elena

1. Elena González Rivera
MC 206B
February 24, 2015

2. Students will work on 6 important
proofreading checkpoints in order to
improve their writing at the micro level:
 Grammar
 Punctuation
 Voice
 Syntax
 Redundancy
 Use of transitional devices

3.  Important grammar points include:
 verb tenses
 subject-verb agreement
 subject-pronoun agreement

4. Knowing verb tenses is pure memory.
It is like learning the multiplication tables.
Simple present tense verbs
 http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html
Past tense irregular verbs
 http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/pastverb.htm
Past tense irregular verbs quizzes
 http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/

5.  The subject and verb must agree in
number.
 Both must be singular, or both must
be plural.
 Identify where the subject of the sentence is in order
to determine if it is singular or plural.
◦ http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/subverag.html
 A quiz of subject-verb agreement
 http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-
shl/quiz.pl/sv_agr_quiz.htm

6.  You can have a subject-pronoun agreement
error that is a:
◦ Shift in person
Ex. Alice needs to use a primer, if you want the
paint job to look professional.
Correct the error: ___________________________.
◦ Shift in number
Ex. John and Paul worked hard all day, and
afterwards he celebrated.
Correct the error: _____________________________.

7.  Quiz for pronoun-verb agreement
◦ http://www.quia.com/quiz/608366.html?AP_rand=
548991596

8.  A rough guide to punctuation
 http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/punc.html
You can study this guide more carefully at home.
http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/pun
ctuation01.html
 Run-on-sentences
◦ Examples and quizzes
◦ http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/qu
izzes/Runons.htm

9.  Active voice versus passive voice structure
◦ Syntax and verb form differ for active and passive voice
 http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html
◦ Quiz practices for active/passive voice
 Identifying the voice
 http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_passive1.htm
 http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm ✔
 Transforming active voice to passive voice
 http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/passive_q
uiz.htm

10.  We will look at four transitional devices:
◦ Transitional words and phrases
◦ Pronouns
◦ Repetition of key words and phrases
◦ Parallelism
 Transitional devices are determined by their functions or
relationships.
◦ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm ✔
◦ http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-cwp.htm
 Examples: How do you use transitional devices effectively?
◦ http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-wxp.htm
◦ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/

11. Definition
“Redundancy is the use of more words than are
necessary to express a thought, especially the use of
two expressions that mean the same thing. Such
repetition works against readability and conciseness
(Dawson, 1992).”
 Unnecessary repetition of words in phrases
◦ http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/avoid-
redundancy.aspx
 PRUNING THE REDUNDANT
◦ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

12. Once you write your personal statement or essay,
re-read 5 times to check for:
1. Grammar
◦ verb tenses
◦ subject-verb agreement
◦ subject-pronoun agreement
2. Punctuation
◦ run-on-sentences
3. Syntax
◦ eliminate passive voice structure
4. Lack of redundancy
5. Transitional devices