Checklist for global revision (for reviewers)

• Does the draft accomplish its purpose-to inform readers, persuade them, entertain them, call them to action?
• Is the draft appropriate for its audience? Does it account for the audience’s knowledge of the subject, level of interest in the subject, and possible attitudes toward the subject?

• Do the introduction and conclusion focus clearly on the central idea?
• Is the thesis clear? Is it prominently placed? (See “Testing a working thesis,” p. 26.)
• If there is no thesis, is there a good reason for omitting one?
• Are any ideas obviously off the point?

• Are there enough organizational cues for readers (such as topic sentences and headings)?
• Are ideas presented in a logical order?
• Are any paragraphs too long or too short for easy reading?

• Is the supporting material relevant and persuasive?
• Which ideas need further development?
• Are the parts proportioned sensibly? Do major ideas receive enough attention?
• Where might material be deleted?

• Is the draft free of distracting shifts in point of view (from I to you, for example, or from it to they)?
• Is the dominant point of view—I, we, you, he, she, it, one, or they—appropriate for your purpose and audience?

Go to related page: Making global revisions