Portfolio Polishing

AP Lang

Proofreading & Polishing Checklist

Before you submit your final portfolio, you MUST edit and polish your pieces!!! The feedback you've received from your peers and teacher has been on content only, but the final draft is the time to be sure your mechanics, presentation, and details are clean and correct.  Below are some last revision considerations and a polishing checklist.  Begin at the top, go through EACH step with EACH piece of writing.  Doing so carefully and thoroughly should ensure a reasonably clean final draft.

Add:

1.    Opening sentences that grab your reader’s attention—not in cheesy English 9 ways, but in authentic, thought-provoking ways that get them reading your argument

2.   Sensory detail that creates pathos, ethos, and logos.  Make your readers care about your argument with emotion, trust you because you’ve done your homework and include pertinent details, and understand your logic with solid facts, reasoning, and explanation.

3.   Conversations or thoughts that run through your head—especially in a narrative, use DIALOGUE!  It’s engaging and it shows what’s happening rather than just telling.

4.   Action, gestures, facial expressions, description of place or people, signal words, outside research, narrative details, definition, and explanation can all help your argument.

Subtract (No single argument should be more than 750 words):

1.    The junk—In each sentence experiment with pulling out words you don’t need.  Start with words like “which” and “that” and “started to . . .”  Make your writing FAR more concise than you though you could.

2.   Repetition—read each sentence one at a time out loud.  Get rid of words, phrases, ideas.

3.    Combine and condense sentences so you say the same thing in fewer words and space.  See how tight you can make your argument. 

Substitute and Rearrange:

1.    Use the Find feature.  Find “you”—Do you mean “I”

2.   Find “I” – Do you need third person or impersonal text?

3.   Word choice—Don’t substitute simply using the thesaurus.  Rewrite sentences.  Replace unspecific, or overused words with precise fresh language—but don’t use words you don’t really know or that will sound awkward given your tone and style.

Fine Tuning – Proofread and Polish:

1.     Title—Do you have one?  Is it capitalized correctly?  Capitalize first and last words and all words in between except for a, an, the, and, but, for, nor, or and yet, and all little prepositions under five letters.

2.     Format—Does it match your audience, purpose, and topic? Is it consistent? Paragraphs indented equally?  Margins?  Spacing?

3.     MLA citations—Did you use any?  If not, should you?  If so, did you use them correctly?  At the end of the sentence unless there is more than one citation in the sentence?  Is the citation part of a sentence (meaning there is end punctuation AFTER the citation)?

4.     Read the entire piece out loud to yourself—listen for places you get tripped up.  Revise those areas for better transition, flow, or clarity by looking at punctuation, sentence structure, and word choice.  If the sentence goes on for two or three lines, it’s likely a run-on that could be revised.  If your flow is choppy, you probably have a lot of simple sentences or compound sentences.  Use the Find feature to search for “and” or “but”—these are places you could revise for better flow.

5.     Hypen vs. dash—use the Find feature to search for a hyphen (-).  Are you using it correctly?  Is it making multiple words into one? With no spaces on either side?  Or are you using it as a dash (--) that interrupts a thought or denotes a long pause?

6.     Semicolon—did you use any?  Do you need to use fewer “and”s?  A semicolon is used to connect two complete sentences WITHOUT a conjunction.

7.     Comma—use the Find feature to search and check that you have followed the basic rules correctly.  I’ve listed them below.  If you need more info than I’ve provided, see the Purdue OWL for help.

a.     Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

b.     Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

c.     Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.

d.     Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.

e.     Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.

f.      Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion. (If the placement of the modifier causes confusion, then it is not "free" and must remain "bound" to the word it modifies.)

g.     Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.

8.     Usage—Use Find to locate the following words.  Check to see that you have used them correctly.

a.    It’s (it is)

b.    Its (possessive)

c.    Your (possessive

d.    You’re (you are)

e.    Here (place)

f.     Hear (to listen)

g.    There (place)

h.   Their (possessive

i.     They’re (they are)

j.     To

k.    Too (also or excessive amount)

l.     Two (number)

m. Witch (on a broom)

n.   Which (which one—this or that)

o.    Where (place)

p.    Wear (on your person)

q.    Were (past tense passive verb)

r.      We’re (we are)