At least FIVE DRAFT PAGES OF YOUR RESEARCH ESSAY. The more of the paper you have written the better, because the more you can ask about.
A minimum of THREE CONTENT QUESTIONS; that is, three or more questions relating to subject matter, organization, transitions, introduction and conclusion, use of sources (quotation and paraphrase). These questions should not be general and immature (e.g., “Is my organization good?”; “Does my conclusion work?” They SHOULD inquire about specific concerns: e.g., “I have placed most of the counterargument on the second page (after the introductory and background material), but I am wondering if perhaps I should hold off on it until later in the essay and present the fundamental strengths of my argument first?” or “On page 5, I have used a block quote from Perry because she is one of the respected experts in the field of medical nanotechnology at present; I also really like her phrasing, but I am concerned that the quote may be too long. Should I paraphrase parts of it or will that just break it up weirdly and take away from its impact?”
A minimum of THREE CORRECTNESS QUESTIONS; that is, at least three questions dealing with correctness issues from citation format to grammatical structure to paragraph breaks. A good example of an effective question in this area would be “In two of my other essays, you marked a number of comma splices; though I think I am beginning to catch and correct these, I have a couple of long sentences which I have highlighted in the essay that I am worried may have this issue–could you tell me if they are a problem?”
