Sentence-Level Editing
The following does NOT represent a comprehensive list of editing issues; we’ve listed some common problem areas. When you are in doubt about a grammatical rule, refer to a reliable reference text or ask an instructor or a Writing Center tutor.
Read every sentence aloud ; read exactly what appears on the page.(Consider reading from the last line first, so you slow down and read out of context).
Pay close attention to your most frequent editing concerns.
As you edit your draft, check for the following:
- Punctuation: Where & why have you used commas, question marks, quotations, periods, colons, semicolons, etc? Have you used each correctly? (For instance, do you have a reason for each comma? Are you using it with a conjunction? Are you separating items in a list? If you use a semicolon, does it connect two closely related independent clauses? For instance: "Experts vary regarding the purposes of education; some argue that the most important purpose involves socialization."
- In each sentence, ask "Where's the action?" "Who's kicking who?" (From: Lanham, Richard A. Revising Prose. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1992). Find the verb and the subject (an action and an actor). For instance, there is no subject (actor) in: "fears small-minded bureaucrats," so it isn't a complete sentence; it's a sentence fragment. By adding a subject/actor, you create a sentence: "Susan fears small-minded bureaucrats." Make sure the word group isn't merely a subordinate clause or phrase. For example, "After I woke up" is NOT a sentence; "After I woke up, I went back to sleep" is a sentence. If you find a fragment, you can attach it to a nearby sentence or turn it into a sentence.
- Run-on sentences: Look for independent clauses blend into each other because they lack correct punctuation (for instance, the clauses need a comma & coordinating conjunction or a semicolon). Actions run together in: "I wake up at 7:00 too tired to get out of bed I go back to sleep at 7:02." To clarify this sentence, you could separate the clauses with a period (after "bed"); use a conjunction and a comma ("...bed, but..."); or separate the clauses with a semicolon ("bed; I go").
- Avoid ambiguous pronoun reference. Circle every pronoun: What does the pronoun refer to? How will the reader know that? A pronoun needs a clear referent: What is "it"? Who are "they"? Some other pronouns: this, that, you, he, she.
- Have you conjugated verbs correctly? Circle each verb: is it in present, past, or future tense? Do you switch tenses? For instance, if you're writing in the present tense, do you switch to the past tense? "I think educators need more education. They didn't know what they should." In this example, there's no reason for switching from the present to the past tense. Edit for consistency: "I think educators need more education. They don't know what they should."
- Check for subject/verb agreement. Make the verb agree with its subject, even if a word comes between them. ("The students in the class need help.") Treat most indefinite pronouns as singular (anybody, anyone, each, everything, someone, something, etc.). ("Everyone in our class supports affirmative action.") Note: there are other rules for subject/verb agreement. If subject/verb agreement confuses you, ask for a handout and/or assistance.
- PROOFREAD! Read your draft aloud again, slowly, looking microscopically for typos, spelling errors, omitted words, extra words, and any mechanical errors you might have missed.
- WARNING: If you read your text on a computer monitor, you will miss errors. ALWAYS edit and proofread a "hard copy."
- Don't solely rely on a word processing spell checker or grammar checker; they are NOT always right.
Thanks to J. Elizabeth Clark; the handout she developed for her 1998 EOP Binghamton Enrichment Program Rhetoric class served as a model for this one.
|
|
