Editing and Proofreading English 21 – Ms. Brown

Presentation Outline and Objectives

Outline:

• What is editing?

• How do I edit?

• What is proofreading?

• How do I proofread?

After this presentation, you will have learned:

• At least 1 method for finding a grammatical error in your paper

This presentation will help address:

• English 21 SLO #1

Review: The first 4 steps of the writing process What are the first 4 steps of the writing process that

we have completed so far?

Prewriting, Organizing and Outlining • The first step of the writing process:

A. Prewriting (generating ideas): clustering, listing, questioning, freewriting

1. We practiced clustering earlier this week. You have your cluster with my comments.

2. You also completed the non-graded freewriting assignment.

• The second step of the writing process:

B. Organizing and Outlining (bringing ideas together): tree method, outline form

1. If we do not use outlines, our papers may lack organization.

2. Outlines help us prepare to draft.

• The third step of the writing process:

C. Drafting (writing in paragraph form): complete sentences

1. Drafts are not final. There is a lot of room for improvement.

2. Therefore, drafts must be revised.

• The fourth step of the writing process:

D. Revising (rewriting in paragraph form): complete sentences

1. Review with fresh eyes!

2. Improve the content and structure of your paragraph

Editing What is editing?

What is editing? • Editing is the fifth and final step of the writing process where we

finally focus on areas such as:

• Grammar – Using correcting sentences. Correcting errors such as fragments,

run-ons, and comma splices.

• Punctuation – Placing proper punctuation in the correct place such as periods,

commas, semicolons, etc.

• Capitalization – Checking to see if every word at the beginning of a sentence is

capitalized. Correcting any proper nouns that have not been capitalized. (Proper

nouns are ALWAYS capitalized!)

• Spelling – Making sure that we have spelled all words correctly and have used

the proper spelling for the intended word (their vs. there).

• Style – Improve your diction (word choice/vocabulary). Vary the sentence length.

Editing How do you edit?

How do you edit?

Grammar • Move line by line on your typed

paper with a ruler.

• This will help you isolate sentences to catch problems such as fragments.

• Using the ruler also forces you to s-l-o-w down when editing your paper. Going too fast will cause you to miss mistakes!

Punctuation • Circle all the primary punctuation

marks in your paper such as:

• Period .

• Comma ,

• Hyphen –

• Semicolon ;

• Quotation marks “ “

• Apostrophe ‘

• Circling the punctuation will help you spot problems!

A word of caution about punctuation:

• If you are using symbols such as # (number), @ (at), & (and)—edit!

• You must spell out the word instead of using the symbols in academic writing.

• See Stepping Stones, Appendix A, pages 487-496 for detailed explanations of

various punctuation marks.

A word of caution about punctuation:

• Specifically, the apostrophe is often abused in writing.

• For example, academic writing should not use contractions. Contractions are

shortened words where the apostrophe replaces letters in a word:

• They’re = They are

• I’m = I am

• We’re = we are

• Can you think of other contractions?

• Remove all contractions from your academic papers unless the contraction

appears in a quote or citation.

A word of caution about punctuation: • Apostrophes are sometimes necessary in a paper because they may be used with singular

possessive nouns. For example:

• My father’s car is a Lexus.

• Whose car is it? Father’s (possessive)

• The school’s colors are blue and gold.

• Whose colors? School’s (possessive)

• Texas’s weather is warm and humid.*

• Whose weather? Texas’s (possessive) – Note that when the noun ends in s, it is standard to add an apostrophe and additional s.

• Apostrophes are also used with plural possessive nouns. For example:

• The men’s restroom is closed.

• Whose restroom? Men’s (possessive)

• The kids’ playground is open.

• Whose playground? Kids’ (possessive)

• Let’s examine this last one closely…

A word of caution about punctuation:

No Apostrophe

• Kids are funny.

• Plural

• More than 1 kid

• No possessive, so no apostrophe

needed

Apostrophe

• Kids’ shows are funny.

• Plural

• Whose shows? Kids’ (possessive)

• Kid’s joke was funny.

• Singular

• 1 kid

How do you edit?

Capitalization • Pay attention to the beginning of

each sentence. Is that first letter in the first word capitalized?

• Is the word I capitalized where it appears?

• Are all proper nouns capitalized? Generally, since proper nouns are proper names, we must give them capital letters at the beginning of each word.

Spelling & Diction • Read your paper backwards, word

by word.

• Reading backwards forces you to s-l-o-w down when you edit and proofread.

• When you spot a spelling error, circle it. Use a dictionary to look up all your circled words at the end of your reading. Replace weak vocabulary with better words.

How do you edit?

• Do not attempt to check for each area at the same time!

• Edit in batches.

• First, spend 15 minutes on punctuation. Walk away and take a break. Play

some GTA5. Eat some food. Take a nap.

• Next, spend 30 minutes on spelling then take a break. Play some music. Take a

study break and have a conversation with a friend.

• Then, spend 30 minutes on grammar. Dance in your room. Work on another

assignment. etc.

• Complete the process as many times as you need to until the entire paper has

been edited for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization.

Summary: How do you edit? • Use a ruler to go line by line for grammar mistakes.

• Circle punctuation. Make sure the marks are correctly used. Spell out contractions and symbols such as #, &, +, @

• Highlight the first word of each sentence and all proper nouns. Are the letters appropriately capitalized?

• Read your paper backwards word by word. Circle spelling errors. Look up the circled words in a dictionary.

• Edit for these areas in stages.

• Give a final proofread to your typed paper because mistakes can accidently happen when you type! This is why it is important to save your work. If you find an error, you can simply fix it.

Let’s practice in class! Take out your revision and choose one of these methods:

• Use a ruler to go line by line for grammar mistakes.

• Circle punctuation. Make sure the marks are correctly used. Spell out contractions and symbols such as #, &, +, @

• Highlight the first word of each sentence, all proper nouns. Are the first letters capitalized?

• Read your paper backwards. Circle spelling errors as you move from the end to the beginning of your paper. When you are finished, look all the circled words up in a dictionary.