Planet 2
NAME:
Ratiocination Worksheet
You will need several colors of map pencils and/or highlighters. Add a √ beside each step when you complete it. This worksheet AND the ratiocinated rough draft are due on the class day following the essay due date for 5 BONUS POINTS
1. Circle all “to be” verbs: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, become, feels, seems, and appears. Count them and WRITE the number here: _____. Goal: (if you eliminate ¾) _____.
2. Put a box around each beginning of the sentence. IF you start more than 1 sentence with the same word/phrase, revise that sentence.
3. Underline each sentence in alternating colors. This step visually identifies sentences of approximately the same length. Make appropriate adjustments after ratiocinating to gain variety in sentence length. Try varying your sentence length to accommodate your meaning. Very short sentences can add emphasis to a point, and long ones can be more sophisticated. This process adds voice.
4. Write a capital X over any form of the word you. Mark out “I think,” “I feel,” “I believe,” “in my opinion,” and “personally” with an X. Eliminate!
5. Write a capital X over a lot, just, very, get, got, gotten, put, puts, has, have, had, quote, good, bad, mad, angry, sad, happy, awesome, and any be or is-words you missed the first time. Most of these words, like piles of junk, create unappealing communication. Can you eliminate any? Look carefully at every that; are they all necessary?
6. Write a capital X over all contractions. They do not belong in a formal paper. Many contractions use be verbs, so when changing them, eliminate any be verb at the same time.If the contraction is in a direct quote, leave it there.
7. Change the wording of all sentences or clauses that begin with an imprecise, often incorrect, “It is” or “There is [are]” or “This is.” Find your subject several words over; reword the sentence using active verbs.
8. Draw wavy lines ~~ under all repeated words in a sentence or paragraph; are they repeated for special rhetorical effect? Consider also like (okay for similes), so, and well as sentence starters, and prepositions at the end of sentences (such as to, for, about, at, in, with, of, off). Can you change any of these words ?
9. For compound sentence commas: Skim for conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so and yet. Check to see whether there is a complete sentence on each side of the conjunction. If so, place a comma before the conjunction.
10. Did you enclose all quoted words and passages with a pair of quotation marks? Did you format your parenthetical citations correctly? For example, yada yada yada “quoted words” (Brontë 64). Note the spacing as well as the punctuation. Do not forget to use single quotes for quotes within a quote.
11. Did you remember to keep your periods and commas INSIDE the quotation marks when they are not immediately followed by a parenthetical? Use MLA format.
Wrong: According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word want, used as a noun, means “lack of”.
Right: According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word want, used as a noun, means “lack of.”
Wrong: Because Anton “drifts”, he thinks of himself as a placid boat in the sea of life.
Right: Because Anton “drifts,” he thinks of himself as a placid boat in the sea of life.
12. Does the paper have an original, meaningful title?
13. Have I checked for grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes that my computer might miss?
14. Go back to the checklist on the prompt and make sure that ALL of those requirements are met as well (MLA, sentence patterns, word count, etc.)
Captain Planet
Ms. Romaguera
English IV
13 October 2013
Title of Paper (not underlined, in bold, or in italics)
The first paragraph of your response begins here. Remember that double-spaced means that there is one blank line between each line of text. When you finish writing your essay, you will probably need to click no the line spacing icon and select ‘remove space before paragraph’ and ‘remove space after paragraph’ in order to eliminate extra spaces. You should use Times New Roman 12 point font. Refer to the Purdue site and your notes over the essay for more information about MLA format, quotations, citations, and other requirements.