diff --git a/assign1.md b/assign1.md
index 080501195a37e186b0cefeceba04a9e539fd3564..20434a1e98584f02f3570f4ef560dbbfe513d387 100644
--- a/assign1.md
+++ b/assign1.md
@@ -14,18 +14,22 @@ The resulting files are:
 1. Dockerfile: A modified Dockerfile for this project.
 
 ### Getting started
-Start the container as in Assignment 0.
-- Create a new database called `elections` and switch to it (see the PostgreSQL setup instructions).
-- Run `\i populate.sql` to create and populate the tables. 
+Start the container as in Assignment 0. Once inside the container you
+would normally:
+- Create a new database called `elections`
+- Run `\i populate.sql` from within the `psql` interface to create and populate the tables. 
+However, we have done these two steps for you in the Dockerfile
+because of the ephemeral nature of the container file system (see Note below).
 
-Note that as usual, you do not *have* to use Docker. However, it might make things easier for you.
+You never *have* to use Docker. However, it might
+make things easier for you and would definitely make it easier for a
+TA trying to help you.
 
 ### Schema 
 The dataset contains results of `senate` and `presidential` elections for a subset of the years. For the `senate`, it contains only the statewide results from 1976 to 2018, whereas for the `presidential` elections, it contains county-level data going back to 2000.
-
+The data was collected from https://electionlab.mit.edu/data.
 The schema of the tables should be self-explanatory. 
 
-The data was collected from https://electionlab.mit.edu/data.
 
 Some things to remember: 
 - The `special senate` elections are problematic. Typically senate elections take place every 6 years, with the two elections for a given state staggered. So generally speaking, any given year (say 2018), there would only be one senate election per state. However, because of special circumstances, there are
@@ -49,32 +53,26 @@ You will be writing a series of queries to implement the prompts in
 for the first answer to show you how it works.  You are also provided
 with a Python file `SQLTesting.py` for testing your answers.
 
-- We recommend that you use `psql` to design your queries, and then paste the queries to the `queries.py` file, and confirm it works.
-
-- SQLTesting takes quite a few options: use `python3 SQLTesting.py -h` to see the options.
-
-- To get started with SQLTesting, do: `python3 SQLTesting.py -i` -- that will run each of the queries and show you your answer.
+We recommend that you use `psql elections` to design your queries,
+then paste the queries to the `queries.py` file and confirm
+correctness. Use `python3 SQLTesting.py -h` to see command-line
+options. For example:
+- `python3 SQLTesting.py -i` -- will run each of the queries and show you your answer
+- `python3 SQLTesting.py -q 1` will run question 1. 
+- `python3 SQLTesting.py -i` will run all the queries, one at a time (waiting for you to press Enter after each query).
 
-- Run your query for Question 1, for example: `python3 SQLTesting.py -q 1`. 
-
-- `-i` flag to SQLTesting will run all the queries, one at a time (waiting for you to press Enter after each query).
-
-- **Note**: We will essentially run a modified version of `SQLTesting.py` that compares the returned answers against correct answers. So it imperative that `python3 SQLTesting.py` runs without errors.
 
 ### Notes/Errata
+- We grade your queries by running a modified version of `SQLTesting.py` that compares the returned answers against correct answers. So it imperative that `python3 SQLTesting.py` runs without errors.
 - Database changes **do not** persist across container restarts,
 i.e. across distinct run commands. This is because database state is
 stored in the container's file system, which is ephemeral. This should
 not be an issue as `queries.py` is mounted from the distribution directory.
-
-### Apple Silicon (M1, M2...) Macs
-
-You can **use postgres directly** via **Homebrew**:
+- On Apple silicon you can use postgres directly via **Homebrew**:
 ```
    brew install postgresql@14
    brew services restart postgresql@14
 ```
-
 Before running `SQLTesting.py`, you also need to install `psycopg2`:
 ```
    pip3 install psycopg2