non-resolution) of that conflict effectively?
7. ____ Do I create paragraph variety with dialog paragraphs, and short, simple onesentence paragraphs for dramatic emphasis?
8. _____ Have I used dialog effectively by replicating speaking voices of my characters?
9. _____ Is my essay well organized with exposition, conflict, rising action, climax and
denouement? Have I handled flashbacks effectively if I have used them?
10. _____ Does my essay exhibit sentence variety (simple, compound, complex,
compound-complex sentences)?
11. _____ Do I use effective description (imagery, vivid diction, and figurative
language)? Do I use strong verbs? Do I avoid passive voice?
12. _____ Have I avoided major sentence errors (fragment, run-on, comma splice,
and awkward/garbled sentence)? (Have I noted any intentional fragment with a note
in my margin?)
13. _____ Have I used correct sentence modification (and corrected any dangling or
misplaced modifiers?
14. _____ Have I used correct punctuation and spelling?
15. Here are the names of my peer critics in my peer critique group.
Self and Peer Critique Guide, Jeff Lindemann, English 1301, HCC Southwest