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Proof reading marks
Philips
± (plus or minus)… indicates partial agreement; I think your statement should be modified
?
question… doubtful about assertion, can't understand, inconsistent
awk … awkward — not well expressed (rephrase in a clearer, more elegant way)
¶
(paragraph symbol)… you need a new paragraph here, in my judgement
expl.
(explain more clearly/fully what you are talking about… spell out for reader)
colloq
(colloquial expression, not appropriate in formal writing)
ital (italize… for example, book title or foreign word [daimyo]; underline if you cannot print italics)
(1) agreement [lack of noun-verb agreement, or subject article agreement
e. g.: they is going home; they goes to the ball game every weekend
(2) tense use more appropriate tense; be consistent in tense (vs., e.g. They went to the game. Walking to their seats they talk
to an old friend.
(3) comma punctuation… restrictive vs. non restrictive clauses rule: you must not use commas with restrictive clauses, you
must with non restrictive clauses. e.g.: Three ladies entered the oval office. The lady who wore a red dress pulled out a gun.
{"who wore a red a dress" restricts the meaning, telling you which lady pulled out the gun[no commas should be used]} A
distraught lady entered the oval office. The lady, who wore a red dress, pulled out a gun. {The phrase "who wore a red dress"
is non-restrictive—it isn't necessary to identify which lady you are talking about. [commas required]}
(4) poor transition (no natural relationship between what precedes and what follows, or inadequate introduction to what
follows)
(5) Logic? (indicates reasoning unclear or even fallacious; inconsistent, not persuasive)
(6) Improper selection of definite or indefinite article (a or an vs. the). (• A general rule: When something is first introduced
(so the reader has no way of knowing "which one you mean") you should use the indefinite article. Thereafter identify the thing
or person with a definite article.
e.g.: A woman came walking down the street. The woman wore a red dress and heavy makeup.
(7) Use proper footnote form. Note: number should be a superscript character, with a smaller font size [Word processors will
do this automatically]7 Do not use parentheses in the text (Jones, p. 123). A foot note is one sentence: 5. John Jones, Passion
and Quadratic Equations (New York: Knopf, 1987), p. 36. Later notes can give only the author and page ( Jones, p. 39.), unless you
are citing several works by the same author, in which case you need a partial title as well
(8) Awk (awkward) You should express yourself in a more straightforward way, with more natural, unambiguous phrasing
and word choice. This is a very common criticism; if you don't understand what bothers me, ask me.
(9) Diction. This indicates that I don't think you have chosen the appropriate word, given what you apparently want to say.
Check your dictionary or thesaurus.
(10) Evidence? What evidence is there that this assertion is correct? (I am more likely to ask for evidence if I am dubious.)
(11) Redundant expression. You have used two words or phrases that say the same thing; needless repetition.
(12) Reference unclear. Used when the topic/subject your statement applies to (it, that, they, them, he, their etc.) is ambiguous
or not what you probably intend. The general rule for pronouns is that they refer to the closest preceding noun they could
logically refer to. It is very distracting to your reader if you do not follow this rule. (You may need to use a proper name in
place of a pronoun.)
e.g.: George slew the dragon and rescued the lovely maiden. Harry was very anxious to learn what had happened. When CNN called, he
gave a full account. {the rule says "he" refers to Harry; if you mean George talked to CNN, you must identify him, not simply say "he"}.
(13) Unclear, not understandable, even incoherent. Re-write to clarify what you are trying to say.
(14) Misleading, exaggerated I think you are giving an inaccurate description in your statement.
(15) Not properly introduced. Could be used with a person, event, or idea. You need to fill the reader in on what you are
talking about. The first time individuals are mentioned you should use their full names and identify who they are.
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(16) Not what you mean to say. A literal reading of your prose conveys something other than what you probably intended.
(17) Relevance? This passage does not seem to be appropriate (or, you don't show the reader why it is pertinent), given your
paper topic
(18) Not a sentence (treating a dependant clause as a sentence).
(19) Too vague, too general. Be more specific, explain more precisely what you are asserting.
(20) Wordy, repetitious. Be more concise. Your prose is verbose, or you are saying the same thing two or three times. Try to
be as succinct as possible.
21) Awkward punctuation
(22) Proof read! Obvious problems with spelling, typing, repeated words, or scrambled syntax which should be caught and
corrected by you before the paper is submitted. (suggests poorly motivated scholar!)
(23) Article necessary/or not necessary. Improper use of a definite or indefinite article. There are no simple rules here;
native speakers trust their instincts. e.g.: The Japanese education is widely admired.
(24) Your language? I'm expressing suspicions about whether the prose is yours or lifted (plagiarized) from one of your
sources. Don't present others' work as your own.
(25) Elegant variation. Don't repeatedly used the same verb/noun/phrasing. This is not an issue of clarity but elegance. e.g.
Sir. George woke up and walked to the cafeteria. Then he walked to his friend's dorm. The two of them then walked to their 8
a.m. class. {English has many words which could replace walk; use a thesaurus.}
(26) Cat and Dog sentence. The two parts of the sentence don't seem to fit together naturally.
Other: use word processor's spell checker… don't hand in work full of uncorrected typos; don't use contractions in formal
writing such as this term paper; a footnote must include the exact page reference (not just the name of a work); the "en"–this
size (–) on a computer–should not have spaces around it; if you use a typewriter use two hyphens to make a dash, again with no
spaces; put book titles and foreign word (kimono) in italics (or underline if you cannot print italics), and enclose article titles
[in plain text] in quotation marks ("the article title"); don't plagiarize , which is using other peoples prose as if it were your
own.
•• If you quote something opaque, you are responsible for the unclear text in your paper (even though someone else
created it, you should clarify it; if you can't, why quote it?); don't quote broad generalizations from your sources without
supporting evidence (your reader will have no reason to take them seriously).
After you have done your research, outline what you want to say. Make transitions clear and plausible as you move from one
topic to the next. Be concise, yet give concrete evidence to support your contentions. Your object is to make the reader's task
as easy and rewarding as possible.