Peer critique of intro & conclusion paragraphs

For class today, you should have posted to Blackboard a revised version of your research intro & conclusion; these paragraphs should be written in either a formal "journal" style or a more popular "magazine" style.

In groups of 3 or 4, read your groupmates' revised into & conclusion paragraphs and write a response to their Discussion Board post which answers the following questions:

• How well does the intro paragraph "contextualize the background" by establishing common ground between writer and reader? In what ways could the intro do a better job of drawing in a reader by giving necessary background information?
• How well does the intro paragraph state the problem or question that the writer's research addresses? In what ways could the intro be revised to introduce the research problem or question more clearly?
• How well does the intro paragraph sum up the writer's response or "answer" to the research problem/question? What research claim does the intro state, and how could the intro be revised to state this claim more clearly?

• How well does the conclusion re-state the essay's research claim (the response or "answer" to the stated problem or question)? How could the conclusion be revised to sum up this claim more clearly?
• How well does the conclusion raise a new significance or application of this research claim: in other words, how well does the conclusion move "above and above" the introduction? How could the conclusion be revised to offer something better, more significant, or more practical than the general claim made at the beginning of the essay?
• How well does the conclusion of the essay echo or even complement the introduction? How could the conclusion be revised to "tie up" the essay in a more artful way?

Feel free to add whatever feedback you have on your groupmates' intro and conclusion paragraphs. If this were your essay, how would you begin and end it?