Editing Symbols

For Papers Marked by Steve Phelan

A and B	Avoid the use of a comma for simple compounds, i.e. whenever the pair of elements (A or B) are subordinate clauses, phrases, or simple words joined by AND. The comma often is used to accentuate a pair in contrast (A, but B).
abbr	In formal writing abbreviations are avoided.
agr	Agreement: the subject should agree in number with the verb. The pronoun should agree in number and gender with its antecedent.
awkward	Try another phrasing of this passage.
CS	Comma Splice: two main clauses may not be joined by a mere comma. Use a period, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction with either a comma or semi-colon.
cap	Capitalize proper names, the first words of sentences and quotations, content words in titles, and allegorical figures.
cliche	Avoid the time-worn phrase like the plague or you may not come out smelling like a rose. Either create your own image or change some part of the cliche to make it fresh as a new-born phrase.
coherence	Good writing has a jig-saw quality by which each sentence fits neatly into the next; a paragraph gets coherence by sticking to the same subject, by use of sentence connectors, and by following a pattern of organization. The theme as a whole gets coherence through unity, organization, and paragraph transitions.
contraction	In formal writing spell out all contractions, unless you are simulating colloquial speech.
DM or dang	Dangling Modifier. A participial phrase uses a verb-form (ending in -ing or -ed) which has an assumed subject ("running down the street" assumes a particular runner, say John). If the participial phrase precedes the main clause, then the subject of the main clause and the assumed subject of the phrase must be identical. For example,. "running down the street, the tree fell on John" makes a DM (the tree did the running?); whereas "running down the street, John was hit by a falling tree" works fine.
dev	Development is the amount of material you are offering your reader as evidence for your topic (in the piece as a whole, the paragraph, or the sentence). The modes of development are definition, analysis, classification, contrast, comparison, process analysis, cause, effect, analogy, example, illustration, and description.
"explainery"	Some of the best writing works by implication; if you do something clever, no need to follow it with an explanation.
FW	Find a more appropriate function word.
frag	Sentence fragments are sometimes legitimate for the sake of emphasis (in such cases they are usually short and constitute a pointed remark or answer to the previous sentence. Often, however, fragments represent a serious problem of sentence construction or a mere afterthought which we have failed to integrate into the previous sentence.
hyphen or -	Use a hyphen for newly coined compounds, especially for adjective phrases such as "eighteenth-century pigs" or "second-floor intellectuals."
intro	Always use a comma at the end of a subordinate clause which introduces your sentence. This comma announces the end of the minor idea and the beginning of the main idea of the sentence. Learn the common subordinating conjunctions which one uses to introduce sentences (if, when, although, etc.)
lc	Use lower case and not capitals for this. See Cap above.
MC; MC	A compound sentence with two main clauses and no coordinating conjunction should have a semicolon to mark the balance of the two main clauses. Even if you join the clauses together with a coordinating conjunction, the semicolon is preferable to the comma if the sentence is meant to show balance.
no P	Paragraphs should develop a single topic fully, usually in six to ten sentences. The material offered in this paragraph belongs with the preceding and is required for its development.
num	In formal prose spell out the numbers from zero to ninety-nine, except in papers where numbers are frequent because of the quantitative nature of the topic.
org	The series, the sentence, the paragraph, and the essay as a whole should have an organization which enhances the unity of the topic and the purposes of the writer.
parallelism	In a series of phrases, maintain the same grammatical form (without being wordy). E.g. in the sentence, "Over the river, through the trees, and under the bridge I led my brother, sister, and great aunt to safety," all three prepositions and the "the’s" are required, but we do not have to repeat the "my" with the second and third relatives.
predication	An error in predication occurs when the subject and predicate of a sentence are not compatible either semantically or grammatically. The grammatical problem usually occurs in A is B sentence patterns. "The reason is because...," "Education is when...," because an adverbial clause may not be used as a predicate noun. The semantic problem arises when the subject is not capable of the predicate ("John is a mushroom" or "Education is abomination."
pt of vw	It is preferable to take a consistent point of view with respect to the time of a story, the number of a subject, the manner of reference, and so forth; hence, if you start to narrate something in the past, keep the same tense in all your verbs. If your subject is education, talk about "the teacher" consistently or "the teachers" in the plural. If you begin a paper with the informal "I," do not switch to "one" or "the author."
red	Redundancy is repetition of ideas in different terms; sometimes it is valuable to repeat yourself, even exactly, especially in public speaking. Usually, redundancy is simply a waste of the reader’s time.
ref	Some words, like pronouns, point to other nouns or subject, i.e. they have a particular and direct reference which the reader is expected to catch. The words the and this and that often make only vague reference or ask the reader to search for an antecedent in a whole sentence or paragraph of possible antecedents. The solution is to make explicit reference (this Problem, that CHILD, or the man WHO CAME TO DINNER.
rep	Unnecessary use of the same word or phrase. See redundancy.
run-on	Unless a sentence is very well organized and fortified with parallelism, it should not go beyond a reasonable length (three to five clauses) and thereby tax the reader's attention as this one is now beginning to do; it runs on like a telephone conversation or becomes overloaded with substance so that it needs editing into simpler units.
series (comma) A, B, and C	Whenever three or more words, phrases, or subordinate clauses are presented in a series, put a comma between each unit of the series, including the last which is attached by AND. Hence, A, B, and C. This practice (not universally followed) is preferable because it allows you to use a compound as one of the units of your series without disrupting the series. For example, "I had a big breakfast of corn flakes, pancakes, bacon and eggs, orange juice, and Dad's advice about how to dress."
slang	Slang may be used in formal writing, but it should appear in quotation marks.
split infinitive	An infinitive consists of TO + VERB, and the whole phrase acts as a noun. No modifier of the verb should come between the sign of the infinitive (TO) and the verb form (e.g. "to just gargle" should be "just to gargle."
subord	You have made a whole sentence out of this idea and it can easily be made subordinate to the preceding one. The levels of subordination to choose from are: subordinate clause, verbal phrase, phrase in apposition, prepositional phrase, and single word (adj., adv., noun, verb).
"thatery"	Economy in writing can often be achieved by locating that-clauses and which-clauses and who-clauses which can be reduced to simple words of phrases. This works especially for A is B sentence patterns.
trans	Between some sentences and most paragraphs a transition word or phrase keeps the reader on track and smoothes over shifts in topic.
unity	The sentence, the paragraph, and the theme as a whole should normally treat a single subject or topic.
W	A mistake in word choice. Consult your dictionary for the correct meaning and uses of this word or consult your thesaurus for a word which is sharper.
"whichery"	See "thatery." At the end of a perfectly good sentence we often add a which-clause just to keep the topic rolling; but we really need to start a whole new sentence or integrate this afterthought into the sentence more carefully.
wordy	!
[circled items]	Misspellings~check your dictionary.
[tail + circle + tail]	Delete, take this item out.
[wavy underscore]	Something is fishy here, try for a better word or phrase.