Keeping a Record of Your Own Errors

Printed Page H-3

In addition to checking your work for the errors college students usually make, you will find it useful to keep a record of the errors that you usually make. You can then work toward avoiding them.

Printed Page H-4

To use the Record of Errors form on the next page, note the name and section number of each error you make in the left-hand column. (See the Handbook Contents on p. H-1 or the list of correction symbols at the back of the book for the names of errors.) For example, if in your first essay your instructor or another student marks a vague use of the pronoun this at the beginning of two of your sentences, locate the section that provides help in correcting this error (G1), and enter the error name in the left column along with the section number. Then under Essay 1 and next to the name of the error, enter the number 2 to indicate how many times you made this error. As you edit subsequent essays, you can easily review this section in the Handbook to make sure you have avoided this pronoun problem.

By your second or third essay, you should begin to see patterns in the errors you make and to understand how to recognize and correct them.

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