Handout 28

Proofreading Your Writing  Process

            No matter how many times you read through a "finished" paper, you're likely to miss many of your most frequent errors. The following guide will help you proofread more effectively:

General Strategies

Reading aloud

Reading with a "cover"

Role-playing

Strategies Which Personalize Proofreading

In addition to using the general strategies already listed, you'll need to personalize the proofreading process.  You won't be able to check for everything, so you should find out what your typical problem areas are and look for each type of error individually. Here's how:

Find out what errors you typically make. Review instructors' comments about your writing and/or review your paper(s).

Learn how to fix those errors. Talk with your instructor and review your handouts and notes. The instructor can help you understand why you make the errors you do so that you can learn to avoid them.

Use specific strategies. Use the strategies detailed below to find and correct your particular errors in organization and paragraphing, usage and sentence structure, and spelling and punctuation.

A. Organization and Paragraphing
thesis/focus/main point
paragraph clarity
overall coherence

B. Usage and Sentence Structure
subject/verb agreement
parallel structure
pronoun reference/agreement

C. Spelling and Punctuation
spelling
compound sentence commas
comma splices
fragments
run-on sentences
introductory commas
apostrophes
left-out words

To locate and correct errors in your papers, use the strategies which correspond to your typical problem areas and follow the step-by-step instructions provided for you. Each strategy is designed to focus your attention on only one particular error, so to be most effective, use only one strategy at a time.

A: Organization and Paragraphing

For thesis/focus/main point:

1. Find your paper's thesis statement.  Copy it on another sheet of paper. If your thesis is not directly stated, write down a possible thesis.  Locate the central idea of each paragraph and try to reduce that idea to a word or phrase.
2. If you cannot decide on one phrase, list two or three options.  List the paragraph ideas.
3. List these in order under your thesis.
4. Decide whether your paragraphs clearly relate to your thesis.
5. If not, either rewrite your thesis to incorporate the unrelated ideas or eliminate the unrelated paragraphs.

For paragraph clarity:

1. Locate the central idea of each paragraph. Reduce that idea to a word or phrase.
2. Look at each paragraph randomly. Consider only the information in that paragraph.
3. Ask yourself whether you offer enough details in the paragraph to support that word or idea.
4. Decide whether all of your details are relevant.
5. Ask yourself whether all of the information is related enough to be in the same paragraph.  Should you create another paragraph or move some of the details to another paragraph?

For overall coherence:

1. See whether you have clear transitions between paragraphs.
2. If not, clarify existing transitions, add new ones, and/or rearrange your paragraphs to make transitions clearer.

B. Usage and Sentence Structure

For subject/verb agreement:

1. Find the main verb in each sentence.
2. Match the verb to its subject.
3. Make sure that the subject and verb agree in number.

For pronoun reference/agreement:

1. Skim your paper, stopping at each pronoun. Look especially at it, this, they, their, and them.
2. Search for the noun that the pronoun replaces. If you can't find any noun, insert one beforehand or change the pronoun to a noun. If you can find a noun, be sure it agrees in number and person with your pronoun.

For parallel structure:

1. Skim your paper, stopping at key words that signal parallel structures.
   Look especially for and, or, not only...but also, either... or, neither...nor, both...and.
2. Make sure that the items connected by these words (adjectives, nouns, phrases, etc.) are in the same grammatical form.
3.  

C. Spelling and Punctuation

For spelling:

1. Examine each word in the paper individually.
2. Move from the end of each line back to the beginning. Pointing with a pencil helps you really see each word.
3. If necessary, check a dictionary to see that each word is spelled correctly.

For compound sentence commas:

1. Skim for the conjunctions and, but, for, or, nor, so and yet.
2. See whether there is a complete sentence on each side of the conjunction.
3. If so, place a comma before the conjunction.

For introductory commas:

1. Skim your paper, looking only at the first two or three words of each sentence.
2. Stop if one of these words is a dependent marker, a transition word, a participle, or a preposition.
3. Listen for a possible break point before the main clause.
4. Place a comma at the end of the introductory phrase or clause (which is before the independent clause).

For comma splices:

1. Skim the paper, stopping at every comma.
2. See whether there is a complete sentence on each side of the comma. If so, add a coordinating conjunction after the comma or replace the comma with a semicolon.

For fragments:

1. Look at each sentence to see whether it contains an independent clause.
2. Pay special attention to sentences that begin with dependent marker words (such as because) or phrases such as for example or such as.

3. See if the sentence might be just a piece of the previous sentence that mistakenly got separated by a period.

For run-on sentences:

1. Review each sentence to see whether it contains more than one independent clause. Start with the last sentence of your paper, and work your way back to the beginning, sentence by sentence.
2. Break the sentence into two sentences if necessary.

For apostrophes:

1. Skim your paper, stopping only at those words which end in "s."

2. See whether or not each "s" word needs an apostrophe. If an apostrophe is needed, you will be able to invert the word order and say "of" or "of the": Mary's hat …the hat of Mary

For left-out words:

1. Read the paper aloud, pointing to every word as you read. Don't let your eye move ahead until you spot each word.
2. Also, make sure that you haven't doubled any words.

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