o Choppy sentences; fix through subordination

o Shifts in verb tense (e.g. past to present) or point of view.

o Dangling or misplaced modifiers (e.g. While walking the dog, he bit a stranger).

o Agreement: subject/verb (e.g. We goes. . .) & pronoun/antecedent (e.g. A student studies so that they succeed.)

o Comma splices and fused sentences (a.k.a. run-on sentences); Sentence fragments (a.k.a. comma splices)

o Tone is academic: formal, appropriate to audience and purpose. Avoid frequent repetitions of "I," "I feel that," and "in my opinion."

o Wordy sentences; fix by cutting unnecessary words/phrases

o Passive voice (e.g. NOT: It is believed by certain snobs that many people do not speak proper English. BUT: Certain snobs believe that ....)

o Standard usage/spelling; avoid contractions (isn't, it's, etc.), abbreviations (fem., 19th, etc.), errors (e.g. its/it's, affect/effect, alot, can not/cannot etc.) and other habits inappropriate to formal writing.

o Commas (missing) or (unnecessary)

o Apostrophes (excessive or misued);

o Confusion of semicolon (;) or colon (:)

o Quotation marks and proper "MLA parenthetical citation format" (Gibaldi 123).

Format - Follow MLA Guidelines

o Margins 1 inch only, on all sides; last name and page number in the top-right corner of all pages after the first.

o The font size is 12-points and the style a normal, readable choice like Times Roman, Courier, or Book Antigua.

o First page: name, course, and date appear in the upper left; an original title follows, horizontally centered.

o Lines are double-spaced throughout, with no extra spaces between paragraphs or separating quotations. New paragraphs are indented 5-spaces (1/2 inch) and block quotations 10-spaces (1 inch).