Most
instructors use a shorthand style when they grade to indicate changes to
grammar, syntax and punctuation. While there is some consistency in
this usage across departments and disciplines, there is seldom complete consistency.
Here is the system that I use in marking student papers as well as some general
observations about student writing weaknesses or blunders. Generally
for punctuation I follow the Chicago Manual
of Style conventions.
A vertical
strikethrough mark (an | or an L)
indicates a word, letter(s), or punctuation mark that should be omitted.
A checkmark indicates a job well done. A double-checkmark indicates excellent work and/or
analysis.
¶ - indicates the word "paragraph." Used when a paragraph should be inserted to break up an
overly long passage.
? - A question mark means I have no idea what
you are trying to convey.
amidst,
amongst, whilst,
etc., use of - These words derive from British English and have common
usage in the U.K. and
elsewhere in the Commonwealth, and have been steadily creeping into modern
American usage. Chicago Manual of Style prefers "among," "while," "amid", and so on, as the first Webster's
International usage.
awk. - "Awkward," usually used when sentence
syntax is garbled, difficult to understand, or hard to interpret. Read the sentence aloud to yourself and see if it
is as clear as it can be. I also indicate awkward
syntax by a squiggly line under the offending passage/word.
being - Unless used as a "noun" ("His words cut me to the very core
of my being"), "being" can virtually always be omitted. A particularly common
and ungainly construction is "That being said." If you must use this phrase
in your writing (and I would argue you should not), then it may be shortened
to "that said" and lose none of its clarity of purpose.
colloq. - "Colloquial," meaning that you have used
a phrase which may be current in spoken language or popular culture (e.g.,
"I've got your back"), but which has no place in formal writing.
contractions - Avoid them in formal writing. That includes contractions like "don't," "wasn't,"
"weren't," "can't," and "won't." Possessive contractions
like "it's" are generally okay, but should be used sparingly (see below).
different than -- Different
from is preferable usage, since one thing differs from another.
ellipses (. . .) - The basic rule
for use of ellipses is as follows, following Chicago Style. When inserting ellipses to indicate an omitted section
of a passage or sentence, three dots (. . .), with spaces between the dots
and on either end, should be used. When inserting
ellipses to indicate that the end of a sentence has been omitted,
providing that the remaining sentence fragment has a subject-verb structure,
four ellipses should be used. Examples 1 and
2 applied to the sentence: "The professor was unhappy with the quality of
the student writing." (1) The sentence may be shortened to: "The professor
was unhappy with . . . the student writing." (2) Or, alternatively,
"The professor was unhappy. . . ." Ellipses are always placed within
quotation marks in Chicago.
itl. - "Italicize." Italicize
or underline all titles of books. Articles, poems,
and chapters from books, should be contained in quotation marks (" ").
its
vs. it's - These are
frequently used incorrectly. There is even a
mutant hybrid that makes no sense, its'. The
simple rule: it's = it is. If you can
supply the helping verb "is" in your sentence, and still have it make sense,
then use "it's." Otherwise, use "its." Hence: (1) "It's cold outside." (2)
"The paper lost its train of argument."
Numbering (following Chicago Manual of Style) - For numbers less than 100, always spell
out. For numbers more than 100, always write out numerically,
except when beginning sentences, when they should be spelled out.
Numbering,
of centuries - Spell
out the numbers of centuries, as, for example, "eighth century," not "8th
century."
passive
voice - too many instances
of passive verb use, such as "it can be said," or "it can be argued" detract
from the power of your writing. Put those verbs
in active tense: "Historians argue," or "Scholars say."
personal
opinion - this is a pretty subjective category for most instructors.
I personally prefer that students limit assertions of personal opinion or
viewpoint as much as possible, if not omit them entirely. While there
is nothing wrong with writing "I think" or "In my opinion" in a paper on
rare occasions, the point of analytical writing in History is to make an
argument that does not depend on the subjective interpretation of the student
writing the paper. The goal should be to build an argument that any
reasonable person would likewise conclude with based on a reading of the
same evidence.
plur.-sing. - When this designation appears, or its reverse
(sing.-plur.), it means you have employed a noun or pronoun with an
incorrect antecedent or an incorrect verb declension.
pp.# - Missing page numbers. Always
number your pages. Always.
redun. - "Redundant." You
have repeated a sentence, phrase, or idea.
sent. frag. - "Sentence fragment," meaning an incomplete
sentence which lacks a subject and/or a verb. Incomplete
sentences do have a place in some styles of prose writing, and are found
frequently in journalistic writing, but should be used sparingly, if at all,
in formal essay writing.
sp. - "Spelling." You misspelled
the word, or correctly spelled a word that was unintended in the sentence.
"such" and "said" - The overuse of "such" and "said" is becoming increasingly
common (e.g., "the said book," "the said phrase," "the said person"). These
can almost always be omitted.
syn. - "Syntax." Your sentence
structure is confused or grammatically deficient in some way.
'then'
and 'than,' usage -
Students frequently confuse these two words owing to a slippage of vowel
sounds in their spoken use. "Then" is most frequently
adverbial in modern usage, and refers strictly to an order of time,
or else modifies a previous statement (e.g., "She did not put out much of
an effort, but then, she did not really want to get an A."). "Than" is a conjunction and preposition, which establishes
a relative, usually comparative relationship: "Colder than ice," "more
than enough," or, "She was stronger than him."
transition - You have moved from one sentence or paragraph
to another without establishing a clear connection between them, or between
the sentences and the main ideas of the paper. Try
to eliminate abrupt changes in thought or direction from your writing.
uncl. - "Unclear," meaning I do not understand
what you are trying to convey. Re-write, re-word, or
expand on what you have stated.
verb
tense shift (t.s.) -
You have moved from using one verb tense to a second verb tense in the same
sentence or section. Whichever verb tense you write
in, be consistent. In general, in historical writing,
past tense is most often preferred.
w.c. - "Word choice": you have used a word incorrectly
or inadvisedly, or maybe invented one of your own. Search
for a synonym or better word.
you/your - Avoid using the pronoun "you" or possessive
pronoun "your" in formal writing. Use the neutral third-person
"one" instead, or reword your sentence to eliminate the pronoun altogether. After all, to the reader of your paper, "you" indicates
the reader, not some imagined third person.
III.
Hints on word use and phrasing when writing
about pre-modern History
Many students are unfamiliar with
prevailing conventions when naming or describing pre-modern dates, people,
or places, and as a result I see a mind-boggling variety of descriptive and
personal nouns in student papers. The following usages are generally accepted,
though variations in, say, capitalization formats do exist.
A.D. and
B.C., use of - Lightning will not
strike if you use these common dating formulae, but be aware of their confessional
context and meaning. A.D., "Anno Domini," means "in
the year of the Lord." B.C. means "Before Christ." Preferred alternatives are B.C.E. and C.E., "(Before) Current
Erra," which, while acknowledging the fact that western dating systems are
organized on the putative year of Jesus's birth, avoid the confessional bias
of A.D. and B.C. Just for the record, Jesus was
born about 6-3 B.C.E., not in "0" or 1 C.E. Also,
separate the letters with periods.
A.H., use
of - Students who would use A.H.,
"Anno hejirae" or "al-Hejirah," to refer to the year of Muhammed's trek to
Medina and the calendar on which it is based should preferably reference
the Gregorian calendar date as well, e.g., 10 A.H./632 C.E. Be aware of the confessional context here, too.
Capitalization - As a general rule of thumb
under Chicago Manual guidelines, isolated nouns like bishop, king, count,
chieftain, knight, lord, and so on are not capitalized, although certain
editorial styles allow for it. Do not do it. Where you should do it is when the title modifies
(as adjective) a proper name. Thus: "King John
cut off the traitor's head and affixed it to a pole," but note: "The king
cut off the traitor's head." "Papal," pope, papacy,
and saint are never capitalized except to begin sentences, or when modifying
a personal name (as with king above). Similarly, Bible,
Torah, Qur'an, etc., are generally capitalized regardless of the writer's
religious beliefs, but not "biblical" or "koranic."
Capitalization, "Church" (as in, Catholic
Church) - It comes up quite frequently
that students are unsure whether to capitalize "church" when writing about
the historical or modern Catholic Church. In general,
I would say the guidelines should be to refrain from capitalization
in most situations, above all when referring to the institutional church
before about the thirteenth century. It is hard to
make a case for a coherent, fully centralized and influential institution
existing at that time in medieval Europe,
any more than we would refer to Europe's many kingdoms, principalities, and
other polities using the modern designation of "State." For many scholars, this issue constitutes a judgement call, so there is no
hard and fast rule. Here are, however, some suggestions:
(1) Catholic Church should always be capitalized.
(2) Instead of using the noun "Church," see
if another substitute, such as "local church," "pope," "bishop(s)," "clergy,"
"episcopate," "clerical hierarchy," etc., might be more precise.
Capitalization, "crusade" and "holy land" - Conventional use generally admits the capitalization
of specific crusades, e.g., First Crusade, Second Crusade, Children's Crusade,
Baltic Crusade. However, "crusades" should not be capitalized
when used in a general sense, nor should "crusaders." "Holy land" should not be capitalized, since it is
not a common or ecumenical designation for a particular place. One can safely speak of "Christian holy land(s)" or "Muslim
holy land(s)," however.
Capitalization,
divinities - Divinities are capitalized
when their proper names are used -- regardless of the writer's specific religious
beliefs. Thus: "God," "Allah," "Zeus," "Shiva," the "Furies," and so on. In pronomial use, however, capitalization is not necessary
(thus, unless the writer's religious faith prefers
it, when speaking of God in the third person it is not necessary to refer
to "Him" or "His will").
Capitalization,
"medieval" and "Middle Ages" -
As a rule, "medieval" is not capitalized when used adjectivally (e.g., medieval
Europe), although some editorial styles
allow for it. I prefer it not be capitalized. Middle Ages should be capitalized, although, again,
there are some editorial exceptions to this. There
is no reason capitalize "Medieval Period" or "Medieval Age," as those usages do not follow any editorial precedent of
which I am aware.
Numbering,
of rulers - Always use Roman numerals
to indicate rulers with a commonly used name, e.g., Urban II or Henry V, not
"Urban the 2nd."
"Roman Catholic
Church," use of - to use this phrase
when writing about the historical church prior to the sixteenth century is
anachronistic and thus discouraged. The Greek word
"catholic" (katholikos) simply means "universal," so to use it adjectivally
to modify "Church" is not wrong, insofar as Catholic Christian doctrine was
considered to be universal in its scope in the premodern world. It is also permissible to use "Catholic Church" to distinguish
the orthodox branch of Christianity from those Christian confessions it deemed
heretodox (so Arian Christianity, Monophysite Christianity, and so on) or
from other Christian churches (Armenian, Syriac, Jacobite Christians). The denomination
of the Catholic Church as "Roman" was frequently insisted upon by sixteenth-century
Protestant reformers, who painted the papacy as espousing a certain (to reformers,
corrupt and local) brand of Christianity, not the universal religion of the
Bible. "Roman," in other words, was derogatory in some
pre-modern, and modern, confessional contexts.
In general, and to be accurate without being anachronistic or overtly confessional,
refer to: "Christianity," "the Christian religion," "Christian sects," Nicene
Christianity," and so on. I generally avoid the term "orthodox," which positions
itself confessionally against religions and sects it deems heterodox.
"Saint"
and "St." use of - I do not expect
writers to use the ascriptions "Saint" or "St." as adjectives modifying an
individual canonized by the Catholic Church or any other religious institution. "Saint" are only saints from a confessional, usually institutional
(but often popular), perspective. Students may use
the personal name instead, e.g., "Augustine of Hippo," "Thomas Aquinas,"
"Francis of Assisi," "Martin of Tours," and so on forth. Again,
"saint" is not capitalized unless it precedes a personal name.