Your Customized Proofreading Sheet

-- Valerie Ross Creating your own proofreading sheet acknowledges that by the time you reach college you have developed your own pattern of errors in usage that are quite resistant to change. Nearly everyone has: no need to feel chagrined. Creating your own proofreading sheet also acknowledges that hunting for errors in grammar and usage is something you should reserve for your final draft. Tidying up grammar and punctuation is pointless when you are still in the midst of refining your ideas. The sentence you labor to correct may not even appear in the final draft. Errors often resolve themselves in the process of revision. The proofreading sheet is a simple but effective tool that you can take with you when you leave Penn: 1) Your instructor, your peers, and you are responsible for identifying your particular errors in grammar and usage as these appear in your writing. 2) On a Word document, transcribe the sentence in which the error has appeared. 3) Look up and transcribe the rule that addresses this error, providing the page number where it appears in the assigned grammar and usage handbook. 4) Provide a corrected version of this sentence. 5) Before turning in any final drafts, proofread them, using your customized proofreading sheet as a guide to errors in mechanics and usage. An example of a completed custom proofreading sheet, submitted for the final portfolio, is included on the next page. Over the course of the semester, you with the help of the grammar diagnostic, your instructor, and your peers may identify a few, or several, errors. Generally these errors are quite context-specific. For example, you are unlikely to have problems with all commas. You are more likely to have one or two specific comma issues, such as forgetting to set off dependent clauses with a comma. Rather than wasting class time or your time doing comma exercises, your building of the custom proofreading sheet alerts you to your particular pattern of errors. After a while, you may become so conscious of this pattern and the rules governing it that you will not need your custom proofreading sheet but until then, you will be reminded of what to look for and also how to correct it when you happen upon it. To jump-start this process of self-identification of errors, we ask you to take a grammar diagnostic. This is a very crude tool for it will provide you only with a broad diagnosis of your pattern of errors and point you in the direction of which rules to explore when you identify more specific cases in your own writing. As the semester unfolds, you may find that a colleague (or sometimes an instructor with his or her own pattern of errors) incorrectly identifies an error in your writing. You will know this when you cannot find a rule governing it. In such cases, please be sure to alert the person who thought you had erred, for you are now helping that person identify his or her own error patterns!

CUSTOMIZED PROOF SHEET: STUDENT EXCERPT Incorrect Sentence Corrected Sentence Little Brown Manual Type

They are aware of the They are aware of the Page 83 standard tasks of a curator and standard tasks of a artist, however, they probably curator and artist; have not considered the value however, they probably in allowing artists to act as have not considered the curators. value in allowing artists to act as curators.

Run-on Sentences Revised with a semicolon because the independent clauses are closely related and their relation is clear without a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon is acceptable. Cutting empty words Revised by deletion of the bold words they contribute nothing to the meaning of the sentence.

Through discounting conventional curatorial practices and following this unique approach, artists are able to select pieces that, above all, represent a deserving collection of art.

Through discounting Page 35 conventional curatorial practices and following this unique approach, artists are able to select pieces that represent a deserving collection of art. This is evidenced by the Page 86 fact that in creating his own exhibition, Eduardo Paolozzi selected over 200 objects for display from the British Museums reserve storage.

This is evidenced by the fact that in creating his own exhibition, Eduardo Paolozzi selected over 200 objects for display from the British Museums reserve storage, where the objects of less importance are kept.

Commas around nonessential elements- revised by deleting the bold phrase because it adds information about a term in the sentence but does not affect the sentences meaning in any way.

Further a curator may choose Further, a curator may Page 85 to display a certain piece of choose to display a artwork simply because of its certain piece of artwork historical significance. simply because of its historical significance.

Commas with introductory elements- a comma was added after the first word because the introductory element is distinct from the main clause.

Incorrect Sentence

Corrected Sentence

Little Brown Manual

Type

All the mentioned authors base their writings or at least a portion of their writings on the same premise that is then discussed and explained in a similar manner.

All the mentioned 87 authors base their writings, or at least a portion of their writings, on the same premise that is then discussed and explained in a similar manner.

Commas were added around the parenthetical phrase because it provides supplementary information that is not crucial to the sentence.

As a result of such scholars As a result of such 92 opinions, present day scholars opinions, museums have come to present day museums represent institutions with the have come to represent unique power of educating the institutions with the public on artistic matters unique power of through the simple exposition educating the public on of the informational matter artistic matters through the simple exposition of the informational matter While the three above authors While the three above 92 explore museums educational authors explore role, Montebello and museums educational Kimmelman also identify and role, Montebello and explain the societal value that Kimmelman also museums have to offer. identify and explain the societal value that museums have to offer. Since then, the function of museums have greatly transformed and evolved. Since then, the function 61 of museums has greatly transformed and evolved.

An apostrophe was added to the word scholars to indicate a possessive quality. Without the apostrophe, it seems as if the words scholars is plural rather than plural and possessive.

An apostrophe was added to the word museum to indicate a possessive quality. Without the apostrophe, it seems as if the words museums is simply plural rather than plural and possessive.

Subjects must agree with verbs even if there are words in between the two. Therefore, have was changed to has to agree with the singular word function.