How to proofread a document - Emphasis

How to proofread a document How to proofread a document Proofreading isnt easy. Youre constantly fighting with your eyes and brain, both of which want to tell you that everything on the page is just fine. But to proofread well, you need to repress the urge to skip, skim and hope for the best; its time to knuckle down and process every word, writes Cathy Relf (who should know). 1. Take a break If you try and proofread straight after you finish writing, not only will you be blind to your typos, but you’ll think all your turns of phrase come across exactly the way you meant them. Take a break, do something else, preferably leave it overnight. Then come back to it fresh. 2. Don’t rely on spellcheck If you’ve ended your email with ‘kind retards’ instead of ‘kind regards’, spellcheck will think that’s just fine and dandy. Don’t trust it. Make sure you read every word, and if you’re at all unsure about whether you have the right word, look it up. It’s handy to keep a good online dictionary, such as Collins (our favourite) or Oxford, in your bookmarks bar. 3. Suspect the usual suspects Watch out for these ten most missed mistakes, such as affect and effect and compliment and complement. Print out the list and keep it handy for when you’re proofreading. 4. Print it out Reading on hard copy is the best way to spot errors. Print your document out, walk away from the distractions of your desk and sit down with just pen and paper. Or, if you don’t have a printer, export it as a PDF. Looking at the same words in a different format helps you spot errors that you hadn’t seen before. 5. Check your facts As well as looking for typos, incorrect or missing words, dodgy punctuation and suspect grammar, give your facts a final check. Are the decimal points in the right place? Have you written millions where you meant billions? Have you spelt the customer’s name right – and right every time? 6. Take it line by line When you read, your eye flits all over the place. But to proofread effectively, you need to find a way to make sure you read every word. You also need to see the words in the order they appear rather than the order your brain expects them to. Try using a ruler or blank sheet of paper to cover the rest of the text, forcing your eye to move along one line at a time, and a pen to point at each word. 7. Read it aloud Read it out to yourself. You’ll trip over the awkward bits in a way that you didn’t when reading, and notice missing or extra words. Better still, get someone else to read it out to you, or use Wordtalk, a free plug-in for Word. 8. Once more, with feeling Read it once for facts, once for language and once more for luck. Pay extra attention to titles, subtitles and headings – your eye often skips over these and assumes they’re fine when they’re not. Read them backwards to be doubly sure. 9. Get a second opinion Ask someone else to proofread it, too – someone eagle eyed and straight talking, who will tell you if your witty turns of phrase leave them puzzled or just plain cold. If you dont trust your own eye and you cant find a suitable colleague, consider employing a professional proofreader for particularly important documents. 10. Practice makes perfect The more you proofread, the sharper your eye will become.

The Legacy of Bob Marley essays

The Legacy of Bob Marley essays Throughout the years there have been many great musicians, but none were a influential as Bob Marley . Through his song not only started a revolution in Jamaica, but also in parts of Africa. Also, he love to speak about world peace and unity. In 1980 Bob Marley and The Wailers were invited to play at the Independence Ceremony of Zimbabwe. The thirty five year old Marley said this was his greatest honor ever. He also received The Order of Merit , Jamaicas third highest honor, in recognition of his contributions to Jamaicans Culture. These highlights just start to tell how he moved people with his lyrics. In such songs as Get Up Stand Up. He encourages his listeners to stand up to adversity or fall to oppression. In some respects, he was a Jamaican Martin Luther King Jr. Using words instead of knives as his weapon against adversity. When Jamaica was fighting Britain for their independence they listen to Marleys music for inspiration, and when they gained freedom who do you think they invited to perform at the ceremony? The talented Marley. These are just a few stories that prove that he was more of a leader In addition to preaching about standing up for your rights, Marley also spoke about world peace. Examples of this are in song like One Love and Exodus. He is saying that the people of the world need to stop fighting over our simple differences. Instead of hating each other we need to start loving each other. Even though he really wanted Africans to come together, when he was on stage he sang to everyone. It didnt matter if you were yellow, white, etc., he just wanted everyone to make one love. He thought that if everyone loved each other it would it would be like living in heaven. No more violence, suffering , and racism. This all stem from his religious backgro ...

Psychology (child development) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Psychology (child development) - Essay Example His theory identifies three independent sources, these being empathy, principles and moral affiliation. Defining 'moral' as "acts intended to produce kind and/or fair outcomes" he goes on to explain that a moral person acts with good intentions, and makes reference to religious or ethical tenets, sexual morality and obedience to authority. He talks of built-in redundancy, where if one source is weak, another will compensate. Here are his Three Moral Systems: Principles are personal rules of conduct we set for ourselves and attempt to live up to, whether or not anyone else approves or disapproves. An example is cited of Christian rescuers during the Holocaust being motivated by one or other of these concepts. He explains next that negative emotions are associated with violating one of the three, while positive ones emerge when they are Hastings, Zahn-Waxler, Robinson, Usher and Bridges (2000) conducted research into how aggressive children tend to act on their impulses, in their study of the development of empathy, i.e., concern for others, in children with behavior problems. Moral Versus Antisocial Motivations Various theories explain antisocial behavior as stemming from many sources, but there is no single construct to explain all its forms. Schulman believes that it is not just about removing factors such as alienation, racism, poverty etc. to rectify the problems, but that everyone needs to take steps to address deficits. Children have consciences, appreciate goodness and are shocked by evil. By encouraging the development of the three moral motivation sources, children, society and civilization as a whole, are served, as it is morality which contributes to the survival of mankind as a species. He ends by pointing out that while people are shocked and fascinated by evil, goodness is taken for granted as how humans normally are and want to be, which gives support to his theory and more importantly, a sense of optimism. The following critical review is of the research cited by Schulman in support of his contention that behavior problems are as much due to moral motivation deficits as to unchecked antisocial activity and that those involved with children, in any capacity have a responsibility to encourage moral