EDITING SHEET:  After you have written a draft of your paper, revise your draft to make sure you can answer ‘yes” to each of the following questions. These questions should remind you of what you learned about writing/revising in your English classes.

1.  INTRODUCTION

    Does your introduction catch interest and lead clearly to your thesis?

    Does your introduction set the context for the paper?

     Do you have a clear thesis which states your main point about the subject of this paper?

     Does your thesis reflect careful thought about the paper’s subject?

2.      BODY PARAGRAPHS

      Does each body paragraph have a clear topic sentence which states the main point      of the paragraph?

Does each topic sentence connect the point of the paragraph clearly to the point of the previous paragraph?

       Have you developed the idea in each topic sentence through at least 6 to 8 sentences?         

       Have you used specific support for your points?

       Have you considered more than one way to view the issue in this paragraph?

3.        DOCUMENTATION

Have you included the author’s last name and page for all paraphrases and quotes from any sources used for this paper?  These should be put in parentheses at the end of the paraphrased or quoted material. Eg. (Mamet 257).

 4.   CONCLUSION

      Does your conclusion begin by restating your thesis?

      Does your conclusion explain how your thesis might relate to a more general truth about the subject of this paper?

      Does your last sentence make the paper sound “finished”?

5.    PROOFREADING

       Have you read your paper several times looking for the grammar mistakes you typically made in your English courses?    

Have you read your paper several times looking for the spelling errors you typically       make in your English courses?