Sara McCurry, English
“Most Common Errors” Reference Sheet:
a strategy for saving grading time by reducing
repetitive commentary on major assignments
Rationale: Regardless of our academic discipline, we instructors find ourselves trying to
accommodate the needs of an increasing number of students while still trying to maintain
high standards of individual student feedback. The result can be frustration for students
who may not feel that they are receiving enough individual guidance and burnout for
instructors overwhelmed by trying to provide that essential feedback, but giving up most
weeknights and weekends to do so. My challenge as an English instructor and mother of
a new baby was to find a way to reduce the redundancy of some of my general
commentary on student papers (for example, in a stack of 100 essays, I might write the
same comment, “Your thesis statement is too general,” on approximately 40 papers). I
devised a reference sheet that allowed me to streamline my commentary on general,
often-seen problems in student work so that I could focus more individualized attention
on other aspects of their writing.
Materials: Rather than an in-class strategy, this is a grading/feedback strategy. All you
need is the “Essay Comments Reference Sheet.”
Description: I provide all students with a copy of the “English 1A Essay Comments
Reference Sheet” during the first week of class. I explain to them that I often found
myself writing the same comment on paper after paper as I graded a stack of essays, such
as “too general introduction, try…” or “Where’s your thesis?” Realizing that I could
both eliminate redundancy and give them more defined feedback about these very
common problems, I created this sheet. On the sheet, I tell them, I give them the “best
possible feedback I can give about this common problem, rather than a quick scribbled
note” (students like it better when they understand that this is the purpose of the reference
sheet). As I read a student’s essay, I write the shorthand version of the problem or error
that I see in the margin. They look up the error on the reference sheet. Thus, I can give
the best possible response to each student, offer them other resources to help fix the
problem, and focus the majority of my in-depth comments on students’ unique abilities or
issues.
Processing/Debriefing: This method is only helpful if students actually use the
reference sheet. It’s important to emphasize its usefulness; I even go through a few of the
descriptions so they can see how helpful it might be.
ENGLISH 1A, 1B, and 1C
ESSAY COMMENTS REFERENCE SHEET
TITLE 1
TITLE 2
TITLE 3
INTRODUCTION
1
INTRODUCTION
2
THESIS 1
THESIS 2
THESIS 3
DEVELOPMENT
1
Too General Title. Your title should give the reader a very specific sense
of what your essay is about; don’t just call your essay “Essay #1” or
“Marriage.” Your title is the first impression you convey; spend some
time giving your essay a unique, interesting, descriptive title that gives a
clear idea of what you will discuss.
Title Format. Your title should only be centered. Don’t put the whole
title in capital letters. Don’t put the title in quotation marks. Don’t bold or
underline the title. Don’t make the title in a larger font than the rest of
your essay. Don’t put an “extra” double space (4 spaces) between the title
and text of your essay.
Title Capitalization. Always capitalize the first word of the title, and all
other words except the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” and short prepositions
or conjunctions like “of,” “in,” “and,” “or,” etc.
Introduction Too Short. Your introduction should be more than just one
or two sentences and your thesis statement. Use an interesting
introductory tactic to “hook” your readers and engage them in your topic
before you present the specific thesis of your paper. To engage your
readers’ interest right away, you can quote and comment on an interesting
fact or statistic related to your topic, ask your audience an interesting
question about your topic, tell a true story (your own or from a source)
closely related to your topic, present a vivid image/scenario related to your
topic, etc.
Introduction Too General. Often, it takes a while to get in “the zone”
when you begin to write, and this means that your first few sentences can
be a little dull and general in the first draft, along the lines of “Global
warming is a very interesting subject. It is very bad for our planet.” Focus
your introduction and use it to “hook” your readers interest by using one of
the introductory tactics described in Introduction 1.
Too General Thesis. A thesis that is too broad (A) may not accurately
reflect what’s really in your paper or (B) may indicate that you need to
narrow down the scope of your paper. See Hacker C1-c (pg. 10) and C2-a
(pg. 14)
Awkward/Unclear Thesis. Your thesis idea is difficult to immediately
grasp because of the way it is phrased. Read your thesis aloud—can you
rephrase it so that your meaning is clearer?
No Assertion in Thesis. Your thesis should not be just a statement of fact
(like “Some children in CA experience child neglect”); a thesis needs to
make an assertion that is arguable, that readers will have differing opinions
about (like “California should have stricter laws governing child neglect.”)
See Hacker C1-c (pg. 10) and C2-a (pg. 14)
No/Poor Topic Sentence(s). Generally, each body paragraph in your
paper needs a topic sentence that explains the main point of the paragraph.
For argumentative papers, think of topic sentences as “mini thesis
statements”; they need to be focused and specific, and usually they make
DEVELOPMENT
2
DEVELOPMENT
3
DEVELOPMENT
4
DEVELOPMENT
5
STYLE 1
STYLE 2
STYLE 3
CONCLUSION 1
assertions that the rest of the paragraph backs up with evidence and
explanation. See Hacker C4-a (pg. 24)
No Evidence. You need to back up any point you are making in a
paragraph with evidence. Some of the most common types of evidence
include detailed examples (not just a quick sentence/reference in passing),
quotations, statistics, analogies, historical precedent, etc. See Hacker C4-c
(pg. 26) and A2-3 (pg. 70)
Weak Evidence. Evidence can be weak for a variety of reasons. Here are
some of the most common: (A) evidence does not clearly support the point
you’re trying to make. (B) evidence is too general (make sure examples are
detailed and specific). (C) source of evidence is strongly biased.
No Explanation. In body paragraphs, you always need to explain how the
evidence you’ve presented supports the point you’re trying to make. You
can’t just give a statistic or cite a quotation and expect your reader to “fill
in the blanks”; you have to explain how your evidence supports your point.
Weak Explanation. (A) Often, an explanation may be weak because you
are moving too fast; remember to spend plenty of time developing your
explanation of how the evidence you have presented proves the point
you’re trying to make. (B) Is your explanation reasonable and logical?
Identify the weak reasoning and strengthen the logic in your explanation.
(C) Does your explanation make generalizations or assumptions about the
readers’ knowledge and/or beliefs? Identify the generalizations or
assumptions you are making and decide how to better reach your full
audience. See Hacker A3-a,b, and c (pg. 77)
Oversimplified Style. Remember; you need to stretch your abilities as a
college writer. True, you should sound like yourself and only use
vocabulary that you know, but you also need to sound like an educated
college student! Watch out for relying on adjectives like “big,” “neat,”
“important,” etc. and adverbs like “really” and “very” to make your points.
Too Informal Style. Yes, your personality should come through in your
essay (even if the paper is an argument, it should still contain a sense of the
writer’s “voice”). However, keep in mind that college essays are generally
semi-formal to formal in tone, so avoid slang or clichéd expressions (“She
got fired big time!”) or text/e-mail shorthand (“UR2 funny!”) in a college
paper.
Too Formal or Ornate Style. Sometimes, students err on the side of
being much too formal in college papers, and the results can be peculiar
instead of impressive. In general, you should write how you would
normally speak—if it wouldn’t come out of your mouth (even on a good
day), then don’t put it on paper. Good writing is both clear and concise—
these qualities do not make it simplistic. Some of the problems that arise
from too formal or ornate style are: (A) confusing/awkward sentence
structure. (B) incorrect or unclear word usage. (C) a writing voice that
seems antiquated, peculiar, or simply false to the reader.
Too General Conclusion. Often, writers feel “out of gas” by the end of
the paper and write a conclusion along the lines of “Global warming is bad
for the environment. We all need to do something about it.” As in your
CONCLUSION 2
MLA 1
MLA 2
MLA 3
MLA 4
MLA 5
MLA 6
MLA 7
introduction, you need to use a specific tactic to help conclude your essay.
You can ask a provocative question that keeps your readers thinking about
your topic, call your readers to action of some kind, explain the results or
consequences of your thesis, offer a warning about your topic, end by
giving an interesting and pertinent quotation and commenting on it, tell an
interesting story that acts as one final illustration of your thesis, etc.
Too Brief Conclusion. Readers need closure, and it’s your job to give it
to them; a sentence or two at the end of your essay won’t do this
successfully. Look at the suggestions provided in Conclusion 1 for
various tactics to help you develop your conclusion.
First Page Headings. Your first page heading should look exactly like the
one in the MLA sample paper on page 408 of the Writer’s Reference. On
the first page of your paper and 1”from the top of the paper, flush with the
LEFT margin, place your name, your instructor’s name, the course title,
and the date on separate, double-spaced lines.
Headers. Your header should be placed ½” from the top of the page flush
with the RIGHT margin on every page. It should include your last name,
one space, then the page number (see MLA sample paper on page 408 of
the Writer’s Reference). If you are not sure how to get your word
processing program to format your headers automatically, talk to me!
Margins, Line Spacing, and Paragraph Indents. Leave margins of 1”
on all sides of the page. Double-space throughout the paper—doublespace your heading on the first page (name, instructor’s name, class, and
date) as well. Don’t put “extra” double spaces before or after your title, or
in between paragraphs. To indicate you are beginning a new paragraph,
indent the first line of each paragraph ½” (5 spaces or 1 tab) from the left
margin. See the MLA sample paper on page 408 of the Writer’s
Reference.
Signal Phrases. Don’t just drop source material into your paper out of
nowhere; always use a signal phrase to introduce a quotation, paraphrase
or summary. Generally, a signal phrase consists of the author’s name and
often provides some context for the source material. Always use present
tense in signal phrases (“John Smith states,” not “John Smith stated”).
Don’t always use the same verb in your signal phrases—there’s a great list
of verbs to use in signal phrases in MLA 3-b on pg. 365.
Parenthetical Reference. If you haven’t used your author’s name in the
signal phrase and/or your source has page numbers, you will need a
parenthetical reference at the end of any quoted, paraphrased, or
summarized material. See MLA-4a on pg. 370 for details (there is a great
directory on the top of 371 that explains the basic rules for parenthetical
reference and the variations on those rules for given sources/situations).
Parenthetical Reference/Author Unknown. If your source does not list
an author’s name, then a shortened version of the article or webpage title
goes in the parenthetical reference (see MLA-4a pg. 372 #3).
Punctuation for Parenthetical Reference. Final punctuation always goes
after the parenthetical reference, not within the final quotation mark. EX:
John Smith states that “only one-third of American pets live a truly
MLA 8
MLA 9
MLA 10
MLA 11
satisfying existence” (12).
General Works Cited Page Format. Please see the MLA sample Works
Cited on page 412 of the Writer’s Reference. Common errors include
bolding or underlining the heading, not double-spacing all the entries, not
using the hanging indent (first line of each entry flush with left margin,
subsequent lines of each entry indented 5 spaces), and not alphabetizing
your list of sources. Follow the sample paper to fix any of these problems.
Individual Works Cited Entry Format. Use the directory to MLA
Works Cited entry models, MLA-4b on pg. 379, to help you find the
information you need to fix the format for individual works cited entries.
Also very helpful if you’re having trouble understanding the basic order of
information that should go in a works cited entry are the “Citation at a
Glance” sections in Hacker’s book: books—383, articles in periodicals—
388, short work from a Website—392, and article from a library
database—396. NOTE: these four are the most common types of works
cited entry formats you will use, so it pays to be familiar with them.
“Phantom” Sources. If you have not quoted, paraphrased, or summarized
from a source in your essay (that is, you didn’t use it), that source
shouldn’t be listed on your Works Cited page. “Works Cited” means the
sources you actually used in your paper, not the sources you looked at but
didn’t end up using for your paper.
Plagiarized Sources (Inadvertent). You know that all direct quotes need
to be cited correctly using a signal phrase with the author’s name and a
parenthetical reference if necessary. But you also need to cite ANY
information you use from a source—a statistic, an idea, a story, a general
argument you’ve put in your own words, etc. Putting this information in
your own words is called paraphrase or summary (paraphrase if you’ve
said it in about the same length as the original, summary if you’ve
condensed it down). Just because you put it into your own words doesn’t
mean it’s your idea—give credit where credit is due, exactly as you would
for a direct quotation. MLA-2a, b, and c (358).