Academic Writing
Academic Writing Checklist
This is a checklist to help you organise and edit your essays and written work. Before you start writing your paper you will probably have discussed the title of your essay with your tutor. A title with a clear focus will make it easier for you to write a coherent, well developed essay.
When you have written the first draft of your essay, you will need to ask yourself the following questions: Introduction: ü Do I have clear relevant opening sentences? (The first few sentences can be used to capture the reader’s attention. Opening sentences in an academic essay sometimes do this by: a. Stating the importance of the subject
b. Mentioning previous work done on the subject
c. Pointing out the absence of such work as a justification for dealing with the subject) ü Do I have a clearly focused thesis sentence that is relevant to the title of the essay? (A thesis sentence brings out the central theme of the essay) ü Do I have a plan of development that is clearly linked to the thesis sentence? (A plan of development contains a sentence or a few sentences that signpost the sequence of material in the rest of the essay. This gives the reader some understanding of the order in which ideas are developed in the rest of the essay.
The Body: ü Do I develop the arguments in the body in the way I specified in the plan of development? ü Does each paragraph have a topic sentence? Do I provide enough supporting detail for the points I have made? ü Are my illustrations and examples brief and to the point? ü Do I move smoothly from one point to another? Have I used appropriate discourse markers to signal my transitions? (Discourse markers are used to signal the development of ideas in the essay. Examples of discourse markers are words such as ‘in addition, furthermore, however, on the other hand’) ü Have I effectively incorporated materials from my reading into the essay? (A mixture of summary, paraphrase and short quotations is usually an
This is a checklist to help you organise and edit your essays and written work. Before you start writing your paper you will probably have discussed the title of your essay with your tutor. A title with a clear focus will make it easier for you to write a coherent, well developed essay.
When you have written the first draft of your essay, you will need to ask yourself the following questions: Introduction: ü Do I have clear relevant opening sentences? (The first few sentences can be used to capture the reader’s attention. Opening sentences in an academic essay sometimes do this by: a. Stating the importance of the subject
b. Mentioning previous work done on the subject
c. Pointing out the absence of such work as a justification for dealing with the subject) ü Do I have a clearly focused thesis sentence that is relevant to the title of the essay? (A thesis sentence brings out the central theme of the essay) ü Do I have a plan of development that is clearly linked to the thesis sentence? (A plan of development contains a sentence or a few sentences that signpost the sequence of material in the rest of the essay. This gives the reader some understanding of the order in which ideas are developed in the rest of the essay.
The Body: ü Do I develop the arguments in the body in the way I specified in the plan of development? ü Does each paragraph have a topic sentence? Do I provide enough supporting detail for the points I have made? ü Are my illustrations and examples brief and to the point? ü Do I move smoothly from one point to another? Have I used appropriate discourse markers to signal my transitions? (Discourse markers are used to signal the development of ideas in the essay. Examples of discourse markers are words such as ‘in addition, furthermore, however, on the other hand’) ü Have I effectively incorporated materials from my reading into the essay? (A mixture of summary, paraphrase and short quotations is usually an