2-ch revising

CH 5 Revising


This chapter shows you how to take your written first draft and revise it into possibly your final draft. Read your paper for any content errors. Double check the facts and figures. Arrange and rearrange ideas to follow your outline. Reorganize your outline if necessary, but always keep the purpose of your paper and your readers in mind. The following is a checklist that should be used when revising your first draft.

1. Is my thesis statement concise and clear?2. Did I follow my outline? Did I miss anything?3. Are my arguments presented in a logical sequence?4. Are all sources properly cited to ensure that I am not plagiarizing?5. Have I proved my thesis with strong supporting arguments?6. Have I made my intentions and points clear in the essay?
Re-read your paper for grammatical errors. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus as needed. Do a spell check. Correct all errors that you can spot and improve the overall quality of the paper to the best of your ability. Get someone else to read it over. Sometimes a second pair of eyes can see mistakes that you missed.

1. Did I begin each paragraph with a proper topic sentence?2. Have I supported my arguments with documented proof or examples?3. Any run-on or unfinished sentences?4. Any unnecessary or repetitious words?5. Varying lengths of sentences?6. Does one paragraph or idea flow smoothly into the next?7. Any spelling or grammatical errors?8. Quotes accurate in source, spelling, and punctuation? 9. Are all my citations accurate and in correct format?10. Did I avoid using contractions? Use "cannot" instead of "can't", "do not" instead of "don't"?11. Did I use third person as much as possible? Avoid using phrases such as "I think", "I guess", "I suppose"12. Have I made my points clear and interesting but remained objective?13. Did I leave a sense of completion for my reader(s) at the end of the paper?