Minithemes
"No sooner do we come into this world than bits of us start to drop off." -- Gustave Flaubert
Minitheme Editor Comment Sheet and Checklist
There will only be one peer review per book. Submit your filled-out sheet(s) along with your final minitheme. See "Elements of a Solid Minitheme" (click here) and these "Sample Minithemes" (click here) for more assistance.
Editor's (YOU, the person filling out this form) Name:
Writer's Name:
Please answer the following questions for each minitheme you read. The best way to do this is to copy and paste these questions into a Word document.
Write "Y" or "N" in the space provided and expand whenever necessary.
1. _____Does the minitheme prove through wide-ranging page references that the text was read in full? If the MT is a rough draft, does the writer prove that he/she read the entire allotted amount through his/her use of page numbers? (You will receive no credit on your rough and final draft, if it does not. Similarly, you will receive no credit on your final draft if it does not cover the entire text). Explain:
2. _____What is the thesis? State it in your own words:
3. _____Is the argument/thesis about the text too obvious/simplistic? Explain:
4. _____Is there one single, coherent argument (thesis) evident throughout the minitheme? Explain:
5. _____Does the MT repeat what was said in class, or what was written by another student?
6. _____What would improve the writer's minitheme? Be specific and concrete in your response:
7. _____Is the MT too short to be convincing? Is it longer than 350 words? Explain:
8. _____Is there too much summary of the text and too little argument?
9. _____Is the MT concise and professional in tone? Explain:
10. _____Does each quotation have a signal phrase (according to Malcolm X, ". . . "), avoiding just dumping quotations in the essay? Is the MT correctly formatted? See the website for more information. Explain:
11. _____If the student defines a word in the MT, does it sound like the language was stolen from a dictionary? See plagiarism information on the website.
12. _____Has the minitheme's author taken any quotation out of its context? Explain:
13. _____Are there logical transitions between paragraphs? Are there incoherent paragraphs that need to be revised? Explain: