EXPLANATION OF MARGINAL NOTATIONS

Notation Explanation

X          Incorrect or wrong statement or explanation
NO       Seriously wrong
omit      Irrelevant or unimportant and should be omitted
?           Poorly stated or expressed; hard to understand what you mean
??         Makes no sense whatever
quote    This appears to be a direct quote; you must use your own words
Q         This does not seem to answer, or relate to, the question; reread the question and try again
Q?        I don’t see how this answers the question
term      Incorrect term or wrong use or explanation of terminology
diff        This is a different issue, not really relevant to this question
poor      This is not a good reason or good example
part       Partially correct, but not exactly; needs to be stated or explained differently
clr         This needs to be stated/explained more clearly
so?       This statement needs to be explained more fully to relate it to the question
key       All of this may be true, but you’ve missed the key issue/reason/aspect
more     Spell this out in more detail, elaborate further, give more information/reasons
why?     Explain why this is so, or why this is important
how?     Explain more about how this happens or how this is done
(arrows)Belongs with your answer to a different question
general   Too specific; explain in more general terms, or explain the general principle
specific   Too general or vague; be more specific
rep         Repetitive, doesn’t really add anything to the answer
ex          Use an example to make this clearer
wordy    Using too many words, too much detail; keep answers to 50-75 words
def        You’ve used a term that needs to be defined
good      My compliments on a particularly clear and thorough answer
ü            This point is correct as is (though more points may be needed)
S/P        You have mixed together singular and plural forms of nouns, pronouns and/or verbs (the mixed words are linked by lines)
gram      Grammatical error
sent       This sentence is written poorly or garbled in some way
sp         Spelling error
inc        Incomplete sentence (a sentence must have a subject and predicate)
phr       Wording or phrasing is awkward or inappropriate
usage    This is not good usage, not appropriate language
word     Wrong word, or wrong use of word
^ or 0    Something has been left out here
run         Two clauses are being run together; use conjunctions or separate sentences
p           Punctuation error
cap       Incorrect use of, or failure to use, capital letters
poss      Failure to use apostrophe in possessive form, or improper use of apostrophe (e.g., in making plurals, or in distinguishing it’s from its)
/           Delete what is crossed out, or replace with what is written in

Copyright ©1998 Beverly J. Volicer and Steven F. Tello, UMass Lowell.  You may freely edit these pages for use in a non-profit, educational setting.  Please include this copyright notice on all pages.