Essay 3 Revision Checklist
Essay 3 Revision ChecklistUse the checklist below to help you focus on the revision of your Essay 3 rough draft. Revision addresses the content and organization of your essay (not punctuation, spelling, grammar, format, documentation, etc.).
For each of the items below, rank your rough draft on a scale of 1-4:
4--Excellent, no improvement needed
3--Good, but it can be better
2--Weak at this point, needs major improvement
1--Nonexistent, unsure
As you work, mark up your rough draft as needed. Make notes. Draw lines and arrows. Circle things. As you have ideas, write reminders to yourself of what you can change or add.
1. _____ Introduction that provides context and leads the reader toward the thesis statement (about a third to half of a page long, counting the thesis statement).
2. _____ Clear thesis statement at the end of your introduction that summarizes the specific interpretation of the story and film (the theme that they illustrate). NOTE: Avoid thesis statements that simply summarize what happens. Recommendation: Underline your thesis.
3. _____ A topic sentence for each analysis paragraph (at the beginning of each paragraph) that sums up a major observation about the story and/or film that helps support your thesis statement. Recommendation: Underline each topic sentence to help yourself check. Then try reading each topic sentence together with the thesis statement.
4. _____ Support for each topic sentence that provides evidence from the story and/or film (relevant detail and/or quotation) and your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence. NOTE: You may need to repeat this pattern more than once in a paragraph to support your topic sentence fully. Recommendation: Try to outline your body paragraphs using the Literary Analysis Outline linked from our course page.
5. _____ Multiple body paragraphs long enough to help your essay meet the length requirement of three full pages (including your introduction, analysis paragraphs, and a conclusion). NOTE: The minimum length for a body paragraph is half a page.
6. _____ Effective use of transitions and/or repetition to create coherence (a clear, logical "flow" of ideas) within paragraphs.
7. _____ Logical order for all of the body paragraphs in the essay.
8. _____ Effective use of transitions and/or repetition to create coherence between paragraphs.
9. _____ A conclusion that reinforces the thesis, echoes the introduction, and ends the essay on a strong note (about a third to half of a page long).