Proofreading In Trimble's 'Writing With Style'

Summary “The most mechanical of tasks” is how Trimble’s English professor describes transcribing quotations (119). Yet, it is the lesson of doing this correctly that Trimble highlights in his chapter on proofreading. The anecdote regarding the student who miss-quoted Pope and was admonished for the lack of “credibility” this bestows upon him as a writer, provides a memorable lesson for both Trimble and his readers of Writing with Style (Trimble 119). Clearly, if one misquotes the material they are discussing they have not given due diligence to their task and consequently produce a piece of writing that lacks credibility due to its errors, thus also making the writer appear to lack credibility.

In Trimble’s example, Mr. Rierson transcribed “fearsome” instead of “fulsome” which potentially changed the entire meaning of the quoted material. One can see how this “careless error” could cause Mr. Rierson to be regarded as inept (119).

Whether it is assignments, job materials, or daily communication, one should consistently pause to check their work, re-read and consult supplementary materials whenever they feel unsure about their work. Word choice, for example, could cause extreme confusion for the reader and what was a great idea might come across as illogical. Likewise, activities such as reading aloud to one’s self, or having a peer review one’s writing, can vastly decrease the potentially for error. Personally, I practice the latter whenever I have a significant assignment due. I’ll generally consult a trusted peer to proof my work and provided feedback; cloud based tools like google docs can be wonderful for collaboration that produces a successful proofread piece. Likewise, the internet has a plethora of resources one can assess such as OWL Purdue and most campuses provided digital peer-editing to ensure that your piece comes across