Onions

Using an Essay Checklist

An essay checklist might be helpful in revising your essay. Print out the following checklist and

consider these important elements as you go through the revision process.

Checklist

Purpose: Does the paper conform to the assignment? Is the purpose consistent throughout the

document?

Thesis: Does the paper have a clear thesis statement? How soon does this statement appear?

Has the paper clearly followed the thesis? Has the thesis been fully developed throughout the

paper?

Structure: Do the main points of the essay support the thesis? Are the main points arranged

effectively and in the order mentioned in the thesis? (If not, sometimes it’s easier to change the

order of the thesis statement than to change the structure of the essay.)

Development: How well do the supporting information, details, quotations, and evidence

support the thesis? Are there parts of the essay where information is not quite convincing? Can

these points be strengthened?

Tone: Is the tone of the essay appropriate for the thesis? Is some of the essay weaker in tone

than other parts? Has colloquial language been eliminated?

Unity: Do sentences and paragraphs confirm the thesis? If not, can they be rewritten—or cut?

Coherence: Is the essay readable? Are parts of it rough, choppy, or awkward? (Read it aloud if

you’re not sure.) Could transitions create a more effective flow?

Title: Does the title indicate the content of the essay? Is it interesting?

Consider the following

elements:

A descriptive title is almost always appropriate

A clever or witty title is more appropriate for informal writing

The title should indicate the scope of the essay and apply to all parts of the essay,

not to a single section or sections

The title should not restate the assignment or the thesis statement or contain

Paper at the end of the title, i.e., not, Comparison and Contrast Paper, but,

Memos versus E-mail

Introduction:...