The Writing Center

DECIDING WHAT TO WORK ON

Take a look at the following categories to make some decisions about revising your paper.

HIGHER ORDER CONCERNS

FOCUS

  • What is the writer’s focus?

  • Is it clear, fuzzy, or implied?

  • Is the whole paper on focus?

Score: 1 — 5 ?

DEVELOPMENT

  • Is the support the writer gives for the focus adequate, weak, strong?

  • Are there enough types of support (reasoning, examples, quotes, paraphrases, opinions)?

Score: 1 — 5 ?

ORGANIZATION

  • Do the paragraphs clearly work to support the focus?

  • Can you follow the overall organization?

  • Are individual paragraphs organized well and easy to read?

Score: 1 — 5 ?

LOWER ORDER CONCERNS

STYLE

  • Is the vocabulary adequate for a college-level paper?

  • Are the sentence patterns varied and interesting?

Score: 1 — 5 ?

MECHANICS

  • Spelling, punctuation, grammar–check for mistakes.

Score: 1 — 5 ?

 

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