Tues. Nov. 1, 2016: Editing the Essay

Today, I provided students with a copy of their progress reports. I then returned the essay rough drafts that were submitted.

We then discussed essay expectations. Here are the notes from today's class. If you were not here, apply these to your rough copy.

You also need to actively read #10 (Tenses) and #13 (Possessive errors: apostrophe) in your "15 Common Errors" booklet.

Essay Editing Checklist

Highlight all “you” “I” “we” “us” “my” (Personal pronouns)

Highlight all contractions (words that have been joined and are supposed to have an apostrophe (‘) to show letters have been omitted).

Highlight all question statements (if the sentence starts with “how” or “what” or “where” you probably have a question statement.

Underline all words that refer to the topic (George or he, stubborn or it or this) 

Style

1.      No personal pronouns

2.      No Contractions

3.      No questions allowed

4.      Use the noun instead of a word used to describe it (or be sure to describe with enough detail not to be confusing).

5.      Pronoun referencing: When you are talking about more than one character in the same paragraph and they are of the same gender, use the name and not the pronouns he/him or she/her.

6.      Use of “who” or “that”: pronoun referencing: “who” refers back to a PERSON: are you referring to a person or a thing? Use “who” if it is a person whom you are referring to.

7.      No clichés/slang: a cliché is an overused phrase: “stands up to” “looks down on” “sucks”. 

8.      Write your essay in present tense = verbs that end in “s” not “ed” – tense shifts are a serious error.

9.      No possessive errors (Logan Brown's binder = correct)