Rhetorical Analysis Peer Edit -- Annie Dillard

These are the ideas we will be addressing as we peer-edit the Annie Dillard essay. Here are the peer-edit questions you will address as you read your partner's paper:

Step One:(Do this on the printed out paper itself) Work through the paper, identifying errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and citation. 

Step Two: Answer the following questions

1. To what extent did the writer accurately identify the text's purpose in a clear, effective thesis statement? If there were elements you thought were strong, quote them and explain what made these claims or word choices effective. If there were elements you thought needed improvement, quote them, explain what needs to be improved, and provide specific, useful suggestions for development.

2. Paragraph intro sentences need to make a claim about how the author used rhetoric to support the purpose of the piece. 

a. Where did the author make an especially effective claim? Provide a quote and explain what specifically about the author's writing supported the effectiveness of the topic sentence.

b. Where did the author make a less effective claim? Provide a quote and explain what specifically about the author's writing hindered the claim. Provide clear, constructive suggestions for improvement.

3. Evidence needs to be clearly relevant and smoothly incorporated into a sentence that establishes the context and / or significance of the quote.

a. Where did the author incorporate effective evidence? Provide a quote and explain what specifically about the selection or incorporation of this evidence supported the paragraph's topic or paper's thesis.

b. What generally needs to be improved about the selection and/or incorporation of evidence? Provide a quoted example of a less effective piece of evidence and explain what specifically  about the author's writing hindered the claim. Provide clear, constructive suggestions for improvement.

4. Analysis needs to clearly explain how the word choice in the quoted evidence adds meaning (imagery, emotion, persona, mood, tone, symbolism, connections, abstract ideas, concrete examples, unspoken connotations, etc.)to Dillard's discussion and how the creation of this meaning supports the development of Dillard's purpose.

a. Where did the author effectively and completely discuss the impact of the author's word choice? Provide a quote and explain what specifically about the analysis supported reader understanding of Dillard's rhetoric?

b. What generally needs to be improved about the author's analysis? Provide a quoted example of less effective or incomplete analysis. Explain what specifically was less effective about this analysis, and provide clear, constructive suggestions for improvement.