English 150
Feedback Sheets: Their Care and Feeding

When you read the paper, the strategy is to ask questions that help the writer see how to clarify or elaborate on points--or to provide something that he/she may not even have thought of.

Sample Paragraph:  

What would you do if a homeless person slept in your doorway, left his bodily waste for you to clean up every day, and swore at you every time you saw him.  I experienced this when I lived in Eureka.  After a long time of this--and trying my best to be reasonable about it--I had finly had enuf.  Eventually I had to confront.  When I did, it wound up in a shouting match and even worse, and I called the police to come do something.  However, after at least a dozen phone calls, the situation was far from stable.  Although some people may argue that the homeless problem is being dealt with in Eureka, the truth is that homelessness is often ignored, tolerated, and even encourage by the police, city government, and support services.  

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Remember, when you ask questions, you want to put numbers on the original paper so that your peer will know what the question applies to.  You want to aim for a goal of three question per paragraph.  And don't forget to only write in the left hand blocks (which are numbered for each paragraph) because the writer is going to answer the questions in the right hand blocks before he/she revises.  

Also, don't forget to

1) Avoid yes/no questions.  Instead, ask "how" questions.

2) Avoid mean spirited or sarcastic questions.

3) Avoid simplistic questions that you can simply fix on the draft.

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