Professor Rick’s 19 Favorite Notation Marks

How I mark-up students’ papers.

Transcript

1. PROFESSOR RICK’S 19 FAVORITE NOTATION MARKS
2. MY PHILOSOPHY While I’ll read every line of what you write, I won’t circle every mistake.
3. MY PHILOSOPHY While I’ll read every line of what you write, I won’t circle every mistake. That’s because I’m not your editor; I’m your teacher. My goal is to get you to think for yourself.
4. MY PHILOSOPHY While I’ll read every line of what you write, I won’t circle every mistake. That’s because I’m not your editor; I’m your teacher. My goal is to get you to think for yourself. As a result, I won’t always pinpoint the problem. Some- times, I’ll just circle a word. Sometimes, I’ll write, “Watch for typos.” It’s your job to extrapolate.
5. its’ 01 There’s a problem here. (It’s your job to ascertain what it is.)
6. cyber security 02 This should be one word.
7. 03 ¶ Create a new paragraph.
8. bl 04 Insert a blank line.
9. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. wall 05 This is a wall of words.
10. new pg 06 Move to the next page.
11. said. They 07 There should be one space, not two, between sentences.
12. awk 08 This sounds awkward.
13. huh 09 This doesn’t make sense.
14. wc 10 Your word choice is wrong.
15. all of the king’s men 11 Delete this.
16. The quick brown fox jumped over the dog. nice 12 Kudos!
17. 1000 , 13 There should be a comma here.
18. wouldn't 14 This is a dumb quote. Use a smart one.
19. I'll 14 I’ll dumb smart
20. 14 SmartQuotesForSmartPeople.com
21. I use kleenex. 15 Capitalize this letter.
22. 394 English 16 Separate these.
23. ”. 17 Periods (and commas) belong inside the quotation marks.
24. Punctuation Mark Does the Mark Go Inside or Outside the Closing Quote? For Example . Inside the closing quote “Hello.” , Inside the closing quote “Hello,” she said. ! Inside the closing quote if the exclamation point is part of the text you’re quoting; outside if not “Hello!” he bellowed. For the 10th time, when you answer the phone, say, “ACME Dynamite,” not “Hello”! ? Inside the closing quote if the question mark is part of the text you’re quoting; outside if not “Hello?” she said upon entering the empty house. Do you always answer the business phone by saying, “Hello”? ; Inside if the semicolon is part of the text you’re quoting; outside if not “Hello”; this is my favorite greeting. “Hello; this is my favorite greeting.”
25. I greatly appreciate it. 18 Switch the order of the words.
26. 19 dangling This is a “dangling modifier.” Upon finishing, the phone
27. 20 vague This is a “vague antecedent.” This caused
28. 21 wdt We’ve discussed this issue. Cc
29. http://www.english.umd.edu/profiles/jrick