Writing assistance
"No sooner do we come into this world than bits of us start to drop off." -- Gustave Flaubert
Questions to Ask About an Essay Based
on the Composition Pyramid
Assignment
- Have you met the requirements of the assignment?
Voice
- Have you set the tone and mood of your essay and kept it constant?
- Is the tone you have set suitable for your audience?
- What emotions/feelings are you trying to get across (if any)?
- Are you getting your point across without putting down other views?
- Are you consistent throughout with verb tense (past, present, future) and point of view (first person, second person, etc.)
Purpose
- Why are you writing this?
- What is your thesis?
- What point are you trying to get across?
- Are your reasons for writing clear to the reader?
Focus
- Does your content go along with your thesis?
- Is your subject too narrow or too broad? Specific enough but not too specific?
- Will you have enough supporting evidence?
- Is your paper clear and organized?
- Does your focus keep the reader's attention?
- While doing research, did you conduct any interviews or consult any outside sources about your topic?
Audience
- Who is your audience?
- What are their values, background, intelligence?
- Will your audience be interested and will they understand?
- Is there enough rich content to keep your audience's attention?
- How is your audience similar to or different from you in terms of values, background, etc.?
Organization
- Do your paragraphs stick to the point?
- What pattern of organization have you followed? (chronological, cause and effect, etc.)
- Does your method of organization function as an "easy to follow road map?"
Relationship between main ideas
- Does your paper have smooth transitions between paragraphs and main ideas?
- Do your ideas flow in a logical order?
Introduction and Conclusion
- Does your conclusion echo your main idea and give your reader something to think about?
- Does your introduction grab your reader/get his or her attention?
Style
- Is your style appropriate to your focus, purpose, and audience?
- What influenced your decision to write in this particular style?
- Do you vary your sentence structure and word choice?
- Does your style make the writing come alive to your audience?
Grammar and Mechanics
- Does your writing follow demands of standard written English?
- Have you cited sources and included a works cited page?
- Are your ideas and the ideas of others clearly distinguished?
- Does your paper follow the proper MLA format?