Tips for proofreading and catching major errors:

  • Review the major error handout to make sure you understand the most significant problems you’re looking for.  Also, take a look at the editing section on pp. 59-64 of Bedford.

  • Read the essay out loud with a pencil in your hand and mark awkward sections.

  • Read the draft backwards at both the word level (to catch spelling errors) and the sentence level (to catch grammatical errors).

  • Read the draft through several times with at least an hour in between readings.

  • If you’re using a word processor, make sure to proofread with a hard copy—you won’t be hypnotized by the flashing pixels this way.

  • If you’re using a word processor, use the spell-checker, but remember that it won’t catch misspellings like from/form, two/too/to, then/than, of/have.

  • Lightly mark sentences that you’re unsure of, and ask me about them in class next time.

Students who don't pass this essay generally haven’t spent enough time proofreading

 

Portfolio Items (LABEL ALL PARTS OF YOUR PORTFOLIO CLEARLY.)

Left Side

Right Side

1. Pre-writing/invention (bottom) 

1. Final draft (bottom)

2. Labeled drafts with earlier drafts nearer the bottom.

2. Writing goals (click for copy)

3 Labeled Peer Review sheets stapled to drafts that were reviewed.

3. Self-evaluation

4. Conference Summary (top)

4. Unit Evaluation

 

  • Writing Goals:  Base your goals on problems you had with the narrative essay.

  • Self-evaluation: Write a paragraph or two on problems you found in early drafts of your essay and how you solved them.  What strategies or techniques did you adapt from those essays?  

  • Unit Evaluation: Answer these questions: 1. What was the most helpful part of the instruction/teaching for this unit?  2. What would have made the instruction better? 3. Other comments or suggestions?

  • Conferences Summary:  Write a few sentences describing what we talked about in your conference.  Include the time and date of our meeting.  If you missed your conference, say so on the conference summary. 

  • Format: See Section 6A in Bedford.  

  • Resources: Review the criteria for evaluation on the assignment sheet and all of the other handouts for this paper (especially the checklists). The tutoring center is open from 3-5 M-Th, and 7-10 Su-Th.

  • If you do not provide copies of your draft for group members to evaluate.  I will automatically deduct one letter grade from your final essay.  If you do not complete peer reviews for your teammates, your essay grade will automatically drop two letter grades.

  • I will randomly select one peer-review that you’ve completed from one of your classmate’s portfolios.  You will receive a ten-point quiz grade based on the quality and comprehensiveness of your response.

  • See syllabus for other guidelines.

COMMON PROBLEMS:  As we discussed in class, the most common problem is with analysis.  Most people will have a clear thesis on how the author uses an element or two to develop a theme, but the problem comes with actually arguing for this thesis in individual paragraphs.  Make sure you check each paragraph to make sure you aren’t just summarizing the story in terms of your theme, but that you are actually arguing for how an author uses elements to develop the theme.  PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD!!!!!