The Rules of Proofreading of Students Essay

The essay is one of the most common assignments that students receive at college. Having a good idea and ready-made text is only a half of your work. A qualitatively written essay should be reread and checked well. Only in this case, you will avoid many misspellings made due to inattention. Here are some recommendations which will help you learn how to reread your essays and correct the mistakes.

A Few Steps of Efficient Proofreading

Remember Your Mistakes

Remember, or what is even better, write down the mistakes you made in your previous essays, this will significantly reduce the number of missteps in your future works.

Read Aloud

Sometimes reading to yourself is not enough to notice all inaccuracies. Try to read your essay aloud and then you will perceive the text completely differently. While reading aloud, it is easier to arrange intonations, accelerate or slow down the speed of reading. The human brain is capable of a much better analysis of information, when someone hears a text and simultaneously holds it before their eyes. Even though it may take a long time, it is a very effective method.

Ask Someone Else to Read Your Essay Aloud

Listen to how your text sounds by other people. You are already used to your writing style and may not notice some inaccuracies. Another person can meet with different places in the text that are difficult to pronounce or perceive you will immediately notice it and understand what parts of your work need to be corrected. It is also a good possibility to hear whether this style of presentation of your thoughts is appropriate. At the same time, your friend who reads your essay aloud may also notice some mistakes, which you have missed and tell you about them. Make notes. Write down all the inaccuracies and mistakes that you can notice during your or someone's reading. Do this right away in order not to forget anything important.

Postpone the Proofreading for Later

People say it is a bad thing to postpone important affairs for later, but in the case of rereading of the essay, it is better to make some time pass before beginning the proofreading. Do not check your essay immediately, wait a few hours, or do it the next day. Then your brain will not be overloaded with information and you will be able to look at your work with "fresh eyes" and notice those errors that you would not see right away after writing your work.

Check Every Sentence Thoroughly

Read attentively and gradually. You should examine each sentence in detail first, abstracting from the entire text. Then you can check the paragraph, and then the whole text. It is not enough to read the entire essay just once. In order to make the proof of your work qualitative and to notice all the mistakes, you need to reread your work several times. It will be more efficient if you do it not in one day. You will notice some new inaccuracies after each new reading.