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Online Guide to Writing and Research

Assessing Your Writing

The Draft Stage

The Revision Process and the Final Draft

Feedback is diverse, which complicates the final revision process. Feedback can range from general, structural concerns to more detailed sentence-level concerns. It can also involve content, suggesting more content in one part of your paper and less in another. Though all feedback can be relevant and helpful, addressing it will change your paper in unexpected ways. For this reason, a final revision is important.

When you review your final paper one more time, you should be able to answer “yes” to the questions in the following checklist.

 Checklist for Revising the Final Paper
Addressing the Assignment 
  Did I demonstrate that I understood the requirements of the assignment? 
  Does my final draft have all the parts required for my assignment? 
  Did I demonstrate an understanding of the skills and techniques needed to complete this assignment? 
  Did I demonstrate that I understood the readings relevant to this assignment? 
  Did I demonstrate an understanding of the concepts and methods in the discipline associated with the topic for my class? 
Content/Substance 
  Does my final draft have an introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, and a conclusion? 
  Does the content of my paper clearly address my assignment? 
  Did I use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries appropriately? 
  Are my citations and references in the correct style required by my assignment? 
Organization 
  Is the order in which I have presented my information logical? 
  Are my introduction and conclusion clear and related? 
  Does my organization pattern reflect my critical thinking strategy? 
Style 
  Have I provided transitional material, connecting my paragraphs to each other and to my thesis? 
  Is my style readable and coherent? 
  Is the tone expressive and consistent? 
Diction 
  Do my word choices precisely convey my intended meaning? 
  Are my tone and diction appropriate to my audience? 
  Is my vocabulary appropriately formal or informal for this assignment? 
Format 
  Is my formatting appropriate and conventional for this assignment? 
  Does my formatting promote understanding? 
  If there are graphics or figures, do they contribute to understanding? 
Correctness/Mechanics 
  Is my paper free of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors? 
  Did I use standard English? 


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Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing