1. Elena González Rivera MC 206B February 24, 2015

2. Students will work on 6 important proofreading checkpoints in order to improve their writing at the micro level:  Grammar  Punctuation  Voice  Syntax  Redundancy  Use of transitional devices

3.  Important grammar points include:  verb tenses  subject-verb agreement  subject-pronoun agreement

4. Knowing verb tenses is pure memory. It is like learning the multiplication tables. Simple present tense verbs  http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html Past tense irregular verbs  http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/pastverb.htm http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/pastverb.htm Past tense irregular verbs quizzes  http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/ http://ww2.college-em.qc.ca/prof/epritchard/

5.  The subject and verb must agree in number.  Both must be singular, or both must be plural.  Identify where the subject of the sentence is in order to determine if it is singular or plural. ◦ http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/subverag.html http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/subverag.html  A quiz of subject-verb agreement  http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi- shl/quiz.pl/sv_agr_quiz.htm http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi- shl/quiz.pl/sv_agr_quiz.htm

6.  You can have a subject-pronoun agreement error that is a: ◦ Shift in person Ex. Alice needs to use a primer, if you want the paint job to look professional. Correct the error: ___________________________. ◦ Shift in number Ex. John and Paul worked hard all day, and afterwards he celebrated. Correct the error: _____________________________.

7.  Quiz for pronoun-verb agreement ◦ http://www.quia.com/quiz/608366.html?AP_rand= 548991596 http://www.quia.com/quiz/608366.html?AP_rand= 548991596

8.  A rough guide to punctuation  http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/punc.html http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/punc.html You can study this guide more carefully at home. http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/pun ctuation01.html  Run-on-sentences ◦ Examples and quizzes ◦ http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/qu izzes/Runons.htm http://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/punctuation/qu izzes/Runons.htm

9.  Active voice versus passive voice structure ◦ Syntax and verb form differ for active and passive voice  http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html ◦ Quiz practices for active/passive voice  Identifying the voice  http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_passive1.htm http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_passive1.htm  http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm ✔ http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice_quiz.htm  Transforming active voice to passive voice  http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/passive_q uiz.htm http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/passive_q uiz.htm

10.  We will look at four transitional devices: ◦ Transitional words and phrases ◦ Pronouns ◦ Repetition of key words and phrases ◦ Parallelism  Transitional devices are determined by their functions or relationships. ◦ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm ✔ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/transitions.htm ◦ http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-cwp.htm http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-cwp.htm  Examples: How do you use transitional devices effectively? ◦ http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-wxp.htm http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/tran-wxp.htm ◦ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/

11. Definition “Redundancy is the use of more words than are necessary to express a thought, especially the use of two expressions that mean the same thing. Such repetition works against readability and conciseness (Dawson, 1992).”  Unnecessary repetition of words in phrases ◦ http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/avoid- redundancy.aspx http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/avoid- redundancy.aspx  PRUNING THE REDUNDANT ◦ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

12. Once you write your personal statement or essay, re-read 5 times to check for: 1. Grammar ◦ verb tenses ◦ subject-verb agreement ◦ subject-pronoun agreement 2. Punctuation ◦ run-on-sentences 3. Syntax ◦ eliminate passive voice structure 4. Lack of redundancy 5. Transitional devices