Questions to ask yourself while revising:
Posted by kscott on March 6, 2007
Utilizing the same example we did in class while in groups, please make sure that you consider the following questions while revising your essay. If you cannot apply each of these questions to your essay, then you will able to identify weak areas within your text.
1) Identify the one-two sentences in your essay that explicitly states your thesis/argument.
2) How do you lead up to this argument/thesis; do you get to your thesis relatively quickly? Is the prose that comes before your thesis absolutely relevant to the understanding of your argument? If not, could you get rid of some or all of it and go directly into your argument?
3) Identify at least three uses of textual evidence within your essay and see if you are very explicitly explaining the relevance of this evidence to your overall argument/thesis.
4) Identify at least three examples that you are using within your essay; how are you using these examples? How does each example support the thesis/argument?
5) Locate your quotes – are you explaining the purpose, relevance and/or ways in which each of those quotes is relevant to your argument or helps support your argument?
6) Do you reiterate your argument/thesis within 1-2 sentences within your conclusion?
7) Does each and every paragraph speak explicitly to your thesis? Does each and every sentence lend support to your thesis?
