Global Revision Checklist

• Have I fulfilled the needs of the assignment?
  

• Who is my audience? What rhetorical decisions have I made, considering that audience? (entire acadmic communit

• Do I convey the purpose and context of my paper in the introduction?

• Have I included a highly specific thesis?

• Why have I organized my paper the way I have? Is there any logic to it? How could I make the organization more progressive or sequential? If not, how have I organized my argument for maximum effectiveness? 
  

• Do I use topic sentences that show clear transitions from one paragraph to the next? Do my paragraphs stay focused on the one idea I present in my topic sentence? Does the closing sentence of each paragraph emphasize the purpose of the paragraph and/or tie back clearly to the overall argument of the paper?

• Is my argument consistent? Do any of my paragraphs introduce a concept or argument I did not prepare my readers for? Do all of the paragraphs “hang together” (cohere)?

• PIE: How do I support my arguments? Do the examples I give in the paragraphs illustrate the point I want to make? Have I used quotations for good reasons, or am I just filling up the paper? Do I explain thoroughly what each quotation illustrates? Is most of my paper analysis of the examples I present, or have I quoted too much?   
  

• Is my tone/voice consistent? Do I seem light-hearted in one place and deadly serious in another? Do I stay consistently in one tense (past or present) and point of view (third person)?

• Is my conclusion strong?  Does it answer the question, “so what” by giving broader implications of the argument?