• Does the paper have a compelling hypothesis?
• Is historical evidence used convincingly to support that hypothesis?
• Is the argument developed clearly and logically?
• Has the writer used a variety of sources effectively?
• Has the writer evaluated the strengths/weaknesses of the sources?
• Are proper citations provided for the sources?

• Does the paper have a clear plan?
• Is the paper unified around a central thesis?
• Is the paper written from a consistent viewpoint?
• Are the ideas properly emphasized?
• Are the introduction and conclusion effective?
• Are the paragraphs linked with transitional devices?
• Do the paragraphs contain topic sentences and do sentences within the paragraphs flow together?
• Is all the material in each paragraph relevant to the topic sentence?

• Is the language appropriate and effective?
• Are words used accurately? Are abstract and technical words carefully defined or illustrated? Has the writer avoided clichés?
• Is the language interesting and vivid? Is most of it concrete?
• Has the writer avoided unnecessary repetition of words?
• Are unnecessary words eliminated?
• Are the sentences effective? Are they varied in length and type?
• Is there too much use of passive voice?
• Is the tone appropriate to the audience, subject, and purpose?

• Is the paper free of spelling and punctuation errors?
• Does the writer handle titles, syllabification, numbers, capitalization, and abbreviations acceptably?
• Is the paper free of unintentional sentence fragments and run-on sentences?
• Is the paper free of inappropriate comma splices?
• Is the paper free of serious subject-verb agreement errors and pronoun-antecedent agreement errors?
• Is the paper free of serious errors of case (him for he; me for I, etc.)?
• Is the paper free of dangling modifiers and other ambiguities?

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