Revision Checklist
Do not use personal pronouns (I, you, me)unless they are a part of a quote. Avoid I think, I believe, In my opinion, etc.
The first time you mention an author’s name, write the first and last name. After that, use his or her last name only- never first name only!
Put titles of short works in quotation marks; titles of long works are italicized when typed and underlined when handwritten.
DO NOT use contractions:
- cannot, not can’t
- do not, not don’t
DO NOT define literary terms or specialized vocabulary for the reader. For example, if you are writing about the use of imagery in a poem or book, do not write “Imagery is the use of language that appeals to the senses.”
DO NOT use a quote and then not explain anything about the quote. If you use a quote, you MUST provide some analysis to follow up.
DO NOT write “This quote says…” Quotes do not talk. If a character in a book says something that you want to quote in your paper, do not say “Kumalo quotes, “Have the police been here?” Kumalo is not quoting someone else. He is merely speaking. YOU are quoting Kumalo. “Kumalo says, “…” would be appropriate.
DO NOT use words such as “things,” “stuff,” and “people.” Tell what specific “things” you are discussing.
DO NOT use so many pronouns the reader can’t remember who you are writing about. Instead of writing “he” or “she” or “they” several times in a row, use the person’s proper name where it fits smoothly. This prevents your reader from becoming confused.
DO NOT write “In conclusion” to begin your last paragraph.
DO NOT write vague ideas or generalities to fill space; for example: Lots of writers use metaphors in their writing.
DO NOT evaluate the quality of figurative language or writers: Alan Paton uses great imagery in his book. Bradstreet uses fantastic metaphors in her poem.
Use present tense when you write about characters in a book or the speaker in a poem. Use past tense when you write about history. For example, “Alan Paton worked at a reform school,” and “Stephen Kumalo advocatestribal life over life in Johannesburg.” Or, “Anne Bradstreet liveda devoutly Puritan lifestyle,” but the speaker in ‘Huswifery’ “asksGod to make him an instrument for his glory.”
Use precise, accurate words. Do not use a word just because it sounds fancy. For example, do not write “This metaphor portrays the idea that the main character’s death is imminent.” ‘Portrays’ is an awesome word, but it does not make sense here. Go easy on the thesaurus; if you are not sure about a word’s proper usage, ASK ME.
DO NOT use overly long quotes to fill up space. Only use what you need from the text. If you must use a quote that is longer than three lines, you will write it as a block quote. Purdue OWL can provide guidelines.
EMBED your quotes in your writing. If you randomly insert a quote without making it clear who is speaking, it is confusing for the reader. Your quotes should blend into your natural writing as much as possible. For example:
DO: Kumalo tells the child to “go to the mother then” when the child claims to be hungry (Paton 35).
DON’T: “Go to the mother then” (Paton 35). The child is hungry, so Kumalo wants to feed her.