Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

Contents 1 A thru C 2 D thru L 3 M thru Q 4 R thru S 5 T thru Z 6 Errors from Unit Two Essays __________________________________________________________ Abbreviations Active Verb Tense Apostrophes for missing numbers Bibliographies Capitalization Colon Comma Contractions Contradiction Diction Ellipses Ending sentences w/ prepositions Equivocation Exaggeration Extra words Hyphen Noun-Verb Agreement Numbers Omission/Diction Paragraph Transition Parentheses Preposition Proofreading Quotation Marks Redundancy Repetition Rhetorical Question Run-on-Sentences Semicolon/Colon Shift in Tense Singular/Plural Slang Spacing/Dashes Spelling Subject-Verb Agreement Than/Then Unspecified Article or Pronoun Vagueness (diction) Wordiness

Grammar and Mechanics From the Penguin Handbook College Writing 112: Spring 2007 Need Grammar? Get Penguins! (They know pretty much everything)

A thru C

Find examples for Abbreviations through Contractions on the A thru C page.

D thru L

Find examples for Diction through Lists on the D thru L page.

M thru Q

Find examples for Noun-Subject Agreement through Quotation Marks on the M thru Q page.

R thru S

Find examples for Redundancy thru Subject-Verb Agreement on the R thru S page.

T thru Z

Find examples for Than/Then thru Wordiness on the T thru Z page.

Errors from Unit Two Essays

• diction (overuse of "it" and "how""; incorrect "but", "for", "issue")
• complex sentence structure (too many ideas in one sentence and/or inadequate punctuation; improper use of colons, semi-colons)
• possession
• use of commas with quotations
• placement of quotation marks with in-text citations
• placement of parentheses with in-text citations
• repetition (the same word used in the same sentence or repeatedly throughout)
• unspecified articles ("it", "this")
• unspecified pronouns ("they", "them", "ways")
• wordiness (be concise!) How many words does it take to set context? How much background, situatedness is necessary, how much too much that actually gets in the way of clarity?
• noun-verb agreement
• singular-plural agreement
• pluralization
• use of spaces and periods with in-text citations
• do not end sentences with prepositions!
• class section # (in heading)
• equivocation ("I guess", "I believe", "I think")
• slang ("a lot", "hung up", "the such")
• omission
• exaggeration ("always", "very", "so many")
• redundancy
• spelling/proofreading for typos
• mixed metaphors
• disrespect! Do you know the author? What moxy does it take to use their first name?
• contradiction (that's contra-diction)
• use of rhetorical questions
• tense - a writer's writing is always in the present
• contractions! (watch Steph go apoplectic!)