Mechanics Checklist--Use for Essay #1

1. Check spelling.
_____  Look for transposed letters.
_____  Look for words that are correctly spelled, but which are the wrong word.
_____  Look for omitted endings, especially –ed and –s.

2.  Check possessive forms.
_____  Be sure not to forget the apostrophe if you use a possessive.
_____  Don’t confuse its (possessive form) with it’s (contraction for it is) (see Helpful Hints, #7).

3. Check capitalization.

4. Check punctuation.
_____  Make sure all sentences have end punctuation.
_____  Check for comma splices (2 independent clauses run together either without conjunctions or adequate punctuation).
_____  Examine all semicolons for appropriateness.

5. Check to see that the title of your paper is in proper form.
_____  Make sure that major words are capitalized.
_____  Do not do any of the following:   underline your title, place it in quotation marks, use bold or italics, or capitalize each letter.

6. Check to see that titles of books, articles, plays, television programs, works of art, songs, and other works mentioned in your paper are properly handled.
_____  Titles of books, plays, movies, television programs, and other long or major works are underlined.
_____  Titles of articles, songs, individual television program episodes, and short poems are set between quotation marks.

7. Check to see that you have used quotation marks and parentheses properly and in pairs (the closing quotation mark and parenthesis are often forgotten).

8. Check the numbering of your pages.

9. Check subject/verb agreement.

10. Check agreement between pronouns and antecedents.

11. Check for dangling modifiers

12. Check for unintentional fragments.

13. Check for words or phrases that have been omitted from your text, or words that have been inadvertently repeated.  Try reading your essay out loud to yourself to catch these types of errors.

14.        Check for those errors you have found in your previous work.