Correct the 30 errors
in grammar, punctuation, usage, spelling, and proofreading in the following
text. (30
minutes)
Adapted from the
foreword to
Keys to Great Writing
1. What is
the keys or the secret to great writing?
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
2. Working
as a part time college professor, writing consultant, and newspaper columnist,
people often ask me that question. Not always in those words, but in words to
that affect. How do I make my writing vivid and memorable? How do I set
myself apart from other writers? How do I convey my personality, my point of
view, my values? How do I learn to write with style?
Answers Answers to entire
exercise
3. Taking
the last question first, I suggest you do three things: read, study, and
writing exercises. Read good writers, study specific stylistic techniques and
practice applying those techniques. The first activity, reading, will help
you develop your style over time (and offer you other immeasurable benefits
and pleasures along the way.) The other two activities, study and practice,
is more intentional, self-conscious endeavors. They involve analyzing and
imitating proven techniques to produce predictable results.
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
4. As many
authors before myself have said, to develop your style, begin with
simplicity. The nineteenth-century English critic and essayist Matthew Arnold
declared: “People think I can teach them style. What stuff it is. Have
something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of
style.”
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
5. Say what
you have to say. Say it simply and directly. To improve your style; begin by
reducing your writing to its essential elements. Then build. Finally – with
caution and at some risk - embellish. Add flourish if it suits you (and if it
suits your audience and subject), keeping in mind that flourish is not the
same as fluff. Even as you attempt elegance, your principle goal should be
clarity
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
6. In The
Elements of Style, William Strunk and E. B. White warn the writer against
‘all mannerisms, tricks, adornments.’ They advice you to approach style by
way of “plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.” In On Writing
Well, William Zinsser says, “You have to strip down your writing before
you can build it back up,” and he offers his own “cardinal goals” of good
writing: “humanity, clarity, simplicity, vitality”. In Style: Ten
Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph Williams includes a cluster of
techniques for writing concisely as one of his ten lessons. Those three
books, read and studied by countless writers form the foundation for this
book, and I want to acknowledge my debt to them, as well as to the many other
sources I site throughout my text.
Answers Answers to entire
exercise
7. In this
book, I present five key’s to great writing: economy, precision, action,
music, and personality. Economy involves rejecting the notion that more is
necessarily better. As Strunk and White point out, economy doesn’t mean that
every sentence must be short, but that every word must count. Compare, for
example, “The shot that was heard by everybody around the entire world” with
“The shot heard round the world.”
Answers Answers to entire
exercise
8. The
second key, precision, has to do with your command of language, your ability
to use just the right word to capture your meaning, to say exactly what you
mean, and to say it memorably. Thats where reading makes a difference.
Reading helps you develop a good ear, and you need a good ear to know which
word is best. Compare elderly with old and ocean with
sea, for example, and you’ll understand why Hemingway didn’t call his tale
The Elderly Man and the Sea or The Old Man and the Ocean.
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
9. Action
and music, are the keys that add energy and vitality to your writing. Action
has to do with making your sentences tell stories. It is created by using
verbs, rather than nouns, to express your meaning. Compare “The previously
undisclosed evidence caused irreparable harm to the prosecutors case” with
“The previously undisclosed evidence destroyed the prosecutor’s case.” The
first sentence is static, the second dynamic.
Answers Answers to entire
exercise
10. The
fourth key – music, has to do with the rhythm and the sound of language.
Sometimes you establish a rhythm, as Samuel Johnson did when he wrote, “What
is written without effort; is in general read without pleasure.” And
sometimes you offer variety, as accomplished writers do when they follow a
long, complex sentence with a short, snappy one. Like this.
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
11. The fifth
key, personality, goes beyond language to the reader’s sense of the person
behind the words. To grasp the importance of personality, think of a novel
you read long ago. The one thing that stays with you – even after you have
forgotten the characters, the setting, and the plot – is your sense of the
writer as a person. Your perception of the authors personality or presence is
like a residue that lingers long after everything else, has vanished. That
residue is style in its most profound sense.
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
12. There
are, to be sure, other components of effective writing. To be a competent
writer, you must understand purpose, point of view, organization, support, and
coherence, and you must know how to use them to your advantage, however, these
elements have more to do with the craft of writing than the art. Working
effectively with purpose, point of view, organization, support, and coherence,
etc. will make you a competent writer, but it won’t necessarily make you a
great writer. Your style, on the other hand, represents the essence of who
you are. It distinguishes you from every other writer on the planet.
Answers
Answers to entire
exercise
13. Learn the
five keys to great writing. Understand the five elements of composition.
Practice the techniques relating to both. Do these things, and you’ll be on
your way.
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
14. And don’t
forget the real reason you write. Behind the language, beyond the techniques,
is the greatest gift you have to offer; yourself.
Answers
Answers to entire exercise
Answers to entire
exercise, from the top
Adapted from the foreword to
Keys to
Great Writing
1. [1 error]
What are
[1. subject-verb agreement]
the keys or the secret to great writing?
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
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2.
[3 errors]
In my work [1. dangling
modifier] as a
part-time [2. missing
hyphen in a unit modifier] college
professor, writing consultant, and newspaper columnist, I am
[1. dangling modifier]
often asked that question. Not always in those
words, but in words to that effect
[3. misspelled word].
How do I make my writing vivid and memorable? How
do I set myself apart from other writers? How do I convey my
personality, my point of view, my values? How do I learn to write with
style?
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
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3.
[4 errors]
Taking the last question first, I suggest you do three things: read,
study, and practice
[1. nonparallel structure].
Read good writers, study specific stylistic techniques,
[2. inconsistent use of serial comma -- see previous
sentence]
and practice applying those techniques. The
first activity, reading, will help you develop your style over time (and offer
you other immeasurable benefits and pleasures along the way).
[3. incorrect order of punctuation marks -- concluding mark goes after, not
before, closing parenthesis when the sentence is partly, rather than
completely, enclosed by parentheses]
The other two activities, study and practice, are
[4. subject-verb agreement]
more intentional, self-conscious endeavors. They
involve analyzing and imitating proven techniques to produce predictable
results.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
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4.
[1 error]
As many authors before me
[1. incorrect pronoun case]
have said, to develop your style, begin with simplicity. The
nineteenth-century English critic and essayist Matthew Arnold declared:
“People think I can teach them style. What stuff it is. Have
something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only
secret of style.”
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
5.
[4 errors]
Say what you have to say. Say it simply and directly. To improve
your style,
[1. semicolon used in place of a comma; a semicolon
should be used between two complete sentences or between the items in a
series; a comma should be used after an introductory element containing a verb
form]
begin by reducing your writing to its essential elements. Then build.
Finally – with caution and at some risk –
[2. hyphen used in place of a dash]
embellish. Add flourish if it suits you (and if it suits your audience
and subject), keeping in mind that flourish is not the same as fluff.
Even as you attempt elegance, your
principal
[3. misspelled word]
goal should be clarity.
[4. missing period]
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
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6.
[6 errors]
In The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E. B. White warn the writer
against “[1.
single quotation marks used in place of double quotation marks]
all mannerisms, tricks, adornments.”[1.
single quotation marks used in place of double quotation marks]
They advise
[2. misspelled word]
you to approach style by way of “plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity.”
In On Writing Well, William Zinsser says, “You have to strip down your
writing before you can build it back up,” and he offers his own “cardinal goals”
of good writing: “humanity, clarity, simplicity, vitality.”
[3. period after, rather than before, closing quotation
marks]
In
Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph Williams includes a
cluster of techniques for writing concisely as one of his 10
[4. number 10 spelled as a word rather than written
as a numeral -- numbers nine and lower should be spelled as words; numbers 10
and greater should be written as numerals; note that Williams chose to disregard
this rule in his title, a decision that does not affect numbers usage elsewhere
in the sentence]
lessons. Those three books, read and studied by countless writers,
[5. missing comma after an appositive or modifying phrase]
form the foundation for this book, and I want to acknowledge my debt to them, as
well as to the many other sources I cite
[6. misspelled word]
throughout my text.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
7.
[1 error]
In this book, I present five keys
[1. unnecessary apostrophe in a plural word]
to great writing: economy, precision, action, music, and personality.
Economy involves rejecting the notion that more is necessarily better. As
Strunk and White point out, economy doesn’t mean that every sentence must be
short, but that every word must count. Compare, for example, “The shot
that was heard by everybody around the entire world” with “The shot heard round
the world.”
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
8.
[1 error]
The second key, precision, has to do with your command of language, your ability
to use just the right word to capture your meaning, to say exactly what you
mean, and to say it memorably. That’s
[1. missing apostrophe in a contraction]
where reading makes a difference. Reading helps you develop a good ear,
and you need a good ear to know which word is best. Compare elderly
with old and ocean with sea, for example, and you’ll
understand why Hemingway didn’t call his tale The Elderly Man and the Sea
or The Old Man and the Ocean.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
9.
[2 errors]
Action and music
[1. unnecessary comma between subject and verb]
are the keys that add energy and vitality to your writing.
Action has to do with making your sentences tell stories. It is created by
using verbs, rather than nouns, to express your meaning. Compare “The
previously undisclosed evidence caused irreparable harm to the prosecutor’s
[2. missing apostrophe with a possessive form]
case” with “The previously undisclosed evidence destroyed the prosecutor’s
case.” The first sentence is static, the second dynamic.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
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10.
[2 errors]
The fourth key,
[1. incorrect use of dash -- appositive should be set off with two commas or two
dashes, but not one of each]
music, has to do with the rhythm and the sound of language. Sometimes you
establish a rhythm, as Samuel Johnson did when he wrote, “What is written
without effort
[2. incorrect use of semicolon -- semicolons should be
used between two complete sentences or between items in a series]
is in general read without pleasure.” And sometimes you offer variety, as
accomplished writers do when they follow a long, complex sentence with a short,
snappy one. Like this.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
11.
[2 errors]
The fifth key, personality, goes beyond language to the reader’s sense of the
person behind the words. To grasp the importance of personality, think of
a novel you read long ago. The one thing that stays with you – even after
you have forgotten the characters, the setting, and the plot – is your sense of
the writer as a person. Your perception of the author’s
[1. missing apostrophe in a possessive form]
personality or presence is like a residue that lingers long after everything
else
[2. unnecessary comma between subject and verb]
has vanished. That residue is style in its most profound sense.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
12.
[2 errors]
There are, to be sure, other components of effective writing. To be a
competent writer, you must understand purpose, point of view, organization,
support, and coherence, and you must know how to use them to your advantage.
But
[1. comma splice -- two complete sentences spliced
together with a comma rather than separated by a period or semicolon. The
error also could have been corrected this way: “
. . . to your advantage, but . . .”] these elements have more to do with the craft of writing than the art.
Working effectively with purpose, point of view, organization, support, and
coherence
[2. missing comma after etc. -- but here etc.
is not needed]
will make you a competent writer, but it won’t necessarily make you a great
writer. Your style, on the other hand, represents the essence of who you
are. It distinguishes you from every other writer on the planet.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
13.
[0 errors]
Learn the five keys to great writing. Understand the five elements of
composition. Practice the techniques relating to both. Do these
things, and you’ll be on your way.
Back to same paragraph
Next paragraph
Back to top of exercise
14.
[1 error]
And don’t forget the real reason you write. Behind the language, beyond
the techniques, is the greatest gift you have to offer:
[1. semicolon, a mark of separation, used in place of a colon, a mark of
introduction]
yourself.
Back to same paragraph
The average number of
errors correctly identified by my students was 20.4, which represents 68% of the
30 total errors. How many errors did you find?
Back to top of exercise
Back to top of document
Adapted from the
foreword to
Keys to Great Writing
1.
[1 error]
What are
[1. subject-verb agreement]
the keys to great writing?
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
2.
[3 errors]
In my work [1. dangling
modifier] as a
part-time [2. missing
hyphen in a unit modifier] college professor, writing
consultant, and newspaper columnist, I am
[1. dangling modifier]
often asked that question.
Not always in those words, but in words to that
effect [3. misspelled word].
How do I make
my writing vivid and memorable? How do I set myself apart from other
writers? How do I convey my personality, my point of view, my values? How do
I learn to write with style?
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
3.
[4 errors]
Taking the last question first, I suggest you do three things: read, study,
and practice
[1. nonparallel structure]. Read good writers, study specific stylistic techniques,
[2. inconsistent use of serial comma --
see previous sentence]
and practice applying those techniques. The first activity, reading, will
help you develop your style over time (and offer you other immeasurable
benefits and pleasures along the way).
[3. incorrect order of punctuation marks -- concluding mark goes after, not
before, closing parenthesis when the sentence is partly, rather than
completely, enclosed by parentheses] The other two activities,
study and practice, are
[4. subject-verb agreement]
more intentional, self-conscious endeavors.
They involve analyzing and imitating proven techniques to produce predictable
results.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
4.
[1 error]
As many authors before me
[1. incorrect pronoun case]
have said, to develop your style, begin with
simplicity. The nineteenth-century English critic and essayist Matthew Arnold
declared: “People think I can teach them style. What stuff it is. Have
something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of
style.”
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
5.
[4 errors]
Say what you have to say. Say it simply and directly. To improve your style,
[1. semicolon used in place of a comma; a semicolon
should be used between two complete sentences or between the items in a
series; a comma should be used after an introductory element containing a verb
form]
begin by reducing your writing to its essential elements. Then build.
Finally – with caution and at some risk –
[2. hyphen used in place of a dash]
embellish. Add flourish if
it suits you (and if it suits your audience and subject), keeping in mind that
flourish is not the same as fluff. Even as you attempt elegance, your
principal
[3. misspelled word]
goal should be clarity.
[4. missing period]
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
6.
[6 errors]
In The Elements of Style, William Strunk and E. B. White warn the writer
against “[1.
single quotation marks used in place of double quotation marks]
all mannerisms, tricks, adornments.”[1.
single quotation marks used in place of double quotation marks] They
advise
[2. misspelled word]
you to approach style by way of “plainness, simplicity, orderliness,
sincerity.” In On Writing Well, William Zinsser says, “You have to strip
down your writing before you can build it back up,” and he offers his own
“cardinal goals” of good writing: “humanity, clarity, simplicity, vitality.”
[3. period after, rather than before, closing quotation
marks]
In Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph Williams includes a
cluster of techniques for writing concisely as one of his 10
[4. number 10 spelled as a word rather than written
as a numeral -- numbers nine and lower should be spelled as words; numbers 10
and greater should be written as numerals]
lessons.
Those three books, read and studied by countless writers,
[5. missing comma after an appositive or modifying phrase]
form the
foundation for this book, and I want to acknowledge my debt to them, as well as
to the many other sources I cite
[6. misspelled word]
throughout my text.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
7.
[1 error]
In this book, I present five keys
[1. unnecessary apostrophe in a plural word] to great writing: economy, precision,
action, music, and personality. Economy involves rejecting the notion that more
is necessarily better. As Strunk and White point out, economy doesn’t mean that
every sentence must be short, but that every word must count. Compare, for
example, “The shot that was heard by everybody around the entire world” with
“The shot heard round the world.”
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
8.
[1 error]
The second key, precision, has to do with your command of language, your ability
to use just the right word to capture your meaning, to say exactly what you
mean, and to say it memorably. That’s
[1. missing apostrophe in a contraction] where reading makes a
difference. Reading helps you develop a good ear, and you need a good ear to
know which word is best. Compare elderly with old and ocean
with sea, for example, and you’ll understand why Hemingway didn’t call
his tale The Elderly Man and the Sea or The Old Man and the Ocean.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
9.
[2 errors]
Action and music
[1. unnecessary comma between subject and verb]
are the keys that add energy and vitality to
your writing. Action has to do with making your sentences tell stories. It is
created by using verbs, rather than nouns, to express your meaning. Compare
“The previously undisclosed evidence caused irreparable harm to the
prosecutor’s
[2. missing apostrophe with a possessive form] case” with “The previously undisclosed evidence destroyed the
prosecutor’s case.” The first sentence is static, the second dynamic.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
10.
[2 errors]
The fourth key,
[1. incorrect use of dash -- appositive should be set off with two commas or two
dashes, but not one of each]
music, has to do with the rhythm and the sound of
language. Sometimes you establish a rhythm, as Samuel Johnson did when he
wrote, “What is written without effort
[2. incorrect use of semicolon -- semicolons should be
used between two complete sentences or between items in a series] is in general read without
pleasure.” And sometimes you offer variety, as accomplished writers do when
they follow a long, complex sentence with a short, snappy one. Like this.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
11.
[2 errors]
The fifth key, personality,
goes beyond language to the reader’s sense of the person behind the words.
To grasp the importance of personality, think of a novel you read long ago.
The one thing that stays with you – even after you have forgotten the
characters, the setting, and the plot – is your sense of the writer as a person.
Your perception of the author’s
[1. missing apostrophe in a possessive form] personality or
presence is like a residue that lingers long after everything else
[2. unnecessary comma between subject and verb] has
vanished. That residue is style in its most profound sense.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
12.
[2 errors]
There are, to be sure, other components of effective writing. To be a competent
writer, you must understand purpose, point of view, organization, support, and
coherence, and you must know how to use them to your advantage. But
[1. comma splice -- two complete sentences spliced
together with a comma rather than separated by a period or semicolon. The
error also could have been corrected this way: “
. . . to your advantage, but . . .”] these elements have more to do with the craft of writing than the art. Working
effectively with purpose, point of view, organization, support, and coherence
[2. missing comma after etc. -- but here etc.
is not needed] will make you a competent writer, but
it won’t necessarily make you a
great writer. Your style, on the other hand, represents the essence of who you
are. It distinguishes you from every other writer on the planet.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
13.
[0 errors]
Learn the five keys to great writing. Understand the five elements of
composition. Practice the techniques relating to both. Do these things, and
you’ll be on your way.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
14.
[1 error]
And don’t forget the real reason you write. Behind the language, beyond the
techniques, is the greatest gift you have to offer:
[1. semicolon, a mark of separation, used in place of a colon, a mark of
introduction]
yourself.
Back to exercise
Back to top of exercise
The average
number of errors correctly identified by my students was 20.4, which represents
68% of the 30 total errors. How many errors did you find?
Back to top of exercise