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Essay Peer Review Checklist

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Essay Peer Review Checklist

Swap essays with a partner. Read the whole essay once for its overall argument, then reread it with this checklist. Be specific, respectful and useful: refer to a paragraph or phrase, explain the effect, and suggest a next step. If you are using the sample essay below, answer about that sample.

A short sample to practise on

Read this original sample paragraph before answering Questions 1–4. Social media can make public debate feel immediate, but speed does not always produce understanding. In the novel *The Quiet Feed*, Mara sees a clipped video of a protest and shares it before checking its source. The verb “clipped” suggests that the footage has been cut away from its wider context, while Mara’s quick action shows how easily urgency can replace judgement. However, the novel also presents online spaces as places where people can find support. Through this contrast, the writer suggests that digital platforms are not simply harmful; their effects depend on how people use them. This idea is relevant today because audiences need to question what a post leaves out, not only what it shows.

1.Which sentence in the sample gives its main argument? Copy or accurately paraphrase it, then explain what position it takes.

2.Does the sample use evidence and analyse it, or does it merely retell events? Choose the strongest assessment and support it with one detail.

It mainly retells events, with no explanation of language.
It uses a specific detail and explains how the writer’s language and characterisation support an idea.
It makes a claim but provides no textual detail.

3.Find one cohesive device in the sample (for example, a transition or linking phrase). What relationship between ideas does it signal?

4.True or false: The sample’s evidence is integrated into the writer’s reasoning, and the paragraph explains the significance of at least one language choice.

Review your partner’s essay

Use the questions below to review the essay you have been given. Quote or identify a precise example wherever possible. If a criterion is not relevant to the task, explain why rather than marking it down.

5.Thesis and line of argument: Which option best describes the essay’s thesis? Select one, then write the thesis in your own words and identify one way the body paragraphs do or do not develop it.

6.Evidence and analysis: Identify one quotation, example or textual detail. Does the writer explain how it supports the claim? Record the evidence and describe one useful next step if the analysis needs development.

7.Perspective and interpretation: If the task requires more than one critical perspective, name the perspectives the writer uses and point to where they appear. If it does not, explain how the essay develops a nuanced interpretation instead.

8.Academic expression: Copy one sentence that is effective or difficult to follow. Explain why, then suggest a specific revision if one is needed. Check sentence boundaries, punctuation and pronoun references as you reread.

9.Cohesion: Find a point where the essay moves between paragraphs or ideas. Is the relationship between those ideas clear? Suggest a transition or explain why the current connection works.

10.Strength and revision priority: Name the essay’s most convincing feature and the single revision that would improve it most. Support each judgement with a specific example.

11.Write one feedback comment directly to the writer using this structure: “One effective choice is ___ because ___. A useful next step is ___.” Make both parts specific to the essay.