•Use spell check.

 •Circle words that might be wrong and look them up.

 •Consult the commonly mixed pairs list.

____ Does each sentence end with the correct punctuation mark?

____ Have you begun all sentences with a capital letter?

____ Check comma usage:

•Commas separate items in a series.

•Commas precede coordinating conjunctions (and, but, so, for or, nor, yet) in compound sentences.

•Commas DO NOT separate two complete sentences. (This is called a comma splice).

____ Have you used apostrophes to show possession or to mark contractions or to show missing numbers (as in ‘99)?

____ Is all dialogue or written conversation properly punctuated?

____ All proper names of people, places and things are capitalized.

____ Check subjects and verbs to see that they agree in tense and in number.

____ Do pronouns and antecedents agree?

____ Check for run-ons, comma splices and sentence fragments.

____ Have you written an appropriate title that reflects the main topic of your essay or paragraph?

____ Do all your paragraphs:

 •support the main thesis?

 •contain a topic sentence?

•contain only sentences (3-5) that support the topic sentence?

 •use effective transitions between ideas?

____ Have you read your paper out loud (or had it read to you) to listen for confusing wording or missing ideas?

____ Does your essay/paragraph meet the assignment requirements?

____ Does your assignment meet the format requirements found in The Falcon Skills & Style Handbook?