Paper Checklist

1. Your introduction does not introduce the title(s) and author(s) of the primary (anything read or watched in class) texts. (In “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan…)
2. You announced your thesis (“This paper will…”-or- “I will discuss…”).
3. Your introduction does not include a thesis (The main point of your paper—reword the question you are answering from handout).
4. You did not cite or quote 2 OUTSIDE SOURCES (They can be found on the class blog or by doing your own research)
5. You cited or quoted unreliable outside sources (ie: Sparknotes, shmoop, wikipedia, cliffnotes, 123helpme, yahoo discussion boards etc.)
6. You plagiarized. You took info from an unreliable source or just took info and did not give credit.
7. You need to quote the primary texts in your paper (Anything we have read or watched in class).
8. Sources are not accurately documented, and MLA format is not attempted or followed properly.
9. Several awkward and/or unclear sentences; problems with word choice.
10. Essay contains too much research information without your own analysis.
11. Do not use “I” in your formal essays. No “I think”—just make the  statement.
12. You spent too much time retelling the story. A little bit of this is fine but you spent too much time on this. Just answer your essay question.
13. You misspelled character’s names, titles or the author’s name incorrectly.
14. You used quotes in your introduction or conclusion. Save them for the body paragraphs.
15. You have no works cited page.
16. “Short Stories” get quotation marks and Novels and Films get italics.
17. Never start or end a paragraph with a quote.