The Rough Draft

Now it is time to write your rough draft. Set aside ample time to write your rough draft in one sitting using your outline as a guide. It should be 4-5 pages in length. Format your paper using MLA guidelines. Once you have completed your rough draft, you will submit it to your instructor, who will then distribute it to a coursemate for a peer review. You will also receive a peer's rough draft so that you can practice reading and giving constructive feedback.

When you give comments, make sure that they are constructive in nature. In other words, your feedback should not only identify the strong and weak points in the paper but also offer suggestions for improving the paper. For example, you can say:

The introduction has a really good hook that makes me want to read the rest of the paper. The thesis, though, does not tell me what your specific opinion is on the subject. Consider taking a firm stance on the topic and writing that into your thesis.

Do you see how that comment offers a compliment as well as a suggestion as to how to improve a part of the paper?

Before you begin, review the Rough Draft Checklist to make sure that you include all of the items required for full credit. Also, use the checklist as a guide for making comments on your peer's rough draft.

First, complete and submit your rough draft to the dropbox. Once you have done that, your instructor will notify you as to how you will receive your peer's rough draft. After making comments on your peer's rough draft, please submit your constructive feedback to the dropbox.