Welcome to Grammar Deep Dive, where we’ll go beyond the basics into more complicated issues of grammar. Enrollees should have knowledge of basic sentence structure, pronoun case, misplaced modifiers, comma and apostrophe use, and common usage mistakes.
An editor needs to know how to make good changes, the reasons behind changes, and when to leave something alone. The goal for everyone – writer, editor, publisher, audience – is a piece of writing that’s as clear, clean and engaging as possible.
This course focuses heavily on the linguistic side of grammar, but includes some broader guidelines as well, since editors need to be versed in all of it. If you – the editor, who works with language for a living – stumble over something, readers will definitely stumble over it. And be aware that sometimes a sentence is perfectly grammatical but nonetheless confusing, so a change or query will focus on clarity rather than grammar.
The overarching goal of Deep Grammar is for editors to be confident that when encountering a sentence that “just doesn’t sound right,” they’ll know why – what the problem is called, how to fix it and how to explain it to a writer.
This is a self-directed course; you may work through it at your own pace. It should take about 1-2 hours to finish.
This course consists of a series of videos, text lessons, and pop-up activities that test your knowledge. Activities within the course have right and wrong answers, but these activities are for practice only and will not impact your completion of the course.
To complete each course, you must pass a test at the end that consists of 10 questions. You will have 20 minutes to complete each course test once they have begun. You must answer at least eight of the 10 questions correctly to gain a score of 80% or higher to pass the course and get credit toward the certificate.
You are allowed three attempts to pass the evaluation at the end of each course.
If you are still unable to pass the evaluation with an 80% or better after three attempts, please contact our customer service department at info@poynter.org.
This course is part of the Poynter/ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing, though it can be taken on its own, independently of the certificate. The certificate consists of seven courses, seven end-of-course tests and an overall final assessment covering material from all seven courses.
To earn the Intermediate Certificate, you must pass a final assessment at the end of all seven courses.
The certificate’s final assessment consists of 30 questions drawn from material throughout all seven courses. You will have one hour to complete this final certificate assessment and three chances to pass with an 80% or better.
If you are still unable to pass the final assessment with an 80% or better after three attempts, please contact our customer service department at info@poynter.org.
We recommend that before starting the Intermediate Certificate, you first complete the Poynter/ACEs Introductory Editing Certificate, though it is not a prerequisite.
Questions?
If you need assistance, email us at info@poynter.org.
