EngC1011 University Writing and Critical Reading

Kevin L. Callahan

EngC1011 Writing Instructor

E-mail: call0031@tc.umn.edu

Telephone: (612) 623-7685

The best checklist is a personal one developed over time by noting errors and keeping track of a written list of the problems spotted by peer reviewers and instructors. Look for and record those problems you need to pay attention to and work on.

1. Have you used a spell check and grammar check program?
2. Do you have any missing words or improper spacing?
3. Have you confused two words and used the wrong one e.g. affect and effect, who and whom, which and that, etc.?
4. Does each sentence have a subject and a verb in it?
5. Are you consistently using one tense throughout the paper e.g. past or present tense?
6. Have you placed commas correctly? (We use the APA style. Newspapers generally use considerably fewer commas in their style manuals.)
7. Do you have any awkward phrases or choppy sentences?
8. Do you have any run-on sentences that need to be broken into two sentences.
9. Do all of your verbs agree in number with their subjects? Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. Science majors should especially pay attention to the following examples.

Incorrect:

The data indicates that I was correct.

Correct:

The data indicate that I was correct. (Data are plural. Datum is singular.)

Incorrect:

The phenomena occurs every 10 years.

Correct:

The phenomena occur every 10 years. (Phenomena are plural. Phenomenon is singular).

10. Have you followed your instructor’s guidelines for your manuscript format? Is it neat and tidy?

Be positive. You are helping a fellow student.

Be tactful. Emphasize the good points as well as the bad.

Be specific. Offer concrete suggestions rather than vague statements e.g. that something is generally "good" or "bad."

Be interactive. Ask questions, listen, and explain.

Be thorough. You are doing the work here. The person being reviewed is looking for a lot of feedback and will often feel angry, cheated, and think you are a lazy, worthless peer reviewer if you do not look like you have done any work. Give them a lot of specific suggestions.

What is the thesis or main idea?

How clear is the writing?

How informative, insightful, or persuasive is the writing?

Is there good support for the thesis?

Does the writer need to include more detail or examples? Does the writer need to include less detail or examples?

Is the paper focused and effective or vague and purposeless?

Are there problems with spelling, punctuation, grammar, or organization?

Is the writing interesting, informative, entertaining, and fun, or boring, dull, and purposeless?

Appreciate your reviewers. They are doing you a valuable service.

Interact with your reviewers.

Listen to everything they say, but you do not have to agree with everything they say.

Remember that your worst enemy will often tell you things that your friends might not, so listen carefully to both.

Do not let a reviewer get away with giving you a minimal response during a peer review. If they do that, start asking specific questions about things in the paper that you want to know about. Be prepared with questions that you would like answers to about your own writing.

Keep a written list of repeated errors you are making and start correcting them. Now is the time in your college career to learn these things. If you do not know where to put commas, or the difference between affect and effect, for example, take time to learn the rule. Memorize it. Be able to give examples of it. Have a positive outlook and take pride in correcting any long-standing repeated errors in your own writing! Just as you cannot play baseball without learning the rules of baseball, you cannot write well without learning the rules of writing.