Online Guide to Writing and Research

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

The Draft Stage

The Revision Process and the Final Draft

After you have revised your first draft, the major issues of content, organization, and style should be clearly worked out. This stage of assessment is necessarily at a higher level or is more general because you should expect to have addressed the more detailed aspects during the other stages of writing. When you review your final paper one more time, you should answer successfully the questions in the following checklist.

Checklist for Revising the Final Paper
Understanding the Assignment
____	Did I demonstrate that I understood the requirements of the 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 my discipline?
Content/Substance
____	Is the assignment complete?
____	Is the information appropriate for the assignment?
____	Did I use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries appropriately?
____	Are my citations and references in the correct style for my discipline?
Organization
____	Is the order of the information logical?
____	Are the introduction and conclusion clear and related?
____	Does the organization pattern reflect my critical thinking strategy?
Style
____	Do the transitions clearly act as verbal signals?
____	Do I use logical connections and summarize when necessary?
____	Is my style readable and coherent?
____	Is the tone expressive and consistent?
Diction
____	Are my tone and diction appropriate to my audience?
____	Is my English clear and emphatic?
____	Is my vocabulary appropriately formal or informal for this assignment?
Format
____	Is the format appropriate and conventional for this assignment?
____	Does the format of the assignment promote quick, clear understanding?
____	Do the graphics clarify the text?
Correctness/Mechanics
____	Is my paper free of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors?
____	Do I use standard English?
____	Do I use appropriate typography for the final printing?

Print Checklist

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