Essay Checklist

1. Is the topic you have chosen to write about manageable for the length of the paper you are writing?  Is it too narrow or too broad? 
2. Is your title engaging?  Does it suggest the approach you are taking in your paper? 
3. Does your first paragraph introduce your topic, name the writer and the work, and end with your thesis statement?  Will it get the reader's attention? 
4. Is your thesis clear?  Does it state the central idea of your paper? 
5. Is your paper organized in a way that your reader will be able to follow? 
6. Are your developmental paragraphs unified (everything in the paragraph relates to the topic of the paragraph) and coherent (everything in the paragraph is arranged in a logical order)? 
7. Have you used transitional words where necessary within each paragraph?  Are there transitions linking all the paragraphs of your essay? 
8. Does your concluding paragraph provide a sense of closure? 
9. Have you used technical terms correctly? 
10. Have you used brief summary, paraphrase, specific details, and direct quotations?  Have you explained why you are using them and how they support your central idea? 
11. If you have used information from sources outside the actual work of literature (for example, books of criticism), have you documented this information properly?  To provide documentation for literary papers, you need to use MLA documentation style, which can found in most English handbooks and in books on how to write research papers. 
12. Have you proofread your final draft? 

Find the full guide to Literary Analysis on Gwynedd-Mercy College's website: Click Here.