When revising an essay, you will need to assess your own writing. Reviewing and evaluating your work before you submit the final version are important steps to ensure your essay is as strong and polished as possible. To effectively assess your writing:
Adopt an outsider’s perspective.
Since you wrote your essay, it probably already makes sense to you. Imagine yourself as a new reader who has never read your work. What questions might another person have?
Read your essay aloud.
When you have read your own essay several times, sometimes your eyes can skip over errors. Reading out loud helps you hear errors you might have missed.
If a section is difficult to read, that’s a good indicator that you need to rephrase your writing to be clearer.
Pretend to grade your assignment.
Put yourself in the role of the instructor and write comments on your paper. Reviewing previous comments from your instructor can be helpful as well.
Fill out the grading rubric (if provided) and make sure you meet all requirements.
Address overall questions about your writing.
Is your main point clear? Underline sections of your essay that show the main ideas.
Do you support your ideas with appropriate evidence? Put a check next to each source.
Are sources cited correctly? Check in-text citations and the Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) to prevent accidental plagiarism.
Is your essay clearly organized? Write a number by each body paragraph and rearrange any that are out of order.
Does your writing flow? If the ideas seem unrelated or the writing feels choppy, you may need to add to or improve your transitions. Check for transitions between ideas, both at the sentence level and paragraph level.
Do you use formal and proper language? Proofread one more time for any grammar or punctuation errors.
Assessing your writing is a great way to ensure that you are submitting your best work. Always plan ahead and give yourself time to complete this final step.
Guide created by: C. Jones 6/1/2021
Revised by: J. Brown 1/17/2024
The RVC Writing Center offers many resources to help you with these topics and all of your writing concerns. Titles of available resources can be found in the navigation bars along the left side of this page and/or by using the search bar. The Writing Center’s Resource Library can be accessed by using the following link:
If you still need assistance, please call (815) 921-2370 to make an appointment with an RVC writing coach.
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