Please use this key to decipher the abbreviations on your graded writing assignments. It is your task, as a responsible university student interested in improving his/her writing, to determine why I have identified, for example, a comma error in a particular sentence. If there is something you cannot read or do not understand, ASK. Be aware that I do not correct every error. Usually, I focus on the most significant and egregious and only identify the first couple of instances of the same kind of mistake.
| Focus and Framing-Related Issues | Language | |||
| Intro | Introduction is too short or too vague, or otherwise does not properly introduce the reader to your essay. | WC | You have used a word not suited to the situation. A better, more precise or accurate one is needed. | |
| TS | Topic or thesis sentence problem | Usage | You have used a word incorrectly (form or meaning). | |
| Conv/Coll | conversational, informal or colloquial language | |||
| Structure | ||||
| new P | You need a new paragraph. | Sentence Issues | ||
| no P | A new paragraph is not needed. | CH/awk | Your language is choppy, clumsy, or awkward. | |
| PU | Paragraph is not unified around one topic or issue. | SF | sentence fragment (incomplete) | |
| PC | Paragraph does not cohere and needs better flow. | RO/CS | run-on sentence or comma-splice sentence | |
| PS | Paragraph lacks "stuff": details, examples, illustrations, discussion, etc. | SS | While perhaps not ungrammatical, your syntax or sentence structure is awkward, confusing, convoluted, or hard to decipher. | |
| Mechanics | SL | Your sentence is internally illogical or does not follow from the previous sentence. | ||
| C/SC/Col | comma, semi-colon, or colon error | CL | sentence clarity (also see above) | |
| Pr | pronoun error (case, agreement, reference) | |||
| Mod | modifier error (dangling or misplaced) | Documentation / Source Use / Format | ||
| Parall | parallelism | |||
| Q, I, or U | improper use of quotes, italics, or underlining | F | formatting issue | |
| cap/lc | capitalize/lower case | ND/Cite | Sentence or section needs documentation. | |
| sp | spelling error | Para | inadequate paraphrasing | |
| S/V | subject-verb agreement | QI | Quotation is not properly integrated. |