Les Miserables literary essay checklist: minimum requirements

General requirements
______ The heading, in the top left corner, includes the student’s name, course name, period number, and due date.
______ Present tense is used throughout the essay, except in direct quotes.
______ No first or second-person pronouns are used, unless in a direct quote.
______ No contractions, slang, or informal language are used, unless in a direct quote.
______ The paper does not use fragments or run-on sentences, including comma splice errors.
______ The paper is printed in black ink on white paper, using Times New Roman, size 12.
______ The paper is double spaced and printed on one side only.
______ Margins are set to one inch all around.
______ Only one space is used after punctuation marks, including between sentences.
______ Paragraphs are indented one half inch, and there is no extra space between paragraphs.
______ Text evidence comes from four of the five books of the text, and no two quotes come from the same page.
______ The essay does not summarize parts of the story.

Introduction
______ The introduction is three to five sentences.
______ The introduction begins with a general statement and moves logically to the specific thesis.
______ The introduction includes the title of the book in italics and the full name of the author.
______ The thesis statement, which ends the introduction, clearly states what theme the author is developing with this topic and
includes the three characters on which the essay is focused.

Body paragraphs
______ Each body paragraph begins with a topic sentence, drawn from the thesis.
______ Each paragraph includes two supporting examples from the abridged version of the text.
______ The examples are arranged in the order they appear in the text.
______ Each example is supported by a direct quote from the abridged version of the text, which works to prove the theme rather
than the example.
______ Each direct quote is correctly embedded into a sentence.
______ Each quote is correctly cited, with the correct page number.
______ Each quote is correctly punctuated.
______ Quotes are copied exactly from the text with no errors.
______ The phrases “this shows” or “this quote shows” (or similar phrases) are not used.
______ Each body paragraph has a concluding sentence that does not repeat the topic sentence.
______ The concluding sentence does not introduce the next paragraph.

Conclusion
______ The conclusion is three to five sentences.
______ The conclusion begins with a restated (not repeated) thesis statement.
______ “In conclusion” or similar phrases are not used.
______ The conclusion summarizes the essay and does not introduce new information.
______ The conclusion ends with a general statement.