General
Revision Guide for Writing Papers
| Under
each heading below, you will find a list of questions to help
guide your revision process. Please read the warning to the
right before using this guide. |
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Warning:
This guide is appropriate for most paper assignments.
Be sure that you are following any specific writing guidelines
set out by the instructor of your course. In addition, be aware
that some of the tips are appropriate to papers using one source
while others are intended for multiple source papers. The advice
offered under paragraphs, about paraphrasing and quoting, for
the works cited page, and for grammar and mechanics should apply
to almost all papers and reports. |
Introduction:
Does the
introduction introduce the necessary elements? If the paper requires
you to respond to one or two readings, articles, or other sources,
does the introduction mention the title of each of these sources
and their author’s names (including first and last)?
Does the introduction take the reader gently
from his or her external world into the world of your paper? Check
to see if the opening sentence of the paper presents the topic
in too abrupt a fashion.
Does the
introduction clearly state your main thesis in specific terms?
See thesis
statements and essay maps link.
See webpage
titled "Methods
for Introducing a Paper" for some examples of how to
introduce a paper.
For
Summaries and Reports:
(Ask
yourself these questions If the body of the paper calls for a summary
or if the paper itself is a summary---a report where you are not
required to give your opinion)
Does the
summary include a statement of the main argument/thesis of the
article or information you are summarizing?
Does the
summary cover the main points of the article, leaving out unnecessary
detail?
Does the
summary reference the author where needed to remind the reader
that this section relates this author’s ideas and opinions?
Does the
summary use paraphrasing that’s sufficiently different from
the phrasing in the original?
Quotations:
If you are
required to include quoted material in your summary or other portions
of your paper, see the page “Using
Quotations”
Are the quotations
integrated? Do some quotations appear integrated using a signal
phrase while others incorporate a short phrase into the grammar
of the sentence? In other words, are there a variety of quotation
methods used?
Are the signal
phrases varied? Signal phrases are words and phrases such as "According
to . . . " or verbs such as argues, asserts, or
claims.
If required,
Does the paper use in-text citation after tightly paraphrased
material or after quotations? Make sure to check out the appropriate
method of Documentation.
See St. Martin’s
Handbook Ch. 17 and 18.
Paragraphs:
Does each
paragraph have a topic
sentence(s) that clearly relate the topic of the paragraph?
Does each
sentence in the paragraph clearly relate to this topic sentence
(in other words, is the paragraph unified?)
To create
a topic sentence and to check for topic sentences and to check
for unity and coherence, use the following steps:
Read a
paragraph and then put a short phrase or word in the margin
that captures the main topic of the paragraph and the purpose.Do
this for the rest of the body paragraphs.
Then check
each paragraph to make sure that it contains a sentence (probably
towards the beginning of the paragraph) that relates this topic
you wrote in the margin.
If the
paragraph does not clearly contain a sentence relating this
topic to the reader, add one.
Then check
each sentence in the paragraph to make sure that they all relate
clearly to the topic written in the margin. Sometimes, you will
find that while the first sentence does relate, the rest of
the paragraph does not. At times, the purpose and topic that
you intended when beginning the paragraph changed as the paragraph
developed. Through rewriting and revising, try to tame the paragraph
so that it becomes unified. At times, this means getting rid
of material. At other times, it means redrafting the topic sentence
to better fit the other sentences. And yet still at other times,
unifying will require adding sentences that better focus upon
the topic of the paragraph.
Do paragraphs
transition between one another? Do these transitions vary? Avoid
using the same transition strategy between every paragraph. Does
the transition seem clumsy and obvious or does it integrate smoothly
into the other sentences?
Do transitions
appear between sentences within the paragraph? Are these transitions
appropriate? See pages 126-7 in the St. Martin's Handbook for
a list of transitions.
Support
and Reasoning: (some of these will not apply if you are
writing a summary or report)
Do body paragraphs
offer support through the use of examples, evidence, and reasoning?
If you are
required to agree or disagree with a source (an article, a reading,
or other written material that presents an opinion or argument),
Do body
paragraphs offer examples of the evidence and reasoning used
in the original source and also explain how these are or are
not convincing?
Do the
paragraphs explain successes or failures in the logic or reasoning?
Do body
paragraphs paraphrase or quote the original source, showing
the reader where the logic is successful or flawed?
Does the
paper reference the author of another source by last name during
paraphrase and quotation in order to distinguish his or her
ideas and opinions from your own?
In expressing
your own opinions, have you backed them up with reasoning or evidence
of your own? Are your examples specific? Is your reasoning sound?
Does it relate clearly back to the point under discussion?
Conclusion:
Does the
paper offer a conclusion? The conclusion can attempt to draw a
variety of opinions on various points into a whole, can summarize
the paper’s findings in a fresh way, can call for future
action based upon the findings in the paper, or can relate the
significance of discussing the problem. Make sure the conclusion
does not seem tacked on or overly repetitive.
Works
Cited:
Is there
a works cited page? If you are required to provide one in your
assignment and do not do so, this can be an instance of unintentional
plagiarism.
If you are
following MLA: Are the entries in alphabetical order? Have they
been indented using “hanging indent”? Are electronic
sources cited as such? Print sources?
Make sure
to check out the appropriate method of Documentation.
Grammar
and Mechanics:
Have you
reviewed the paper for the problems highlighted in any previous
paper comments?
Have you
proofread the paper? Try reading the paper backwards (not literally
backwards, but from end to beginning: read the last sentence of
the paper, then read the next-to-last, the penultimate, sentence,
and then the one before that). Reading backwards will help you
to see grammar and punctuation and usage problems without being
sidetracked by thinking about your argument or what you are trying
to say.
Check out
the Grammar
and Punctuation links and the other revision links provided
on this site.
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