When you write your last word in your essay, you
are usually not done. For a good writer, this will be followed by
several additional drafts that further refine and clarify the
controlling idea and the supporting arguments of the essay.
However, many beginning writers often have little
clue what to look for when they are trying to edit their own
writing. Their judgement can be clouded by a strong sense of
attachment that makes it difficult to view their writing objectively
and critically. After all, your writing is a lot like your new-born
baby.
Here’s an editing checklist I created to help you
check if you’ve covered the most important elements in your essay.
Be true, and be tough; look at your essay as if you are the reader
and not the writer. I hope it helps.
L’s
Essay Check List
Name:
______________________ Date: ___________________________
Title:_________________________________________________________________
The controlling idea of my
essay
is:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This is my thesis
statement:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
My controlling idea is
supported by the following 3 main ideas:
1.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The supporting details for
my first main idea (in body paragraph #1) are:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The supporting details for
my second main idea (in body paragraph #2) are:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The supporting details for
my third main idea (in body paragraph #3) are:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ESSAY Check List:
My introductory paragraph has a
clear controlling idea.
My introduction broadly indicates
what my main supporting ideas will be.
My body paragraphs all begin with
the topic sentence containing my single main idea for the paragraph.
I have provided sufficient support
for the main ideas in my body paragraphs.
I have included a concluding
sentence that restates the main idea for each body paragraph that
has more than 4 sentences. Shorter paragraphs often do not need a
concluding sentence.
My concluding paragraph clearly
restates the controlling idea of the essay.
My concluding paragraph briefly
summarizes my main ideas.
In this essay, I have:
no
one
two
three
four or more
too many compound sentences
no
one
two
three
four or more
too many complex sentences
no
one
two
three
four or more error(s) in Article Usage
no
one
two
three
four or more error(s) in Subject-Verb Agreement
no
one
two
three
four or more error(s) in Punctuation
no
one
two
three
four or more error(s) in Pronoun Usage
no
one
two
three
four or more error(s) in ____________________________________
no
one
two
three
four or more error(s) in ____________________________________
These are the three areas in
writing I need to work on improving:
1.
______________________________________________________________________________
2.
______________________________________________________________________________
3.
______________________________________________________________________________
My writing teacher has made
the following suggestions:
1.
______________________________________________________________________________
2.
______________________________________________________________________________
3.
______________________________________________________________________________
These are the areas in which
I have made good improvements and will continue to monitor:
1.
______________________________________________________________________________
2.
______________________________________________________________________________
3.
______________________________________________________________________________
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