1. Do I include a title that appropriately/creatively acknowledges the content of my paper? Are the necessary words in the title capitalized?

YES

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YES

NO

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NO

2. Do I open my paper with an inventive/creative hook that engages my reader and establishes the context of my topic?

YES

NO

3. Do I capably transition from the hook to the academic argument I forward in this paper’s introduction? AND, do I inject a summary of the two texts I have brought together for comparison?

YES

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YES

NO

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NO

4. Do I provide a thesis statement at the end of my introduction that previews the main idea of my argument and the related supporting points? Have I revised the thesis to be academic, not relying on “I” language that reveals me as a student writing a paper for a class?

YES

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YES

NO

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NO

5. Do I develop strong and clear topic sentences for each body paragraph and do I provide logical transitions between these paragraphs, guiding my reader every step of the way?

YES

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YES

NO

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NO

6. Do I bolster my paper with relevant quotes or paraphrases from my two texts?

YES

NO

7. Do I effectively quote/paraphrase/summarize sandwich each time I inject language from one of my texts? In other words, do I introduce the source, link it to the source material with a signal phrase, represent the source material appropriately, provide parenthetical citation, and then offer a follow-up analysis?

Example: In Matthew Decker’s essay “How to Revise an Academic Paper,” he explains, “Actually listening to your instructor and taking notes are essential first steps to ensuring your paper is a good one” (2). His wise words have inspired many of his students to employ this strategy in other classes.

YES

NO

8. When I state the source’s name in the body of my paper, do I present the name in the traditional order: first name and then last? For example, “In Amy Tan’s essay…”

YES

NO

9. When I introduce a source title, do I remember to place only the title of short works within quotation marks—like “This is a Short Essay”—and to represent the title of books or films in italics—like Book Title?

YES

NO

10. Do I conclude my essay by creatively revisiting my hook, establishing a powerful bookend, and/or reestablishing my major claim and goals for my reading audience to consider as they conclude reading my paper?

YES

NO

11. Do I provide a properly formatted MLA Works Cited page that cites each of the sources discussed in my paper? Is this page presented in alphabetical order (by author’s last name or the title of the anonymous source)? Have I used 12-point TNR font? Are my citation models complete and properly italicized when necessary? Have I double-spaced this page and provided the hanging indent for each citation model?

YES

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YES

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YES

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YES

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YES

NO

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NO

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NO

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NO

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NO

12. Do I strictly avoid plagiarism in this essay? Do I also understand that any discovered plagiarism in this paper will automatically result in a failing grade à 0%?

YES

NO

13. Have I proofread this paper at least twice to ensure sentence-level clarity, fix spelling concerns, and adjust minor punctuation snags?

YES

NO