Hi Class,

Remember that you must turn in Essay 3 on Tuesday, December 10. Please bring in your notes from the entire semester as we will review for the final exam on the 10th.

Revising and Proofreading Advice:

1. Buy a friend a cup of coffee and ask them read over your essay and make comments. Or, offer to trade essays.
2. Pay a friend/colleague a nickel for every mistake or problem that they find.
3. Read your essay out loud. Enunciate each word. If something is wrong, your ear usually picks it up.
4. Read “backwards.” This is a technique used by professional editors and proofreaders: starting at the end of your essay, read each sentence in reverse order (don’t read the words in reverse order).
5. Revise each topic sentence to reveal exactly what the paragraph is trying to claim/assert.
6. Replace all weak verbs; change passive verbs to active verbs.
7. Make sure that your topic sentences are aligned with your thesis. Do they help support your overall thesis? They should.
8. Make sure that your thesis, topic sentences, and your conclusion speak to each other–that they are linked. Revise as needed.
9. Make sure that commas are inside the quotations. For Example:

The unnamed narrator reveals that Lila Mae was dedicated, that she had “taken an oath and such things are to be taken seriously,” a remark that confirms her strong moral compass (14).

10. Make sure to use grammar check and spell check. Set the grammar check to “formal.”

11. Email me your questions.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan