English 1A
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:  

How have GMOs affected my community?  I live in a small town that is surrounded by cow pastures.  It's a pretty small town, and a visitor might think that there's no way that GMOs have yet affected this picturesque, Victorian village.  However, that's not the case.  There are plenty of ways that they have.  GMOs are being used in the dairy industry, in the agricultural industry, and in food sold in the stores.  One way that GMOs have definitely affected me is in the coming election.  In spite of the apparent drawbacks, citizens should vote for GMOs because of the wide array of positive effects they are having on local communities such as mine.

Directions: 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.

Holper Home  |  Writing  |  Library  |  English Department Home  |  CR Home