I

Editing Marks Used in Grading

Spelling

Grammar – expression in parenthesis indicates what

kind of grammar error, e.g. (pronoun agreement)

Awkward – an inelegant or confusing use of words,

sometimes indicated as “awk + unclear” in cases
where awkwardness has gotten in the way of
understanding

Paragraph mark – start a new paragraph here

Inversion – grammar or ordinary logic dictates that

you change the order of the elements indicated

should be written

Insertion – grammar or logic dictates that you

should insert the word or punctuation mark indicated

Non Sequitur – Latin for “does not follow.” Indicates

that something you have written, as matter of logic or
common sense, appears unconnected or irrelevant to
what precedes it.
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Common Mistakes to Avoid

its and it’s “It’s” is a contraction of “it is.”

“Its” is the possessive form of the pronoun “it.”

Count nouns As a matter of common sense and/or convention,

and quantities of some things are treated as discrete
Mass nouns units, others as continuously variable quantities.
This distinction can be tricky, and it is sometimes
cleverly exploited by philosophers:

“Mary had a little lamb, and some mashed

potatoes and gravy.” (J. L. Austin)

Of special significance for us, however:

People’s lives are count nouns, not mass nouns:

“the amount of lives saved”*

“the number of lives saved”

Whereas utility estimates are usually best

expressed as mass nouns:

“lots of benefits”* [note that this is ambiguous]

“of greater benefit”

“feels” A pet peeve of mine.

“Mitcham and Nissenbaum feel that …”*

“Kant says x, but I feel that y”*

If you want to talk about your feelings, by all

means do so. Typically, however, this use of the
verb to feel is just a vague, imprecise, mushy way
of saying “argue,” “say,” “maintain,” or “believe.”

“Mitcham and Nissenbaum claim that…”

“Kant says x, but I am prepared to argue that y…”
“When I think of all the suffering that x could
cause, I feel sadness.”
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Possessives John Rawls’s name ends in an “s.” Therefore the

possessive form of his name is either:

Rawls’s (modern preferred form) or

Rawls’ (old-fashioned but still correct)

Rawl’s* is just wrong

… and so on for all other nouns

“e.g.” and “i.e.” e.g.: “for example” (from the Latin exempli gratia)

i.e.: “that is” (from the Latin id est)

These expressions are not synonymous and

cannot normally be used interchangeably.

Note also the punctuation of each.