Editing Literary Analyses
After revising your literary analysis, you should edit it for style and correctness. Now is the time to carefully review sentences, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, usage, and grammar. Use the following activities to edit your analysis.
Editing for Subject-Verb Agreement
When you write using the literary present tense, you need to make sure that subjects and verbs agree in number (singular or plural). Note these other tips for ensuring subject-verb agreement.
A singular subject needs a singular verb, and a plural subject needs a plural verb.
The warren sits high atop a dry hill.
The rabbits sit in the grass and graze.
Two or more subjects joined by and are always plural.
Hazel and Fiver see Watership Down in the distance.
When two or more subjects are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the last subject.
Neither the other rabbits nor Hazel understands Fiver's fear of Cowslip's warren.
Collective nouns treated as one thing are singular; those treated as a group of individuals are plural.
The Owsla prepares for battle.
The Owsla sharpen their claws.
When words come between the subject and verb, make sure to match the true subject.
A band of rabbits has many enemies.