The Uniform Code of Notation for Providing Feedback on Written Work
The Political Science Department has adopted a uniform code of notation for providing
students with feedback on their written work. Your instructor will employ the following
numbering system to identify unclear constructions and grammatical, punctuation, and
usage errors. If, for example, your paper includes a sentence in which the subject
and verb fail to agree either in number (singular or plural) or in person (first,
second, or third), your instructor will underline or circle the offending sentence
and place in the margin the number "3." This notation will direct you to the #3 in
the code below, where you will find the chapter(s), section(s), and, in some cases,
pages in the 17th edition of the Hodges Harbrace Handbook (referenced below as Hodges) that both describe this error and offer instructions for how to correct it.
The Uniform Code
Clarity, Grammar, and Punctuation
No. 1: Sentence Fragments: Hodges, Chapter 2
Incorrect: When the president gives a press conference.
Correct: When the president gives a press conference, he tries to sound like Andrew Shepherd.
No. 2: Comma and Semicolon Errors: Hodges, Chapters 12–14
2a.) Comma Errors
Incorrect: Nicolas Sarkozy worked assiduously to be a good family man but, he was alas, French.
Correct: Nicolas Sarkozy worked assiduously to be a good family man, but he was, alas, French.
2b.) Semicolon Errors
Incorrect: Queen Elizabeth resolved to lay down for her God, for her kingdom, and for her people
her honor and her blood; even in the dust.
Correct: Queen Elizabeth resolved to lay down for her God, for her kingdom, and for her people
her honor and her blood, even in the dust.
No. 3: Comma Splices and Run-on Sentences: Hodges, Chapter 3
Incorrect: "We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord," this statement causes modern
audiences to think of mushroom clouds, though Roosevelt was merely trying to persuade
his supporters that a Bull Moose could not be domesticated by an effete; wooly headed
Princeton political scientist.
Correct: "We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the lord"; this statement causes modern
audiences to think of mushroom clouds. Roosevelt, however, was merely trying to persuade
his supporters that a Bull Moose could not be domesticated by an effete, wooly headed
Princeton political scientist.
No. 4: Subject-Verb Agreement Errors: Hodges, Chapter 6, Section a
Incorrect: High levels of pollution causes damage both to the respiratory tract and to Los
Angeles' campaign to be featured in the AMA's "Black Lung Prevention" public service
announcement.
Correct: High levels of pollution cause damage both to the respiratory tract and to Los Angeles'
campaign to be featured in the AMA's "Black Lung Prevention" public service announcement.
No. 5: Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement: Hodges, Chapter 6, Section b
Incorrect: The American government years ago abandoned their effort to rule the Philippines.
Correct: The American government years ago abandoned its effort to rule the Philippines.
No. 6: Ambiguous Pronoun Reference: Hodges, Chapter 28, Section a
Incorrect: Jed Clampett and Mr. Drysdale were neighbors in Beverly Hills; he had moved there
after finding oil on his Tennessee homestead.
Correct: Jed Clampett and Mr. Drysdale were neighbors in Beverly Hills; Jed had moved there
after finding oil on his Tennessee homestead.
No. 7: Incorrect Use and Misuse of Prepositions: Hodges, pp 32–34
7a.) Incorrect Use of Prepositions
Incorrect: President Uribe was bored of plantains. He asked his mother to start packing Razzles
in his lunchbox.
Correct: President Uribe was bored with plantains. He asked his mother to start packing Razzles
in his lunchbox.
7b.) Misuse of Prepositions
Incorrect: This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.
Correct: I will not put up with such bloody nonsense.
No. 8: Parallel Constructions: Hodges, Chapter 26
Incorrect: The Secret is not to be tossed lightly aside, but it was hurled with great force.
Correct: The Secret is not to be tossed lightly aside, but to be hurled with great force.
No. 9: Incorrect Pronoun Case: Hodges, Chapter 5, Section b
Incorrect: Just between you and I, "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman was raised in Crackerbox Palace.
Correct: Just between you and me, "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman was raised in Crackerbox Palace.
No. 10: Overuse of Passive Voice: Hodges, Chapter 7, Section c and Chapter 29, Section e
Incorrect: The British Expeditionary Force was shredded by the German Luftwaffe.
Correct: The German Luftwaffe shredded the British Expeditionary Force.
No. 11: Misplaced, Dangling, and Unattached Modifiers: Hodges, Chapter 25
Incorrect: Upon entering the symposium, the buffet table enticed Socrates.
Correct: Upon entering the symposium, Socrates first noticed the buffet table.
No. 12: Misplacement of Modifier "Only": Hodges, Chapter 25, Section a(1)
Incorrect: The lonely only know the way I feel tonight.
(Placement of "only" suggests that the lonely know nothing other than the way that
"I" feel tonight; that is, "the lonely's" SAT verbal score is "1")
Correct: Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight.
(This placement of "only" suggests that no people other than the lonely can understand
my despair, which is the meaning that the "celebrated Orbison" wished to convey to
his auditors)
No. 13: Mixed Metaphors: Hodges, Chapter 23, Section b
Incorrect: Leaders of developing countries cannot eat their seed corn without gumming up the
wheels of commerce.
Correct: Leaders of developing countries cannot eat their seed corn without reducing economic
yields.
No. 14: Subjective Verbs
Incorrect: I feel that Moby Dick is white.
Correct: Moby Dick is white.
No. 15: Inconsistency of Verb Tense/Sequence of Verb Tense: Hodges, Chapter 7, Section b
Incorrect: Gandhi was fond of salt. He thinks that by marching to Dandi to protest the British
salt tax he would gain the upper hand on both "perfidious Albion" and unpalatable
popcorn.
Correct: Gandhi was fond of salt. He thought that by marching to Dandi to protest the British
salt tax he would gain the upper hand on both "perfidious Albion" and unpalatable
popcorn.
No. 16: Incorrect Use of Common Abbreviations (e.g., i.e., pp., etc.): Hodges, i.e., pp. 749, etc., p. 748
Incorrect: Castro did not accept Kennedy's gift of a herbicide-lined wet suit (e.g., he wanted
to maintain his smooth, rosy-hued skin).
Correct: Castro did not accept Kennedy's gift of a herbicide-lined wet suit (i.e., he wanted
to maintain his smooth, rosy-hued skin).
No. 17: Ungrammatical Incorporation of Quotations: Hodges, Chapter 16
Incorrect: Lincoln said to Herndon that he was, "go to Gettysburg on the same train that broke
John Henry's heart."
Correct: Lincoln said to Herndon that he was "going to Gettysburg on the same train that
broke John Henry's heart."
No. 18: Anachronisms
Incorrect: Thomas Aquinas loved to turn back the clock.
Correct: Thomas Aquinas would have loved to turn back the clock but the clock had yet to
be invented.
No. 19: Jargon/Slang: Hodges, Chapter 19, Section c
Incorrect: Webster kept dogging Hayne, despite the latter's statement that he subscribed to
synergistic approaches to reconciliation.
Correct: Webster continued to question Hayne's argument, despite the latter's statement that
he was committed to reconciliation.
No. 20: Unidiomatic Expressions: Hodges, Chapter 20, Section c
Incorrect: Senator McCain says that I am green behind the ears.
Correct: Senator McCain says that I am wet behind the ears.
No. 21: Unnecessary Words and Pleonasm: Hodges, Chapter 21
21a.) Unnecessary Words
Incorrect: Indeed, the fact that there is no capitalism without failure means that there is
no religion without sin.
Correct: Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin.
21b.) Pleonasm
Incorrect: Dr. House called Foreman a stupid idiot for failing to harvest cancer boy's kidneys
before he expired.
Correct: Dr. House called Foreman an idiot for failing to harvest cancer boy's kidneys before
he expired.
No. 22: Hyphen v. Dash: Hodges, Chapter 18, Section f and Chapter 17, Section e
Incorrect: Stalin had well—thought--out ideas- including many that Beria thought were whacky-
for directing the kulaks "toward the light."
Correct: Stalin had well-thought-out ideas—including many that Beria thought were whacky—for
directing the kulaks "toward the light."
No. 23: Incorrect Word Choice: Hodges, Chapter 19, Section c
Incorrect: William Jennings Bryan told the Democratic Convention that he would not be tacked
to a cross of gold.
Correct: William Jennings Bryan told the Democratic Convention that he would not be crucified
on a cross of gold.
No. 24: Incorrect Possessive Case Formation: Hodges, Chapter 15, Section a
Incorrect: If you fail to protect farmers rights, then a guy named Goober will run the gas
station on every corner of every city in this country.
Correct: If you fail to protect farmers' rights, then a guy named Goober will run the gas
station on every corner of every city in this country.
No. 25: Apostrophe Errors: Hodges, Chapter 15, Section a
Incorrect: Roosevelts patrician upbringing gave him all the intellectual heft of a feather
duster.
Correct: Roosevelt's patrician upbringing gave him all the intellectual heft of a feather
duster.
No. 26: Quotation Mark Errors: Hodges, Chapter 16
Incorrect: Louis XIV said, "I am the state".
Correct: Louis XIV said, "I am the state."
No. 27: Misuse of/Failure of Capitalization: Hodges, Chapter 9
Incorrect: The united states senate operates according to rules drafted by Gilbert Gottfried.
Correct: The United States Senate operates according to rules drafted by Gilbert Gottfried.
No. 28: Lack of Reference or Footnote Marks
Incorrect: A melancholy John F. Kennedy once averred, "There is always inequity in life. Some
men are killed in war and some men are wounded, and some men never leave the country."
Correct: A melancholy John F. Kennedy once averred, "There is always inequity in life. Some
men are killed in war and some men are wounded, and some men never leave the country."
(1)
Paper Structure: Hodges, Chapters 33–35
No. 29: Introductions
No. 30: Transitions between Sentences and Paragraphs
No. 31: Conclusions
Incorrect Usage: Hodges, pp. 739-757
No. 32: Affect/Effect
No. 33: Among/Between
No. 34: Bad/Badly
No. 35: Double Negative (Hodges, Chapter 4, Section c)
No. 36: Farther/Further
No. 37: Fewer/Less
No. 38: Imply/Infer
No. 39: In Regards to or In Terms of
No. 40: Its/It's
No. 41: Lead/Led
No. 42: Lie/Lay
No. 43: Like/As
No. 44: Precede/Proceed
No. 45: Respectfully/Respectively
No. 46: Than/Then
No. 47: That/Which
No. 48: There/Their/They're
No. 49: To/Too
No. 50: Unique
No. 51: Who/Whom
No. 52: Who's/Whose
No. 53: Your/You're
Common Spelling Mistakes: Hodges, Chapter 18, Section c and pp. 739–757
No. 54: Capital/Capitol
No. 55: Cite/Site
No. 56: Complement/Compliment
No. 57: Principal/Principle
No. 58: Borders/Boarders
Use of Irritating Terms and Phrases
(most provided by Jeremy Butterfield in Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare)
No 59: At the end of the day
No. 60: Fairly unique
No. 61: I personally
No. 62: At this moment in time
No. 63: With all due respect
No. 64: Absolutely
No. 65: It's a nightmare
No. 66: Shouldn't of
No. 67: 24/7
No. 68: It's not rocket science
No. 69: The fact of the matter is
No. 70: Let me be perfectly clear