Use this checklist to determine whether or not your essay is finished and ready for your professor or publisher. If your answer to all of the questions below is "yes," you are finished; if not, you need to go back and revise.
- Does the title catch the reader's attention and prepare him for what is to follow?
- Are appropriate words in the title capitalized?
- Is standard punctuation form used in your title?
- Does the introduction establish the tone of the paper and prepare the reader for what is to follow?
- Is the main sentence in your introduction, the thesis statement, clearly stated and effectively achieved?
- Are the ideas in the composition arranged in appropriate order: chronological, spatial, etc.?
- Are transitions used to bridge thought gaps and to show logical connections between sentences and paragraphs?
- Is the whole composition written from a consistent perspective (point of view or vantage point)?
- Is a consistent tense used?
- Are main ideas evident, and are there a sufficient number of supportive details?
- Do all of the details support and amplify the thesis statement and indicate that you know your subject well?
- Is the conclusion definite, logical, and satisfactory, and does it provide a smooth, graceful ending for the composition?
- Are your words spelled correctly? Did you use a dictionary to check any questionable spellings?
- Is standard written English employed throughout the composition? Did you avoid slang, colloquialisms, and incorrect English (except, of course, in those place where you used nonstandard English for rhetorical effect)?
- Did you use correct punctuation?
- Are conventional rules of manuscript style observed (MLA, APA formats, etc.)?
- Are the sentences clear, concise, and semantically and syntactically correct--no fragments, run-on sentences, or comma splices?