...Learning and Information Services Guide to Proofreading What is Proofreading? Proofreading involves checking the content and appearance of your written work: looking for errors in typing, spelling and grammar, and ensuring that it is presented in a style that meets the requirements of a module or course. Proofreading is a skill that requires time, but the more you practice the quicker and easier it will become to spot any corrections that need to be made. Why is Proofreading important? Proofreading is an essential final stage of the essay writing process which should not be overlooked as a poorly presented piece of work can lose marks. After the effort of finding information and writing the essay, don’t lose marks by submitting a work spoiled by spelling and grammatical errors, or that does not adhere to your module’s requirements. A well-presented essay indicates to your tutor that you care about your work. Areas to check: Proofreading can be time-consuming and it is easy to underestimate the time required. It is a good idea to build in time for proofreading into your assignment plan. It is especially important that you follow any module requirements regarding referencing, line spacing, paragraph indentation, and margins, and that these are observed consistently and continuously. Checklist: Grammar | | check | spelling | Don’t rely on the spellchecker in Word - this won’t pick up “typos” as from/form or been/bean. Use a dictionary to check spellings...
Words: 782 - Pages: 4
...because, even though, if, since, until, when, while. * Replace the comma with a semi-colon and transitional word--however, moreover, on the other hand, nevertheless, instead, also, therefore, consequently, otherwise, as a result. Error #2: Pronoun Errors Pronoun errors occur when pronouns do not agree in number with the nouns to which they refer. If the noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular. If the noun is plural, however, the pronoun must be plural as well. For example: * Incorrect: Everybody must bring their own lunch. * Correct: Everybody must bring his or her own lunch. Many people believe that pronoun errors are the result of writers who are trying to avoid the implication of sexist language. Although this is an admirable goal, correct grammar is still important. Error #3: Mistakes in Apostrophe Usage Apostrophes are used to show possession. However, you do not use an apostrophe after a possessive pronoun such as my, mine, our, ours, his, hers, its, their, or theirs. For example: * Incorrect: My mothers cabin is next to his' cabin. * Correct: My mother's cabin is next to his cabin. Error #4: Lack of Subject/Verb Agreement When speaking or writing in the present tense, a sentence must...
Words: 652 - Pages: 3
...Throughout this course, my ability as a writer has significantly improved. As a result, I have acquired new skills that will help me in life. My confidence has increased about college level writing. When I started this class I did not know how to write a proper essay, in fact, I did not even know where to start. To begin with, each chapter has taught me a new valuable skill. As I wrote each journal entry I noticed that my skills were improving. In particular, the tools I have benefitted from the most are prewriting, planning, and proofreading. Regardless of the fact that I have learned important core writing skills I still have a lot of room for improvement. The first reason is the step of prewriting. Although there are several various methods of prewriting I have found that freewriting is the most effective technique for me. It is extremely helpful in provoking my thoughts on to paper because it allows my ideas that are in the back of my mind to come to the surface. Since there are no constraints in free writing it enables me to produce creativity....
Words: 591 - Pages: 3
...strategies that I have learned for writing a first draft. Such as: review my plan, focus on my goal, write to my reader, visualize the completed document, support my thesis. Amend my plan if needed, and start to write. I also found proofreading and editing interesting in this week’s course. Proofreading is about searching your writing for errors, both grammatical and typos, before submitting my paper for an audience. Editing and proofreading are writing processes different from revising. Editing can involve extensive rewriting of sentences, but it usually focuses on sentences or even smaller elements of the text. Proofreading is the very last step writers go through to be sure that the text is presentable. there are many proofreading strategies such as: start with the problem areas, read from the end to the beginning, look for typos. Editing strategies may be: always think about your target audience, start with sentences, consider words, check grammatical errors, don’t forget punctuation and spelling. I didn’t have any issues or problems with this week’s learning objective or content. It was easy to understand and examples and exercises were easy to follow. I may not understand how writing a research...
Words: 456 - Pages: 2
...Copyediting & Proofreading FOR DUMmIES by Suzanne Gilad ‰ Copyediting & Proofreading For Dummies® Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, 317-572-3447, fax 317-572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All...
Words: 125743 - Pages: 503
...(UB Center for Excellence in Writing) Today I sat down with Becky, one of the writing consultant, talking about what she normally do to help people in their writing and her goal. After the conversation, I have learned three important lessons which will benefit me in my future. First, having an obvious statement is important in writing. According to Becky, she meets both undergraduate and graduate students on a daily basis who needs help editing and improving their writing skills. For instance, Becky helps those people how to organize ideas, convey clear thoughts, brainstorming, and fix sentence structures which would look more appealing. Second, proofreading is also very essential to be a good writer. Becky faced problems with students for not proofreading their work properly. For example, she noticed some people who didn’t use proper grammar in their writing, never say new things but repeatedly using too much vocabularies, and did not do thorough work analysis. Becky adds that most people just wanted their writing to be as beautiful as possible. Unlike other students, Becky’s main goal is to make sure people don’t use many big words and make the writing as simple as possible. In other words, she emphasized the importance of “clarity” in writing. I also think maintaining the structure of both clarity and simplicity is important for students who need to improve their writing. Lastly, being confident in yourself is necessary when writing an assignment...
Words: 500 - Pages: 2
...Outcome four includes revising, editing, and proofreading. In order to achieve this: there mustn't be errors that obstruct the comprehension of the work, the changes made must address critiques from instructor and peers and the writing must clear and intentional on multiple levels. This is paramount to a paper's overall efficacy as it creates a work that is understandable and clear to the reader. These types of requirements can be seen in almost any project that is adequate. Nearly all works must display fluency and responses to constructive criticism. For this, I chose SA 2.3. In this assignment one was required to annotate and cite three separate sources as well as describe a community, one of its problems and provide a possible solution....
Words: 570 - Pages: 3
...English 47A 13 February 2014 Paragraph Assignment 1 Writing with Intent I can improve my writing in the next thirteen weeks by studying vocabulary, practicing reading, and proofreading my work. For example I have a subscription to the Union Tribune Newspaper. I try to read a newspaper article daily. As a result, I am able to keep up with the local news and learn new vocabulary. In fact the dictionary has become my best friend. Using the dictionary to look up words I don’t understand will help me understand the meaning and the flow of the story. I have added many new words to my vocabulary by doing this. Using the new words in my speech and writing, I am able to remember the vocabulary. Additionally to improve my writing, I have established a reading routine schedule. Early in the morning I read a book for thirty minutes. Secondly, I read a magazine or newspaper article in the late evening. My two favorite magazines are Times and National Geographic. They are very challenging magazines. However when I don’t understand the material, I will reread until I comprehend. Also reading a book or a magazine increases my knowledge and makes me smarter. Yet another reason my writing will get better is by proofreading my work. I will do this by using the tutorial service at the Academic Skills Center. Last week, when I walked in the Academic Skills Center for the first time, I was very impressed. And the best part, “it is free!” I plan to take all my English assignments that...
Words: 390 - Pages: 2
...Copy Editing and Proofreading Symbols Symbol Meaning Example Delete Close up Deltete and close up the gap. Insert Space The box is inserted correctly. # Theprocedure is incorrect. Transpose Remove the fitting end. Lower case The Engineer and manager agreed. Capitalize A representative of nasa was present. Capitalize first letter and lower case remainder / or lc The tolerances are with in the range. Delete and Close up # Remove the end fitting. GARRETT PRODUCTS are great. not Let stand stet Remove the battery cables. New paragraph The box is full. The meeting will be on Thursday. Remove paragraph break The meeting will be on Thursday. no All members must attend. Move to a new position All members attended who were new. Move left Remove the faulty part. Flush left Move left. Flush right Move right. Move right Remove the faulty part. Center Table 4-1 Raise 162 Lower 162 Superscript 162 Subscript 162 Period . Rewrite the procedure Then complete the tasks. ‘ Apostrophe or single quote ‘ The companys policies were rewritten. ; Semicolon stet ¶ no ¶ . He left however, he returned later. ; Symbol Meaning Example : Colon There were three items : nuts, bolts, and screws. , Comma Apply pressure to the first, second and third bolts. -| Hyphen A valuable byproduct was created. Spell out The info was incorrect. sp Abbreviate The part was twelve feet long. Align Personnel Facilities Equipment Underscore The part was...
Words: 722 - Pages: 3
...Unit 4 Exercise 1: 1. The basic format for a proposal includes the following steps: Introduction Problem Analysis; major causes, Evidence and Effects of the probem. Plan for solving the problem: Major steps, Support and Deliverables. Benefits of the Plan: Costs-benefits analysis Conclusion 2. Proposals are used in college, in the workplace and anywhere you want to pitch a proposal or new project idea including grant writing. 3. The steps for inventing your proposal’s content are defining the problem, analyzing the problem, researching, inquiring, and finding similar projects. 4. The three primary sources of information for proposal writing are online, print, and empirical sources. 5. The steps to planning to solve the problem are map out the plan, explore each major step, figure out costs and benefits, and finding similar projects. 6. Costs and benefits should be listed to prove to the readers that the benefits of their investment are worth the risks. 7. In choosing an appropriate style, the steps are creating an Authoritative Tone, use metaphors and similes, pay attention to Sentence Length, and minimize the jargon. 8. Three tips for designing the proposal are creating a look, create white space and use meaningful headings. 9. The four steps in revising and editing a proposal are looking for inconsistencies in content, getting rid of extra stuff, tweaking the design and proof reading. 10. Five major problems listed are students...
Words: 1239 - Pages: 5
...Spread |Point Spread |Point Spread |Point Spread | |Grammar, punctuation, |10% |Student has 0-2 mechanical errors and no spelling|Student has 2-4 mechanical and/or|Student has 4-6 mechanical and/or |Student has 6-8 mechanical and/or |Same as D | |spelling, mechanics | |errors. No run-on sentences or fragments. |spelling errors |spelling errors, such as a run-on |spelling errors. Appears to lack |0-5 | | | |Student does not write in the second person. |8 |or fragment |proofreading. Run on sentences and| | |= 10% | |9 | |7 |fragments | | | | | | | |6 | | |Citations/MLA |10% |Proper MLA usage and citations, extent...
Words: 770 - Pages: 4
...separate paper and then complete the outline form below. TIP: Your supporting sentences should be steps the reader should follow. Note: Process paragraphs may have more than four supporting sentences or steps. Topic Sentence: __________________________________________________________ Supporting Sentence #1: _____________________________________________________ Specific examples/proof/details: ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ Supporting Sentence #2: ______________________________________________________ Specific examples/proof/details: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Supporting Sentence #3:_______________________________________________________ Specific examples/proof/details: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Supporting Sentence 4: (if used) __________________________________________________ Specific examples/proof/details: _____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________...
Words: 396 - Pages: 2
...Proofreading and Editing is really important to make an essay strong and not difficult to understand. Proofreading always comes last when editing an essay to catch errors and to take of any unnecessary parts. Grammar and punctuations is really important when it comes to re reading an essay. It is very easy to make a silly mistake while typing in a hurry. At times when typing an essay it might sound correctly, but when re reading you catch many errors. I have learned that grammar and punctuation is really important not just for writing essays, but also for job applications, job resumes, job requirements, etc. You can avoid misunderstand your reader if the essay is confusing because of grammar mistakes. It is very easy to miss a mistake that...
Words: 423 - Pages: 2
...Telephone, email, mail, facsimile machine | To co-ordinate the process. | Collect, sort, distribute and prepare mail, messages and courier deliveries | Customers, Clients | Mail, telephone, computer | To co-ordinate the process | Provide information about establishment such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provided | Customers, Clients | - | To help clients in getting familiar with the establishment and clarify their queries | File and maintain records | HR manager | Data entry | For future reference | Hear and resolve complaints from customers and public | Customers | Telephone, email, mail | To solve tickets and answer queries | Perform administrative supportive tasks such as proofreading, transcribing handwritten information, and operating calculators or computer to work with pay records, invoices, balance sheets and other documents | HR manager | Computer, Caluclator | To...
Words: 1977 - Pages: 8
...Writing a paper either individually or in a group, there are many things to consider other than just the writing itself. Selecting a topic to write about is different by yourself as opposed to a group. When writing alone, you don't have anyone else to contend with, so the choices are easier to make. However, you may not have as many options as you would working in a group, many people working together will come up with a much larger range of topics. Either way has its benefits as well as its problems. Having more topics to pick from will give any paper a much richer material base to pool from, but at the same time having to deal with many people means that things may not always go smoothly, as some members of the group may not see eye to eye on every topic. On the other side of that, one person writing a paper will have fewer problems picking a topic, but at the same time will not have as many to choose from as someone working in a group. One thing both ways of writing a paper have in common is that you still have to pick one subject to work with, regardless of how many people are working on the paper. And depending on the subject that you have to work with, a group or individual may come to the same conclusion in a short amount of time. When writing in a group, it can be more difficult to edit work as more than one person is writing it. When you write by yourself, the revisions can be a bit easier as you can have a better vision of the finished product as well as the fact that...
Words: 1759 - Pages: 8
