Summary Paragraph Editing Checklist
___ Topic sentence states the main idea/theme and title of the play
___ Three transitional words are used to connect ideas/sentences
___ All major events of the act are summarized; minor events do not need summary
___ No errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or grammar
___ No I, me, my, we, our, us
___ No you
___ Paragraph ends with a clincher that summarizes the main idea of the play (without
repeating the topic sentence)
___ At least one sentence begins with each of the following and is underlined and labeled:
REQUIRED LABELS
___ Participial phrase (sentence starts with a verb ending in –ing or –ed; the phrase
describes a person or thing in the sentence; the phrase ends with a comma; the
phrase can be removed
___ Prepositional phrase
___ Infinitive phrase (sentence begins with To + a verb)
___ Subordinate clause (sentence begins with a word from the list of subordinating
words; the clause has a subject and a verb; there is an independent clause also in
the sentence)
___ Compound sentence (two independent clauses are joined together using either a
semicolon or a comma with a conjunction such as and, but, or)
EXTRA CREDIT LABELS
___ Gerund phrase (sentence begins with a verb ending in –ing; phrase can not be
removed from the sentence; no comma is needed)
___ Appositive phrase (a phrase that describes a person or thing; follows what it
describes)
___ Complex sentence (One independent clause; one subordinate clause)
___ Compound-complex sentence (Two independent clauses; one or more
subordinate clauses)