Some Final Checklists to Consider

The writers of our textbook were kind enough to provide us with a number of checklists to use for reviewing the final draft of your research paper. I would suggest tackling these one at a time to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Voice and Tone

The language used in your essay, your “voice,” is another facet of your paper that is determined by your audience and purpose. (See pages 266–267.) Following are some things to ask yourself when you revise your paper:

❐ Does the tone that I use relate to the audience and purpose of this paper?

❐ Did I use active voice?

❐ Did I eliminate the use of slang, jargon, or inflated, overly formal language?

❐ Do I explain the use of all specific terminology or subject-specific references?

❐ Do I write with authority?

❐ Do I eliminate the use of sexist or other discriminatory language?

Introduction

Good introductions set the tone for your paper. Unfairly or not, since they are the first your reader sees of your writing, they may influence your reader more than anything else you say in the paper. Many readers, you, I am sure, included, have put aside reading very worthy essays because the introduction didn’t interest them or misinformed them about the content of the paper. Thus, it is especially important that you now review your introduction and ask yourself some questions about it. For more information about introductions, see page 203 and page 268.

❐ Is my introduction clearly written?

❐ Does my introduction serve to interest or excite my reader?

❐ Is my introduction written in a lively style?

❐ Does my introduction give the reader an accurate idea of what I will be doing?

❐ Does my introduction end with a clearly focused thesis?

Conclusion

Conclusions are your last moment alone with your reader, be he or she your teacher, a stranger, or your best friend. Thus, you want the conclusion to leave the reader thinking about your essay and the points you have made. Don’t introduce any new material in your conclusion. You have no space to develop it, and you will just confuse your reader. Use the conclusion to sum up and put what you have written in a larger context—for example, if you have written about your school, the conclusion may take the reader to the city’s schools, to the nations, and so on. For more information, see pages 207 and 271.

❐ Is the main idea of your essay clear in the conclusion?

❐ Have you succeeded in summarizing your main points?

❐ Is there a sense of completion in your conclusion?

❐ Have you checked to see that there is not any new information in your conclusion?

Evaluating Sources

As we discussed in Chapters 5 and 7, it is not enough to locate and copy sources. They must be used appropriately, punctuated correctly, and linked to the topic sentence of the paragraph through the use of transitional introductions (“sandwiching”). Check over your quotations by asking yourself the following questions:

❐ Is there a topic sentence in the paragraph?

❐ Does the writer introduce the quotation and blend it into the paragraph?

❐ Is the direct quotation put in quotation marks and punctuated correctly?

❐ Is there a clear paraphrase of the quotation?

❐ Has the writer analyzed the quoted passage and connected it to the topic sentence?

❐ Does the source have authority?

Documenting Your Sources Using MLA Style

Documenting your sources shouldn’t be difficult if you understand what you are citing and copy the form accurately. See Chapters 8 and 9 for more information on doing a Works Cited list. Ask yourself the following questions to help you check your in-text documentation:

❐ Does your documentation follow all of the MLA guidelines exactly?

❐ Are the sources listed alphabetically?

❐ Are all titles correctly identified by italics or quotation marks, as shown in the appropriate model?

❐ Do you have in-text citations for all references to sources?

❐ Are all of the sources in the in-text citations listed in the Works Cited list at the end of the paper?

❐ Is everything spelled correctly?

Also, consider using these proofreading strategies.

Proofreading Strategies

Here are some ways to proofread. Pick one or more when you read over your paper.

 

1. Take a blank piece of paper and move it slowly down the paper, from beginning to end.

2. Take a blank piece of paper and move it slowly up the paper, from the end to the beginning.

3. Read your paper aloud, slowly.

4. Read through your paper again, focusing on those areas that you know you have trouble with.

5. Read your paper to a friend.

6. Do all of the above, put your paper aside, and proofread it again a day later.