Highlight the thesis statement

Does the thesis give you a clear picture of the situation and the focus of the argument? Does the reader know what this paper will be about?

TOPIC/TRANSITION SENTENCES

Highlight the topic sentence of each body paragraph sentence should be general – if

sentence includes detail note on side of paper

The second (and subsequent) body paragraphs should also include a transition (pull from prior paragraph)

WORD CHOICE

Circle the word there if it begins a sentence.

Circle the “be” verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been

NUMBERSLook for all numbers in the paper. If any are incorrect, highlight them.Spell out a number that begins a sentence.Spell out a number that expresses order (i.e. first, second, third, etc.)Spell out a number that tells how many if it is one or two words. If it is longer than two words, write it numerically.Use numerals to express numbers in conventional situations (like percentages, dates, addresses, times, etc.)

FORMAT

Check for MLA formatting—this should be the easiest part of your research paper grade! Make any corrections with a red pen.Margins should be 1” (Allow Word to autofix “orphan” lines)4-line heading (First Last, Mrs. Stewart, English II PreAP, Date [6 December 2012])Double spaced (with no extra lines between paragraphs)Header (in same font—Last name and page #)

CITATIONSHighlight all parenthetical citations in your paper. Then check for……the period. It should go only after the parentheses. Not before and after. Not just before. Just after. Like this Mrs. Stewart is the weirdest teacher ever (“Weird Teachers”).…the titles. Titles must be capitalized! No, I don’t mean IN ALL CAPS. The major words should be capitalized like such The Social Network. Notice that the title was italicized because it’s a major work. If it’s an article title, it should be in “quotation marks.”

Works Cited/Citations

Make sure the first word of the citation matches the first word of the Works Cited entry.Do NOT list the url address (http://www.) on the Works Cited page.

Works Cited

Check page titleFormat Double-spaced Alphabetical order Hanging indent

Do all entries on the Works Cited page have at least one parenthetical citation in the paper?

POINT OF VIEW

Highlight ALL instances of first (I, me, my, we, our, us, etc.) or second (you, your, etc.) person. Unless the supporting evidence is anecdotal, eliminate these from your paper.

CONTRACTIONS

Search for any contractions in your paper and highlight them when you spot ‘em. Uncontraction these. Okay, so that’s not a word, but you know what I mean.

CONJUNCTIONS

Many English teachers say to not start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) because it often leads to a sentence fragment. There is really nothing wrong with starting with a conjunction if used correctly. Double-check any sentence starting with a conjunction.**Hint: the most common sentence-starting conjuctions are “and,” “but,” and “so.”

GENERAL TYPOS

If you haven’t already, switch papers with someone else.Read carefully for general typos, spelling and punctuation errors, etc.Mark in red ink.