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36 essay feedback examples

Good feedback names the spot, names the problem, and names the next move, in that order. These 36 comments are organized by the six problems that fill most margins. Swap in the line or paragraph reference and they are ready to use. Vague praise and vague alarm are both left out on purpose.

Thesis and claims

• "Your opening states a topic, not a position. 'Social media affects teenagers' is something everyone agrees with. What is your claim about the effect?"
• "I can find your thesis in paragraph 4. Move it to the end of paragraph 1 so the reader knows what the essay is building."
• "This thesis promises three points but the essay delivers two. Either cut the promise or write the third section."
• "Strong, arguable claim. A reader could disagree with this, which is exactly what makes the essay worth reading."
• "Your thesis and your conclusion argue slightly different things. Decide which essay you wrote and make the other end match."
• "Try the 'although' test: 'Although [the other side says X], [my claim].' If your thesis cannot survive that sentence, it is a summary, not an argument."

Evidence and support

• "Paragraph 2 makes a claim with no evidence behind it. One quotation or example here and the paragraph stands."
• "You quote well but only from the first half of the text. The counterexample in the later chapters is what your argument has to survive."
• "This statistic needs a source. Where did the number come from, and would your reader trust it?"
• "Three quotations in one paragraph, none discussed. Pick the strongest, cut the others, and spend the space explaining it."
• "Good instinct choosing this example. Now tell me why this one, of everything you could have picked."
• "Your evidence is all summary of what happens. Evidence for an argument is what the text says, quoted, at the moment it says it."

Analysis vs. summary

• "Paragraphs 2 and 3 retell the plot. I have read the book; what I have not read is your thinking about it."
• "After each quotation, add one sentence beginning 'This shows' and see what happens to the paragraph."
• "You describe what the author does. The next step is why it works, or why it fails, on the reader."
• "This is the strongest analytical move in the essay: you took a small detail and made it carry the argument. Do this in the other body paragraphs."
• "The ratio here is about 80 percent summary, 20 percent analysis. Aim for the reverse and the essay doubles in force at half the length."
• "You are so close: the quotation and your claim sit next to each other, but no sentence connects them. Write the bridge."

Structure and organization

• "Each body paragraph should open with a claim, not a fact. A reader skimming only your first sentences should still get the whole argument."
• "Paragraphs 3 and 5 make the same point. Merge them and use the space for the counterargument you mention but never answer."
• "This paragraph changes subject halfway through. Split it where you wrote 'Additionally.'"
• "The order is chronological, but your argument is not. Arrange by importance instead: strongest point last."
• "Your transitions are doing real work here. 'This same logic fails when' is exactly how paragraphs should hand off."
• "One-sentence paragraphs read as emphasis once, and as fragments after that. Fold these into their neighbors."

Conclusions

• "This conclusion restates the introduction with the sentences reordered. What does your argument let us see now that we could not see before?"
• "Do not apologize in the conclusion. 'While there is much more to say' undercuts everything above it."
• "The new idea in your final paragraph belongs in the body, argued, not in the conclusion, asserted."
• "Strong ending. You answered 'so what' without me having to ask it."
• "End on your idea, not on a quotation. The last word of the essay should be yours."
• "Cut the last sentence. Read what remains aloud; it already ended one sentence earlier."

Mechanics, as a pattern

• "One pattern to fix, not many errors: you join complete sentences with commas. See the marks in paragraphs 1 and 2, then find the other four yourself."
• "Your apostrophes are guessing. Rule of thumb for this paper: its = belonging to it, it's = it is."
• "Read the first sentence of each paragraph aloud. The ones that made you inhale twice need splitting."
• "Present tense for what a text does: the author argues, the scene shows. You drift into past tense on page 2."
• "The errors cluster in the final page, which tells me this is a drafting-time problem, not a knowledge problem. Budget one proofread for endings."
• "Mechanics are clean enough that nothing gets between the reader and the argument. That is the whole job; well done."

How to use these without sounding canned

• Always attach a location. The same comment with "paragraph 3" in it reads as attention; without it, as boilerplate.
• One action per comment. A comment with three instructions produces zero revisions.
• Keep the ratio honest: at least one specific strength named per paper, and it has to be real.
• Scorae drafts comments in this shape automatically, grounded in the student's actual sentences, and you edit before anything is returned. The bank above is also just yours: copy it into your own document and make it sound like you.