How to Proof Your Paper Accurately
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Read your sentences out loud one by one and WORD for WORD.
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Check your spelling and
capitalization.
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Check your punctuation.
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Make sure your
thesis statement is clear and is not too broad or too narrow.
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Make sure your paper is well organized.
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Under normal circumstances, don't use the word "you" (second person) in your paper, and be sure to look for shifts in person from first to third.
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Watch for
fragments (pieces of sentences), comma splices, and run together sentences.
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Check for shifts in tense, subject-verb agreement, and use of the passive voice on all your verbs.
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Watch out for vague pronouns and make sure all pronouns agree with their antecedent in number, gender, and case.
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Make sure you used good and varied transitions in your paper.
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Check your paper for misplaced modifiers and parallelism.
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Check for proper syntax by avoiding wordiness, euphemisms, and slang.
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