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Essay Revision Checklist
Part 1: Basic Requirements & Structure
Confirm that your name is written at the top of your paper.
Confirm that you have included in-text citations at the ends of sentences that contain information that you had to look up. Follow one of these formats: (Last name page number) or (Last name year).
Confirm that you have a works cited page that uses complete MLA or APA citations, not just links to your sources.
Check your paper for rhetorical questions. Replace these with statements.
Underline any quotes from other sources. If the quote lacks a signal phrase, mark that portion of the paper with an X. If you are reading a digital document, write [ADD SIGNAL PHRASE] before the quote.
Look at your signal phrases to identify redundancies.
Change "In 'The Article' (2020) by John Smith, he explains" to "In 'The Article' (2020), John Smith explains"
Replace any usage of "the article" or "an article" with the actual name of the article.
Match your grammatical subjects with your topical subjects. Replace vague pronouns (it, this, that, etc) with concrete words for the topic of the sentence.
Identify spots where you use the conditional tense (could be, would be) and reevaluate whether that's necessary. Consider changing to present tense.
Identify spots where you use gerunds and participles (-ings). Simplify awkward phrasing.
Example: "This is a problem that has been occurring for years" → "This problem has existed for years"
Look at your topic sentences. Does your topic sentence forecast everything that's in the paragraph? Is everything in your paragraph either an elaboration on your topic sentence or a piece of evidence that supports it? Mark places where you could separate paragraphs with the letter P.
Does the introduction of your essay forecast the contents of the rest of the essay? If not, write a new introduction that serves as a roadmap. Begin with the phrase "This essay will..."
Perform the Paramedic Method to eliminate passive voice and move the subjects of your sentences to the front.
Paramedic Method Reference
Part 2: Source Quality & Integration
Triple-check the quality of your sources using lateral reading practices. Next to each citation, write whether it is a primary, secondary, or tertiary source, and briefly explain why you believe that it is a scholarly source.
Check that .com websites are not commercial/advertisement sites
Verify no Gradesaver websites are used (helpme123, gradesaver, sparknotes, etc)
Check .org websites for political bias, organizational reputation, and academic usage
Verify .gov sources acknowledge bias and authors have relevant credentials
Ensure .edu sources are not blogs or newsletters (check for "blog" in URL)
Verify news sites are only used for describing events, not statistics or academic research summaries
Confirm sources were found using the Ferris library website (look for purple alien icon)
Using different colors, mark each source on your works cited page and highlight portions of your paper that contain facts, ideas, or arguments from each source.
Look at your colored-in paper. If you see mostly big blocks of color, find ways to make your sources talk to each other. Where do your sources agree, disagree, or connect? Explain your thoughts in the margins.
Identify opportunities to strengthen your writing using the concept of parallelism. In the margins, rewrite these passages using parallel structure.
Scan or take pictures of each page of your paper (which should be covered with edits and annotations from two days of workshopping). Upload these files to the Paper 1 Edits & Annotations assignment portal when you submit your revised essay.