History of Labor and Work in the U.S. 1880-1945
38:575:202
Prof. Leavy
Guided Peer Review
Reader Worksheet
Reader: Krish Patel
Author: Anna Carroll
Writing is simply a form of communication, so good writing is that which best communicates
ideas in a clear manner to the largest audience possible. This means that as a reader, your
response to this paper/project draft is a valuable tool for helping the author to better
communicate. You do not need to be an expert in writing or reading. You do not need to be a
stronger writer than your partner. You simply need to read carefully and provide the writer
with specific feedback that points out how they are communicating to the reader.
As you read the paper/project draft, follow the instructions below so that you can give specific
feedback to the writer. You are being asked to notice and respond to elements of the essay,
not to provide judgment or act as an expert critic. After you read the essay and follow the
instructions below, return your answers to these questions to the author.
1. Does the introduction provide ample context for the topic of the paper? If so, what does
the introduction do well? If not, what could the writer include to strengthen the
introduction?
The introduction makes it clear that the paper will be about labor in America during the 1930’s
and 1940’s. The introduction sets up that the paper will highlight the New Deal and go into depth
about how that helped laborers.
2. Does the end of the introduction provide a thesis? Does it list or imply the main points of
the paper? Does the thesis seem too broad or too narrow?
There is not exactly a thesis statement but the last sentence indicates that this paper will focus on
how not everyone in the working class reaped the same benefits during their time working.
3. Do the paragraphs or individual sections of the project have clear topic sentences? A
topic sentence is usually the first sentence of a paragraph or section.
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The first sentence of each paragraph has the information that will be discussed in the paragraph.
The topic sentences clearly indicate that the paragraphs will be about unions, then the New Deal
which enabled people to entirely alter the way workers were treated.
4. Are the sources (books, articles, videos, etc.) for the paper/project clear? Make a note of
where source citations may be needed by indicating the paragraph, page number, or
section of the project. Authors should cite both direct quotes and information they have
summarized or paraphrased from any source.
The citations are not exactly clear and need to be identified. There are not even internal citations
for the end of the sentence.
5. If there are any sentences or phrases that are not completely clear to you as the reader?
Please indicate the paragraph, page number, or section.
No part of this paper was unclear.
6. After reading the entire paper or project, think about its overall.
This paper is very cohesively written, and the author has put proper time into writing this and it
should be recognized.
7. Do the paragraphs or sections make sense in this order? Are any ideas repeated?
The paragraphs do work in this order and make sense, she starts out talking about the new
unionization and then continues to talk about the New Deal which was started by Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
8. Does the concluding paragraph/section summarize the author’s main arguments?
The conclusion of this paper does in fact recap and summarize the main arguments as what came
out of the New Deal.
9. What are the overall strengths of the paper?
A noticeable strength in this paper was the organization of structure that she set up in the first
paragraph of the paper. She laid out that the growth of labor unions was due to the events such as
the New Deal being enacted.
10. What might you consider revising if you were the writer?
If I was the writer then I would have considered possibly also mentioning how the union powers
were limited. There are not too many places where a quote or a citation is evident.
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