Micro Level – Proofreading Essays

Elena González RiveraMC 206B

February 24, 2015

Students will work on 6 important proofreading checkpoints in order to improve their writing at the micro level:

Grammar Punctuation Voice Syntax Redundancy Use of transitional devices

Objective of the Workshop

Important grammar points include: verb tenses subject-verb agreement subject-pronoun agreement

Grammar

Knowing verb tenses is pure memory. It is like learning the multiplication

tables.

Simple present tense verbs http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

Past tense irregular verbs http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/pastverb.htm

Past tense irregular verbs quizzes http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/

Verb Tenses

The subject and verb must agree in number.

Both must be singular, or both must be plural.

Identify where the subject of the sentence is in order to determine if it is singular or plural.◦ http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/subverag.html

A quiz of subject-verb agreement http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/q

uiz.pl/sv_agr_quiz.htm

Subject-Verb Agreement

You can have a subject-pronoun agreement error that is a:◦ Shift in person

Ex. Alice needs to use a primer, if you want the paint job to look professional.

Correct the error: ___________________________. ◦ Shift in number

Ex. John and Paul worked hard all day, and afterwards he celebrated.

Correct the error: _____________________________.

Subject-Pronoun Agreement

Quiz for pronoun-verb agreement◦ http://www.quia.com/quiz/608366.html?AP_rand=

548991596

Subject-Pronoun Agreement

A rough guide to punctuation http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/punc.htmlYou can study this guide more carefully at home.http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/punctuation01.

html

Run-on-sentences◦ Examples and quizzes◦ http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/qui

zzes/Runons.htm

Punctuation

Active voice versus passive voice structure◦ Syntax and verb form differ for active and passive

voice http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html

◦ Quiz practices for active/passive voice Identifying the voice

http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_passive1.htm http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm ✔

Transforming active voice to passive voice http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/passive_q

uiz.htm

Syntax

 

We will look at four transitional devices:◦ Transitional words and phrases◦ Pronouns◦ Repetition of key words and phrases◦ Parallelism

Transitional devices are determined by their functions or relationships.◦ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm ✔

◦ http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-cwp.htm

Examples: How do you use transitional devices effectively?◦ http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-wxp.htm

◦ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/

Transitional Devices

Definition “Redundancy is the use of more words than are

necessary to express a thought, especially the use of two expressions that mean the same thing. Such repetition works against readability and conciseness (Dawson, 1992).”

Unnecessary repetition of words in phrases◦ http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/avoid-redundancy.aspx

PRUNING THE REDUNDANT

◦ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

Avoiding Redundancy

Once you write your personal statement or essay, re-read 5 times to check for:

1. Grammar◦ verb tenses◦ subject-verb agreement◦ subject-pronoun agreement

2. Punctuation◦ run-on-sentences

3. Syntax◦ eliminate passive voice structure

4. Lack of redundancy5. Transitional devices

Conclusion