TUTORIAL – Comment Codes

Here is a list of comment codes, that is, short expressions or marks I use when reading and grading your paper.

Mark/word	What it means
A “T” followed by a checkmark at the top of the paper	You turned your paper in through Turnitin.com, and the site detected no plagiarism.
Ã– (checkmark)	Good point/sound argument.
X	Bad (silly, dubious, false) point/unsound argument.
? (question mark)	A strange point to make in the context.
unc	Unclear sentence.
irrel	Irrelevant point.
awk	Your sentence is awkwardly phrased.
gr	Ungrammatical sentence.
ref	Pronoun reference is unclear in the context.
verbose	Too many words used.
loaded	Loaded words, i.e., words that build in a conclusion by connotation instead of evidence.
duh	You are making a point so obvious that it is not worth elaborating.
frag	Sentence fragment.
rep	Repetitious
word	Wrong word to use in the context.
sp	Incorrect spelling.
means?	What does this sentence mean?
contradiction?	Your point seems to contradict something you said earlier.
IP	You need a paragraph here.
exc quote	Excessive quotation (that is, you are stringing together quotes from a source when you should be paraphrasing).
your words?	You are quoting something loaded with technical terminology without paraphrasing it after words or otherwise showing that you understand it).