Essay Editing Symbols

meh : used to indicate an uninteresting title

header? : create a header with your last name and page number

vpr: vague pronoun reference; that is, you are using a pronoun that
does not have a clear antecedent; the reader is confused as to
what or whom the pronoun is taking the place of

frag: you are punctuating a group of a words as a sentence, but one or

all necessary sentence elements are missing; that is a subject,
working verb and complete thought; either add in the missing
element OR attach this fragment to a complete sentence with a
comma.

C/S: comma splice; you are using a comma to connect a complete

sentence to another complete sentence. Only a period, semi-colon
or colon can do that. Change the punctuation OR add in a
conjunction.

r/o: same issue as the comma splice – that is, two complete sentences
mashed together only this time without any punctuation
separating them. Figure out where one ends and the next one
begins and insert the proper solution (see c/s).

awk: awkward phrasing; say the sentence out loud and correct the
word pattern to make the sense clearer

vt : verb tense: you are using the wrong tense; when you recount plot
points or events, you must use the literary present tense. For ex:
Oedipus realizes that the prophecy has come true.

vf: verb form; you are using the right verb but the wrong form of it;
check the dictionary

s/v agr : subject-verb agreement; the third person singular present

tense has agreement of number with its subject. For ex. He walks
his dog everyday. Not everyone knows this agreement rule.
ww : wrong word; look up the word you used in the dictionary; find a
better word to replace it
wm: word missing; in your scramble to pour out your brilliant
thoughts, you have left out some word or words the reader needs
to make sense of your sentence.

wf : you are using the right word but the wrong form of it

prep: preposition; you are using the wrong preposition

cap: capital; you need an uppercase letter and you are using a lower
case letter

lc: lower case; you have a capital letter that should be a lower case
letter

sp: spelling; run spell check or at least proofread for major spelling
issues; check character names against the text

“ “ : you need standard quotation marks

. : period; full stop; used to end a complete sentence

; : semi-colon; also used where you could use a period – to end a full
sentence, but to show a close connection to the full sentence to
follow

: : colon; often used after a full sentence introduction to a full sentence

of quoted material. For ex. Tiresias loses patience with Oedipus
and mocks his abilities: “Ah, but aren’t you the best man alive at
solving riddles?” (Sophocles 501). The blue sentence can be
punctuated with a period as can the orange sentence.

____ :strike through; delete or omit the word/s

II : make these two (or more) words, phrases, clauses parallel to each
other