Copy and paste the following into a Word document. Staple to the front of your essay.
Your Name: ______________________________________
Proofreading Checklist for Essay
I have checked my essay for the following (Please initial at the end of each bulleted item.):
- The heading is in the proper MLA format; there is no extra space.
- The header is in the top right corner. The header is in the correct font and size.
- The introductory paragraph has a clear, specific, focused thesis.
- The titles of the works I am discussing are written out in full with proper punctuation (upper-/lowercase), and within quotes as appropriate.
- I do not begin paragraphs with quotes.
- I do not state the obvious.
- The margins all around are one inch.
- I am not vague in my wording.
- There are no typos or misspellings.
- I have spelled the authors' names correctly.
- Commas are inside quotation marks.
- I have elaborated enough on the points I am making.
- My quotes are short (words and phrases; at most, one sentence).
- I have not written summary. I have analyzed (how and why effective).
- I have included parenthetical citations—the number of the page only.
- The period comes after the last parenthesis.
- I am not too wordy or chatty.
- I do not use slang.
- The quotes I include are understandable.
- The title of the essay is not a larger font or boldface or underlined.
- The entire essay is double-spaced with no extra space anywhere.
- I have used the literary present tense throughout.
- When I shorten the titles of texts within the essay, I do not include ellipses points.
- There are no run-on sentences or fragments.
- The essay meets the page requirement.
- I do NOT include too many quotes. Most of the essay is my commentary/ideas/elaboration.
- I have proofread the entire essay several times.
- I have made sure that I have not forgotten to include spaces when appropriate. For example, between the end of a quotation and the parenthetical citation.
- I have stuck to my thesis throughout. I have not digressed.
- I have reread the essay to make certain that all sentences are clear and not confusing.
- Someone else has assisted me by proofreading my essay for mistakes.
- My introductory paragraph is about five sentences.
- My body paragraphs are about seven sentences.
- If a Works Cited page is required, I have checked all formatting.
