This checklist indicates the main things which tutors consider when they are marking your work. It also provides you with a useful set of questions that you will find it productive to ask yourself when writing and re-drafting your work, and before you hand it in for marking.
Interpretation of and response to the essay question
Q: Have you analysed the essay title or the question?
Q: Are you confident that you have identified the main critical issues in the text(s) which the question/title infers?
Q: Do the points you make about the text(s) relate in some way to these main critical issues?
Q: Have you selected the most appropriate aspects of the text(s) to write about (i.e. those which enable you to engage with the main critical issues foregrounded in the question)?
Structure of the essay
Q: Are the points you are making in the essay grouped together in paragraphs?
Q: Do paragraphs follow on from one another in some kind of logical way? Is the reason as to why each paragraph follows the previous one readily apparent to the reader?
Q: How easy would it be for someone who was reading your work to follow the argument that you’re putting forward? (This will have some bearing on how persuasive the argument that you make in the essay is seen to be.)
Persuasiveness and validity of interpretation
Q: Is every assertion that you have made about the text(s) you are writing about sufficiently argued/explained/substantiated (e.g. through reference to specific parts of the text(s) and/or from your secondary reading/class notes)? Q: If there were any parts of the text(s) that you were unsure of the meaning or significance of, have you consulted a secondary source (e.g. a dictionary, footnotes, a critical text) so as to make sure that you have not made any major misinterpretations? Q: Have you attempted to critically analyse specific aspects of the text(s) in keeping with the question being asked, or is your essay more a narrative summary of the text(s)?
Originality and quality of personal interpretation
Q: Does your essay show that you are attentive to the details of the text(s), and have your own ideas and perceptions about the text(s) which you are developing?
Q: Although the points you are making in your essay may well be informed by material from lectures/secondary reading, do they originate primarily from your own reading and critical response to the text(s) being studied? Q: Have you tried to avoid the uncritical reproduction of lectures/seminar notes and secondary source material? NB: you should not feel overwhelmed by the concept of "originality": it does not mean that you have to say something about the text(s) that no one else has said before.
Understanding and use of appropriate critical terms and concepts
Q: Have you used critical terms and concepts when discussing aspects/features of the text(s)?
If so, have you used them accurately? Is it evident that you understand what is meant by them? Do you think your use of critical concepts helps you towards a better critical understanding of the text(s) and issues being discussed in the essay?Q: If you have not used critical terms and concepts, do you think the quality of analysis in your essay suffers?
Use of secondary critical sources
If you have used secondary critical sources in the essay, how productive has this been (i.e. has it lead to a better critical understanding of the text(s))?
If you have not shown any evidence of secondary reading or an awareness of other critical perspectives on the text(s), is this having a negative effect on the quality of the essay?
Whenever you quote from or refer to a critic, can you say why you have done so?
Have you attempted to engage with and discuss the points made by critics which you have quoted in your essay, rather than using them to replace your own thinking about the text(s)?
Understanding and use of relevant contexts (e.g. literary, historical)
Q: If you refer to contextual information, how productive is this? How well do you think this material supports and advances the critical content of your essay?
Q: If there is a lack of reference to contexts in your essay, does this have a negative impact on the quality of the essay’s analysis?
Q: How relevant is the contextual information you have used to the essay question being asked? Is it included in order to support/substantiate a specific critical point that you are making?
Q: Do you feel that contextual information is used in an appropriate way in the essay? (For example, it is not usually advisable to rely on biographical information as a means of interpreting the text, or to view the relationship between a text and the historical context of its production as being necessarily straightforward)
Use of appropriate close/detailed textual reference
Q:
Does your essay pay sufficient detail to specific features of the text(s) in discussing them?
Q: Where there is close reference to the text(s), is it relevant to the essay question being asked?
Q: Are the critical points which you are making in the essay supported by direct reference to specific parts or features of the text(s) you are writing about (rather than being generalisations which are not backed up by textual evidence)?
Q: When you quote from the primary text(s), have you made sure that the material chosen relates to the critical point you are making?
Q: Have you tried to engage with material quoted from the text(s) (i.e. provided some kind of commentary on it)?
Technical accuracy
Q: Have you checked the spelling and grammar (e.g. using the appropriate functions on a word-processor)? Q: Are you confident that you have been accurate in your choice of vocabulary throughout the essay? (i.e. does it all make sense?) Q: Are all quotes from/references to primary and secondary texts you have cited referenced in a consistent way, using a bibliographic system that is approved of on your course? Q: Have you provided a bibliography which includes all of the texts that you have made use of in researching and writing the essay? Is it set out in an academically accepted way?
Prose style
Q: How well-written is the essay? (e.g. how well are ideas expressed? How straightforward is it to read? Is language used effectively?)
Q: Have you read through the work thoroughly before handing it in?
Q: Who is your essay written for?
Q: Have you attempted to make your essay engaging to the reader (e.g. through variety in vocabulary and sentence structure), without striving too hard to impress them (e.g. through use of pretentious language)?
Presentation
Q: Is your essay well presented? How legible and neat is it?
Q: If your essay is word processed, does the style and size of the text font that you have used make the work easily readable?
Q: If your essay is hand written, is your writing always legible? Have you avoided the excessive crossing out of words on the page?
Q: Have you numbered the pages?
Click here to go back to the main page
