Share- Read any instructions that have been provided.
- Pay attention to any suggestions or guidelines given by your professor in class.
- Clarify instructions for the paper with your instructor.
- Be sure you understand, not only the purpose of the writing assignment, but also the expectations in terms of length, accepted style for citing sources, and any requirements regarding the topic.
- Give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm ideas for a topic.
- Give yourself enough time for research - in the library, on the web, in your textbook or in individual interviews.
- Also, remember that if you leave the printing until last minute, the printer could crash in the middle of your job - do not do that to yourself.
- This sentence clarifies the purpose of your research - write it as an opinion statement about your topic.
- Getting this developed early on will help focus your research efforts.
- Be sure to keep good notes on the material you are using, so that you can easily and accurately cite your sources.
- This helps you organize the information you have collected so far.
- It also lets you see how ideas fit together, and helps you to identify gaps that need to be filled in with more research.
- Ultimately, because this step involves thinking critically about your topic, writing an outline helps you to understand your topic better.
- At this stage, it is important to start writing.
- What’s not as important is getting it prefect.
- Remember, this is your very rough draft.
- Judgments and criticism about your writing at this point only stifle your creativity.
- You need to let your paper sit for a day or two before you start to revise it.
- You should go through several drafts between your first rough draft and your final copy (remember to take breaks between revisions).
- The thesis statement is clear.
- The paper addresses/supports the thesis statement.
- The paper follows the thesis statement, and does not go off on a tangent.
- The main body of the paper is a series of paragraphs building support for the thesis statement.
- Paragraphs in the paper’s main body are in order of increasing importance
- Make the strongest point last. However, the paper should start with a relatively strong point.
- Ideas should flow smoothly from one to another and make appropriate use of transition phrases (e.g. furthermore, as such, therefore, in contrast).
- Ideas and arguments are presented in a clear, straightforward way - avoid the unnecessary use of jargon.
- The conclusion restates the thesis statement and points out the implications and importance of the points made in the paper.
- All sources are appropriately cited.
- There are no spelling or grammatical errors.
