Essay #1 Editing Checklist
Style/Grammar/MLA
1 _____ Is the essay in third-person only (no use of “you” or “I”)?
2 _____ Are no contractions used (“does not” instead of “don’t”) and are no
sentences started with coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so,yet)?
3 _____ Is vocabulary precise and college-level (no words like “thing,” “stuff,” or
“kid”) and are present tense verbs and a variety of verbs used to introduce quotes?
4 _____ Are spelling and punctuation usage correct (no use of “their” when “there”
is meant; apostrophes are used correctly, such as “Gunn Allen’s mother” not
“Gunn Allens mother”) and no fragments or run-ons used?
5 _____ Is the punctuation before quoted passages, as well as the grammar within
quotations, correct (SV, “xxxx” or SVP: “xxxxx” or She explains that “[b]y the
end of this century English, and not Spanish, will be the mother tongue of most
Chicanos and Latinos” not “By the end of)”?
6 _____ Are MLA format, in-text citations, and the Works Cited page correct?
Content/Organization
7 _____ Does the introduction briefly explain who the author is/was, introduce the
topic of the author’s essay, tell when/where the essay was published, define ethos,
pathos, and logos, and present the thesis at the end of the introductory paragraph?
8 _____ Are the body paragraphs in order of ethos, logos, pathos and do they have
good topic sentences and use transitional phrases (“In addition to solid logos,
Walker effectively appeals to her audience’s emotions . . .”)?
9 _____ Do body paragraphs include at least three sandwiched quoted passages
that have top and bottom “buns” that introduce and explain how the quoted
examples effectively appeal to the writer’s primary audience?
10 _____ Does the conclusion paragraph wrap up the essay by doing more than
just restating the thesis? Is the impact or significance of the author’s essay
discussed?