Commenting Prompts

When you comment on your peers' stories, I would like you to answer these questions.

Overall, what is the best quality/characteristic of this story? It could be its characters, the conflict, the resolution, the description of the setting, the story arc, use of dialogue, etc. Use specific details and references to the story (quotes from the story/textual evidence) to fully explain yourself.

What is the story's theme? What details does the author include throughout that leads to the fully expressed theme in the end? (Give examples of how you see the theme in the beginning, middle and end of the story; if you don't, comment that you don't see examples in a section)

What is your personal reaction to the story? How do you feel after reading it? What do you remember? What images do you see? What did you learn about the situation/place/conflict? (You don't have to answer all of these, just write a paragraph of reflection/reaction to the story)

What was your favorite part of the story? Pick a line that you liked, put it into the comment box, put quotes around it, and explain what it was about it that stood out to you.

If the author were to make this better, they could... (finish this statement with as much specific detail as possible)

Each of your answers should be a paragraph or so in length (this means you will be writing five answers/ five paragraphs).  You need to use proper spelling and grammar when writing your answers/critiques of your classmates' writing.  You will be picking one story to comment on and you will be randomly assigned another (this means you will write full comments on two different people's stories).  Make sure your comments, even if they are more critical, are phrased in a positive manner.  Be as specific as possible in your comments, both for your commenting grade and for the benefit of the author.

You need to have your comments done by Friday, before class begins.

content adapted from http://bgexemplar.blogspot.com