Checklist for Written Work

• Does your subject match the assignment?
• Is it relevant to the course material? Significant? Important?
• Is it suited to the paper's length? Too broad or too narrow?
• Is it clearly formulated as a central question, issue or thesis?
• Is the title specific, appropriate and effective?

• Do you report honestly what you have read and observed?
• Do you offer relevant material to illustrate, support and develop your ideas?
• Are your illustrations and references clear, accurate and effective?
• Do you use quotation, paraphrase and summary accurately and not too much?
• Do you accurately identify your sources?

• Do you understand the material, or are you offering a hasty reaction, casual opinion or misinterpretation?
• Are you independent and imaginative, or do you use clichés and a conventional approach?
• Is your thinking clear or vague? Logical or illogical? Objective or biased? Penetrating or superficial? Convincing or unconvincing?

• Is your introduction inviting and thought - provoking? Does it say too little or too much?
• Are your paragraphs too short or too long? Are they unified, coherent and well-developed? Are they relevant to the subject or thesis?
• Does each paragraph follow the preceding one logically with good transition?
• Is your conclusion relevant and effective?
• Does your composition thoroughly answer the question, explore the issue or prove the thesis?

• Is your choice of words precise or inaccurate? Fresh and lively, or dull?
• Have you made any grammatical errors?
• Is each sentence clear, effective and economical, or awkward and ambiguous?
• Are successive sentences varied in length and wording?
• Does your writing style help clarify your thoughts, or does it confuse and distract the reader?

• Is your paper neat, clean, orderly and legible with adequate margins and numbered paper?
• Are spelling and capitalization accurate and consistent?
• Are direct quotations properly introduced, spaced and punctuated?
• Is the punctuation appropriate and accurate?
• Are page references and footnotes supplied in proper form?
• Is a bibliography, if required, supplied in proper form?
• Have you proofread carefully and made necessary corrections?

Friday, July 14, 2006 03:41:01 PM