Proofreading Your Paper

1. Take a Fresh Look at Your Essay

• Read your writing out loud.
• Print your essay and read through it.

2. Assess the Organization

• Compare your draft to your outline if you wrote one.
• Do all your paragraphs relate to the thesis?
• Does your discussion follow a logical path?

4. Look at the Content in Your Essay

• Does the introduction match the body?
• Does each body paragraph make sense and focus on one specific point?
• Do paragraphs connect to one another through transitions?
• Does the conclusion provide a logical close and leave the reader with something to consider?

5. Check for Errors

Read through the paper several times, looking for just one thing at a time. To start, focus only on verb tense. Is it consistent and correct throughout? Then you could read and focus only on capitalization, for example. Use these questions to check for errors:

• Is the verb tense consistent throughout?
• Is the capitalization correct?
• Is there repetition?
• Are all words spelled correctly?
• Are the words specific?
• Is each sentence correct and clear?
• Are any of the paragraphs or sentences really long? Is it possible to break them up for clarity?
• Begin, keep, and use a list of the errors you typically make and only check for those errors.
• Take a final break from your paper, and then read it through one last time before turning it in.