Connections: Writing: Polishing: 30-Point Inspection

Before moving to the inspection proper, I offer a few words of introduction and qualification. I know well how much the inspection does not address; I intend it to replace neither a comprehensive style manual nor a grammar handbook. Instead, I designed it as a quick summary of points my students have found useful. Now I use it as a starting point, not a final authority, for conversations about writing.

I assume here that the writer understands the most basic rules of English usage: noun-verb agreement, correct spelling, and so forth. I do not mean that I expect unwavering perfection in those areas but rather that I expect only occasional difficulties, which we will address individually as they arise.

Points in the inspection come from a wide variety of sources. The most important are Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, Joseph M. Williams's Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace, and the accumulated wisdom of my parents and of my colleagues at Andover, Penn, and Grinnell.

Textbook Poetry Fiction Film Theory Contexts Research and Writing Research Writing Study Skills Thesis Quotation Argument Polishing Inspection Other Resources Courses Tutorial 120 121 224 226 Seminars Site Information Site Updates Navigation Site Map	30-Point Inspection Before moving to the inspection proper, I offer a few words of introduction and qualification. I know well how much the inspection does not address; I intend it to replace neither a comprehensive style manual nor a grammar handbook. Instead, I designed it as a quick summary of points my students have found useful. Now I use it as a starting point, not a final authority, for conversations about writing. I assume here that the writer understands the most basic rules of English usage: noun-verb agreement, correct spelling, and so forth. I do not mean that I expect unwavering perfection in those areas but rather that I expect only occasional difficulties, which we will address individually as they arise. Points in the inspection come from a wide variety of sources. The most important are Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, Joseph M. Williams's Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace, and the accumulated wisdom of my parents and of my colleagues at Andover, Penn, and Grinnell.
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Erik Simpson \| simpsone@grinnell.edu