Three things are critical for a writing workshop to succeed:

• First, trust.  The workshop is a safe environment.  You can trust fellow students to respect your writing, to act professionally, and to critique your work only in a productive way.  The workshop will focus on your writing sample and your project, not you as a person.
• Second, attitude.  It is important that you approach the workshop with a positive attitude.  It is not a competition.  We are here to learn from each other, to help each other out.  You’ll be surprised to see how much you can learn from the process of critiquing others’ work and from hearing what others have to say about your work.
• Third, participation.  The success of the workshop depends on students’ willingness to talk to each other.  If you don’t see a problem or area of concern, then offer a compliment.  If you don’t understand a particular sentence or a particular word, let the author know.  Silence is the hardest thing for an author to hear in a workshop!

GROUND RULES
1. The author will send the writing sample to class members by email by 5:00 pm the evening before class.  S/he will also come to class with 19 copies of the writing sample.
2. In class, the author will explain the context of the sample and then read it out loud (or ask the professor to read it). 
3. All students (aside from the author) will have the opportunity to make a comment on the writing sample BEFORE the author has a chance to respond.
4. Students and author will engage in a discussion of the writing sample and the broader project.
5. A time-keeper will announce when 15 minutes have passed and we will move onto the next author.
 

ARGUMENT
What is the central question or set of questions the author is trying to answer?  What is the issue about which there is disagreement?

What is the author’s position?

What is (are) the opposing position(s)?  How are they presented?

Is the introduction effective?
 

EVIDENCE
What kind of evidence does the author use to back up his/ her claim?

Does the author cite sources correctly?
 

EXPRESSION
What are the paragraphs like in general?

What are the sentences like in general?

What kinds of words are used?  What are the key terms?

What sentences seem redundant?

Where does the reader get confused?