Grammar and Revision Guide, Slides of Grammar and Composition

Download Grammar and Revision Guide and more Slides Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! Grammar and Revision Guide Table of Contents Looking For: Page: Grammar Glossary 1 Function of Phrases 5 Word Choice 6 Commas 11 Fragments and Run-Ons 15 Verb Tenses 19 Semi-Colons, Colons, and Dashes 21 Active and Passive Voice 26 Sentence Variety 31 INVERTED ORDER: a sentence that does not follow the typical order of a sentence (subject- verb-object). IRREGULAR VERB: a verb that does not form the past tense or past participle by adding –ed or –d to the present tense. L LINKING VERB: a verb that links the subject with a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective (is, became, remain, look, appear, seem). LOOSE SENTENCE: an independent clause followed by a dependent clause. M MODIFIERS: words that describe or provide more meaning to a word; modifiers include adjectives, adverbs, articles, prepositional phrases, verbals, and clauses. N NOMINATIVE PRONOUN: a pronoun used as a subject or predicate nominative. NONESSENTIAL PHRASE OR CLAUSE: not necessary to the meaning of a sentence and, therefore, set off with commas. NOUN: a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. NOUN CLAUSE: a subordinate clause used as a subject, direct object, object of a preposition, appositive, or predicate nominative. O OBJECT OF PREPOSITION: the noun or pronoun with its modifiers that follows a preposition. OBJECTIVE CASE: pronouns used as direct objects, indirect objects, or as objects of a preposition. OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT: a noun or adjective that renames or describes a direct object. P PARALLELISM: arranging words and phrases consistently to express similar ideas. PARENTHETICAL EXPRESSION: words that are not grammatically related to the rest of a sentence and set off by parentheses. PARTICIPIAL PHRASE: a participle with its modifiers and complements. PARICIPLE: a verbal ending in -ing, -ed, -d, or an irregular form that is used as an adjective. PARTS OF SPEECH: the eight parts of speech are verb, noun, adjective, adverb, preposition, interjection, and conjunction. PASSIVE VOICE: indicates that the subject receives the action of the verb in a sentence. PERIOD: a punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a declarative or imperative sentence or an abbreviation. PERIODIC SENTENCE: a dependent clause followed by an independent clause. PERSONAL PRONOUN: refers to a particular person, place, thing, or idea (I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them). PHRASE: a group of related words that do not have a subject or verb. POSSESSIVE PRONOUN: a pronoun form used to show ownership (my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, hers, its, their). PREDICATE: a word or group of words that tells something about the subject. PREDICATE ADJECTIVE: an adjective that modifies the subject in the sentence with a linking verb. PREDICATE NOMINATIVE: a noun or pronoun that identifies, renames, or explains the subject in a sentence with a linking verb. PREFIX: a word part added to the beginning of a word to change its basic meaning. 3 PREPOSITION: a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in a sentence. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE: a group of words that begins with a preposition, ends with a noun or pronoun, and is used as an adjective or adverb. PRONOUN: a word that takes the place of one or more nouns. PROPER ADJECTIVE: a capitalized adjective formed from a proper noun. PROPER NOUN: a capitalized noun that names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. PUNCTUATION: punctuation marks include apostrophe, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, period, question mark, quotation mark, and semicolon. Q QUESTION MARK: a punctuation mark (?) used to indicate a question or to end an interrogative sentence. QUOTATION MARKS: a punctuation mark (“”) used at the beginning and end of a direct quotation, or to enclose titles. R REFLEXIVE PRONOUN: a pronoun formed by adding –self or –selves to a personal pronoun. REGULAR VERB: a verb that forms its past tense and past participle by adding –ed or –d to the present tense. RELATIVE PRONOUN: a pronoun that relates an adjective clause to its antecedent. RESTRICTIVE PHRASE OR CLAUSE: another name for essential phrase or clause. S SALUTATION: the opening greeting that comes before the body of a letter. SEMICOLON: a punctuation mark (;) used to separate the independent clauses of a compound sentence that are not joined by conjunctions, before certain transitional words (however, furthermore, therefore), and between items in a series if the items contain commas. SENTENCE: a group of words with a subject and verb that expresses a complete thought. SENTENCE FRAGMENT: a group of words that lacks either a subject or a verb that does not express a complete thought. SERIES: three or more words or phrases in succession separated by commas or semicolons. SIMPLE PREDICATE: the verb; the main word or phrase in the complete predicate. SIMPLE SENTENCE: a sentence that is one independent clause. SUBJECT: a word or group of words that names the person, place, thing, or idea the sentence is about. SUBORDINATE CLAUSE: a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought. SUFFIX: a word part added to the end of a word that changes its meaning. T TENSE: the form a verb takes to show time. TRANSITIVE VERB: an action verb that requires an object. U UNDERSTOOD SUBJECT: a subject that is understood rather than stated. V VERB: a word or words that show the action in the sentence and tell what the subject is doing. VERBAL: a verb form used as some other part of speech; the three verbals are participles, gerunds, and infinitives. VERBAL PHRASE: the main verb plus one or more helping verbs. 4 FUNCTION OF PHRASES IN SENTENCES PHRASE A phrase is a group of related words that does not form an independent clause (subject and verb) VERB PHRASE Main verb + helping verbs Functions: predicate PARTICIPLE PHRASE Participle + modifiers, objects, or complements Function: adjective ABSOLUTE PHRASE Noun/pronoun + participle + modifiers, objects, or complements PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE Preposition + objection of the preposition + modifiers Functions: adjective, adverb, noun NOUN PHRASE Noun + modifiers Functions: subject, object, or complement GERUND PHRASE Gerund + modifiers, objects, or complements Function: noun INFINITIVE PHRASE Infinitive + modifiers, objects, or complements Functions: noun, adjective, or adverb APPOSITIVE PHRASE Noun phrase or other phrase Functions: noun 5 Writing for an Academic Audience Some writers think that academic audiences expect them to “sound smart” by using big or technical words. But the most important goal of academic writing is not to sound smart—it is to communicate an argument or information clearly and convincingly. The danger is that if you consciously set out to “sound smart” and use words or structures that are very unfamiliar to you, you may produce sentences that your readers can’t understand. When writing for your professors, think simplicity. Using simple words does not indicate simple thoughts. Keep in mind, though, that simple and clear doesn’t necessarily mean casual. Most instructors will not be pleased if your paper looks like an instant message or an email to a friend. It’s usually best to avoid slang and colloquialisms. Words and Phrases to Avoid in College-Level Academic Writing INTENSIFIERS These words are intended to emphasize an idea, but instead, they usually weaken it by using more words than necessary. Forceful writing uses as few words as possible to communicate the idea. 1. very 2. actually 3. extremely 4. basically 5. really 6. definitely 7. perfectly 8. a lot SUPERFLUITIES These groups of words are unnecessary because, unless readers are told otherwise, they safely assume that you are writing your own thoughts. 1. I feel… 2. I believe… 3. I think… 4. In my opinion… 5. It seems to me… 6. Personally… EXTRAVAGANCES These words should be saved for special occasions, and even then, they should be supported with specifics. 1. great 2. super 3. wonderful 4. fantastic 5. terrific 6. awesome 7. !* *Exclamation points are rare in academic writing. ABSOLUTES These words often turn a generalization into a lie by indicating that a situation has no exceptions. 1. always 2. never 3. none 4. invariably 5. everbody/everyone 6. anybody VAGUE WORD CHOICES These words suggest that the writer did not care enough to think of an exact word. 1. a lot 2. find myself (himself, herself, etc.) 3. clichés (“You can’t judge a book by its cover,” “when push comes to shove.”) 4. sentences beginning with “there” or “it” 5. “this” (as in, “this shows…”) 6. when it comes to… 7. “there” in any situation in which it does not indicate a specific place “Of course, there are many differences between…”) 8. needless to say 9. it goes without saying 8 Repetition vs. Redundancy When writing academic papers, it is often helpful to find key terms and use them within your paper as well as in your thesis. This section comments on the crucial difference between repetition and redundancy of terms. These two phenomena are not necessarily the same. Repetition can be a good thing. Sometimes we have to use our key terms several times within a paper, especially in topic sentences. Sometimes there is simply no substitute for the key terms, and selecting a weaker term as a synonym can do more harm than good. Repeating key terms emphasizes important points and signals to the reader that the argument is still being supported. This kind of repetition can give your paper cohesion and is done by conscious choice. In contrast, if you find yourself frustrated, tiredly repeating the same nouns, verbs, or adjectives, or making the same point over and over, you are probably being redundant. In this case, you are swimming aimlessly around the same points because you have not decided what your argument really is or because you are truly fatigued and clarity escapes you. Strategies for Successful Word Choice 1. Be careful when using words you are unfamiliar with. Look at how they are used in context and check their dictionary definitions. 2. Be careful when using the thesaurus. Each word listed as a synonym for the word you’re looking up may have its own unique connotations or shades of meaning. Use a dictionary to be sure the synonym you are considering really fits what you are trying to say. 3. Don’t try to impress your reader or sound unduly authoritative. For example, which sentence is clearer to you: “a” or “b”? a. Under the present conditions of our society, marriage practices generally demonstrate a high degree of homogeneity. b. In our culture, people tend to marry others who are like themselves. (Longman, p. 452) 4. Before you revise for accurate and strong adjectives, make sure you are first using accurate and strong nouns and verbs. For example, if you were revising the sentence “This is a good book that tells about the Civil War,” think about whether “book” and “tells” are as strong as they could be before you worry about “good.” (A stronger sentence might read “The novel describes the experiences of a Confederate soldier during the Civil War.” “Novel” tells us what kind of book it is, and “describes” tells us more about how the book communicates information.) 5. Try the slash/option technique, which is like brainstorming as you write. When you get stuck, write out two or more choices for a questionable word or a confusing sentence, e.g., “questionable/inaccurate/vague/inappropriate.” Pick the word that best indicates your meaning or combine different terms to say what you mean. 6. Look for repetition. When you find it, decide if it is “good” repetition (using key terms that are crucial and helpful to meaning) or “bad” repetition (redundancy or laziness in reusing words). 9 7. Write your thesis in five different ways. Make five different versions of your thesis sentence. Compose five sentences that express your argument. Try to come up with four alternatives to the thesis sentence you’ve already written. Find five possible ways to communicate your argument in one sentence to your reader. (We’ve just used this technique—which of the last five sentences do you prefer?) Whenever we write a sentence we make choices. Some are less obvious than others, so that it can often feel like we’ve written the sentence the only way we know how. By writing out five different versions of your thesis, you can begin to see your range of choices. The final version may be a combination of phrasings and words from all five versions, or the one version that says it best. By literally spelling out some possibilities for yourself, you will be able to make better decisions. 8. Read your paper out loud and at… a… slow… pace. You can do this alone or with a friend, roommate, TA, etc. When read out loud, your written words should make sense to both you and other listeners. If a sentence seems confusing, rewrite it to make the meaning clear. 9. Instead of reading the paper itself, put it down and just talk through your argument as concisely as you can. If your listener quickly and easily comprehends your essay’s main point and significance, you should then make sure that your written words are as clear as your oral presentation was. If, on the other hand, your listener keeps asking for clarification, you will need to work on finding the right terms for your essay. If you do this in exchange with a friend or classmate, rest assured that whether you are the talker or the listener, your articulation skills will develop. 10. Have someone not familiar with the issue read the paper and point out words or sentences he/she finds confusing. Do not brush off this reader’s confusion by assuming he or she simply doesn’t know enough about the topic. Instead, rewrite the sentences so that your “outsider” reader can follow along at all times. Questions to Ask Yourself • Am I sure what each word I use really means? Am I positive, or should I look it up? • Have I found the best word or just settled for the most obvious, or the easiest, one? • Am I trying too hard to impress my reader? • What’s the easiest way to write this sentence? (Sometimes it helps to answer this question by trying it out loud. How would you say it to someone?) • What are the key terms of my argument? • Can I outline out my argument using only these key terms? What others do I need? Which do I not need? • Have I created my own terms, or have I simply borrowed what looked like key ones from the assignment? If I’ve borrowed the terms, can I find better ones in my own vocabulary, the texts, my notes, the dictionary, or the thesaurus to make myself clearer? • Are my key terms too specific? (Do they cover the entire range of my argument?) Can I think of specific examples from my sources that fall under the key term? • Are my key terms too vague? (Do they cover more than the range of my argument?) SOURCE: “Word Choice.” The Writing Center. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012. Web. 23 March 2013. 10 3. FANBOYS Fakers However, therefore, moreover, and other words like them are not FANBOYS (they are called conjunctive adverbs). They go between two complete thoughts, just like FANBOYS, but they take different punctuation. Why? Who cares? You just need to recognize that they are not FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so—remember?), and you’ll make the right choice. When you want to use one of these words, you have two good choices. Check to see if you have a complete thought on both sides of the “conjunctive adverb.” If you do, then you can use a period to make two sentences, or you can use a semicolon after the first complete thought. Either way, you’ll use a comma after the faker in the second complete thought. Notice the subtle differences in punctuation here: GOOD: Basketball is my favorite sport. However, table tennis is where I excel. ALSO GOOD: Basketball is my favorite sport; however, table tennis is where I excel. BAD: Basketball is my favorite sport, however table tennis is where I excel. ALSO BAD: Basketball is my favorite sport, however, table tennis is where I excel. 4. The Dreaded Comma Splice If you don’t have FANBOYS between the two complete and separate thoughts, using a comma alone causes a “comma splice” or “fused sentence” (some instructors may call it a run-on). Some readers (especially professors) will think of this as a serious error. BAD: My hamster loved to play, I gave him a hula-hoop. ALSO BAD: You wore a lovely hat, it was your only defense. To fix these comma splices, you can do one of four simple things: just add FANBOYS, change the comma to a semicolon, make each clause a separate sentence, or add a subordinator (a word like because, while, although, if, when, since, etc.) GOOD: You wore a lovely hat, for it was your only defense. ALSO GOOD: You wore a lovely hat; it was your only defense. STILL GOOD: You wore a lovely hat. It was your only defense. TOTALLY GOOD: You wore a lovely hat because it was your only defense. 13 5. X,Y, and Z Put commas between items in a list. When giving a short and simple list of things in a sentence, the last comma (right before the conjunction–usually and or or) is called an Oxford comma and is optional, but it is never wrong. If the items in the list are longer and more complicated, you should always place a final comma before the conjunction. EITHER: You can buy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in Los Angeles. OR: You can buy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in Los Angeles. NOTE: Oualline REQUIRES the comma before the conjunction in a list. BUT ALWAYS: A good student listens to his teachers without yawning, reads once in a while, and writes papers before they are due. 6. Describers If you have two or more adjectives (words that describe) that are not joined by a conjunction (usually and) and both/all adjectives modify the same word, put a comma between them. He was a bashful, dopey, sleepy dwarf. The frothy, radiant princess kissed the putrid, vile frog. 7. Interrupters Two commas can be used to set off additional information that appears within the sentence but is separate from the primary subject and verb of the sentence. These commas help your reader figure out your main point by telling him or her that the words within the commas are not necessary to understand the rest of the sentence. In other words, you should be able to take out the section framed by commas and still have a complete and clear sentence. Bob Mills, a sophomore from Raleigh, was the only North Carolina native at the Japanese food festival in Cary. Aaron thought he could see the future, not the past, in the wrinkles on his skin. My chemistry book, which weighs about 100 pounds, has some really great examples. To see if you need commas around an interrupter, try taking the interrupter out of the sentence completely. If the sentence is still clear without the interrupter, then you probably need the commas. SOURCE: “Commas.” The Writing Center. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012. Web. 23 March 2013. 14 FRAGMENTS AND RUN-ONS LOCATE AND CORRECT SENTENCE FRAGMENTS AND RUN-ONS The Basics Before we get to the problems and how to fix them, let’s take a minute to review some information that is so basic you’ve probably forgotten it. What is a complete sentence? A complete sentence is not merely a group of words with a capital letter at the beginning and a period or question mark at the end. A complete sentence has three components: 1. a subject (the actor in the sentence) 2. a predicate (the verb or action), and 3. a complete thought (it can stand alone and make sense—it’s independent). Some sentences can be very short, with only two or three words expressing a complete thought, like this: John waited. This sentence has a subject (John) and a verb (waited), and it expresses a complete thought. We can understand the idea completely with just those two words, so again, it’s independent—an independent clause. But independent clauses (i.e., complete sentences) can be expanded to contain a lot more information, like this: John waited for the bus all morning. John waited for the bus all morning in the rain last Tuesday. Wishing he’d brought his umbrella, John waited for the bus all morning in the rain last Tuesday. Wishing he’d brought his umbrella and dreaming of his nice warm bed, John waited for the bus all morning in the rain last Tuesday because his car was in the shop. As your sentences grow more complicated, it gets harder to spot and stay focused on the basic elements of a complete sentence, but if you look carefully at the examples above, you’ll see that the main thought is still that John waited—one main subject and one main verb. No matter how long or short the other sentence parts are, none of them can stand alone and make sense. Being able to find the main subject, the main verb, and the complete thought is the first trick to learn for identifying fragments and run-ons. 15 Finding Run-Ons As you can see, fixing run-ons is pretty easy once you see them—but how do you find out if a sentence is a run-on if you aren’t sure? Rei R. Noguchi, in his book Grammar and the Teaching of Writing, suggests that you test your sentences with two methods: 1. Turn them into yes/no questions. 2. Turn them into tag questions (sentences that end with a questioning phrase at the very end—look at our examples below). These are two things that nearly everyone can do easily if the sentence is not a run-on, but they become next to impossible if it is. Look at the following sentence: My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus. Yes/No: Is my favorite Mediterranean spread hummus? Tag: My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus, isn’t it? The first sentence is complete and not a run-on, because our test worked. Now, try the test with the original run-on sentence: My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus it is very garlicky. Yes/No: Is my favorite Mediterranean spread hummus? Is it very garlicky? Tag: My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus, isn’t it? It’s very garlicky, isn’t it? The yes/no and tag questions can also only be made with each separate thought, rather than the whole. See how the following two examples do not work in one question because the original sentence is a run-on. Not this: Is my favorite Mediterranean spread hummus is it very garlicky? Or this: My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus it is very garlicky, isn’t it? Neither test works for you, does it? That’s because when you try, you immediately see that you have more than one complete concept in that sentence, and you can’t make the whole thing turn into one question. Make sure you try both tests with each of your problem sentences, because you may trick yourself by just putting a tag on the last part and not noticing that it doesn’t work on the first. Some people might not notice that “My favorite Mediterranean spread is hummus it is very garlicky isn’t it?” is wrong, but most people will spot the yes/no question problem right away. Every once in a while, you or your instructor will see a really long sentence and think it’s a run-on when it isn’t. Really long sentences can be tiring but not necessarily wrong—just make sure that yours aren’t wrong by using the tests above. SOURCE: “Fragments and Run-Ons.” The Writing Center. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012. Web. 23 March 2013. 18 VERB TENSES These three verb tenses account for approximately 80% of the verb tense use in academic writing. This handout will help you understand how present simple, past simple, and present perfect verb tenses are used in academic writing. Present Simple Tense The present simple tense is the basic tense of most academic writing. Use this as your first choice unless you have a good reason to use another tense. Specifically, the present simple is used: • To “frame” your paper: in your introduction, the present simple tense describes what we already know about the topic; in the conclusion, it says what we now know about the topic and what further research is still needed. • To make general statements, conclusions, or interpretations about previous research or data, focusing on what is known now (The data suggest … The research shows …). • To cite a previous study or finding without mentioning the researcher in the sentence: The dinoflagellate’s TFVCs require an unidentified substance in fresh fish excreta (Environmental Science)[1] • To introduce evidence or support in the structure: There is evidence that … • To show strong agreement with a conclusion or theory from a previous paper (Smith suggests that …), but not specific findings or data (use the past simple) Past Simple Tense Past simple tense is used for two main functions in most academic fields: • To introduce other people’s research into your text when you are describing a specific study, usually carried out by named researcher. The research often provides an example that supports a general statement or a finding in your research. Although it is possible to use the past tense to distance yourself from a study’s findings, this appears to be rare, at least in scientific writing.[2] …customers obviously want to be treated at least as well on fishing vessels as they are by other recreation businesses. [General claim] De Young (1987) found the quality of service to be more important than catching fish in attracting repeat customers. [Specific supporting evidence] (Marine Science) • To describe the methods and data of your completed experiment. However, look at examples of the Methods and Results sections in journals in your fields to check that this is good advice for you to follow. In many fields, the passive voice is most usual in methods sections, although the active voice may be possible. We conducted a secondary data analysis … (Public Health) Descriptional statistical tests and t-student test were used for statistical analysis. (Medicine) The control group of students took the course previously … (Education) 19 Present Perfect Tense The present perfect is mostly used for referring to previous research in the field or to your own previous findings. Since the present perfect is a present tense, it implies that the result is still true and relevant today. • The subject of active present perfect verbs is often general: Researchers have found, Studies have suggested. The present simple could also be used here, but the present perfect focuses more on what has been done than on what is known to be true now (present simple). In the following example, there are two opposite findings, so neither is the accepted state of knowledge: Some studies have shown that girls have significantly higher fears than boys after trauma (Pfefferbaum et al., 1999; Pine &; Cohen, 2002; Shaw, 2003). Other studies have found no gender differences (Rahav &; Ronen, 1994). (Psychology) • A new topic can be introduced with this structure: There have been several investigations into … • The present perfect forms a connection between the past (previous research) and the present (your study). So, you say what has been found and then how you will contribute to the field. This is also useful when you want to point out a gap in the existing research. More recently, advances have been made using computational hydrodynamics to study the evolution of SNRs in multidimensions …(citation) … [previous research] However, a similar problem exists in the study of SNR dynamics. [gap] (Astrophysics) • The passive voice is common in the present perfect tense to describe previous findings without referring directly to the original paper: … has been studied; it has been observed that … You should usually provide citations in parentheses or a footnote. The passive voice allows you to move the subject of your research into a place in the sentence where it will have more focus. • You can also use the present perfect to tell the history of your idea (what has created it?), describe the results of your research (we have developed a new …), or to draw conclusions (this has led us to conclude that …). “TO BE” Verbs “To be, or not to be—that is the question.” (Shakespeare) Not another “to be”—that is the answer! (De Rosa) LIST OF “TO BE” VERBS: am are is was were be become became TO BE NOT TO BE will be different will differ is interesting to me interests me the first step is for the editor to find the editor must first identify to insure that the project is doable to insure the project’s feasibility this paper is an analysis of leadership skills this paper analyzes leadership skills this is a caricature of Donald Duck this comic strip caricatures Donald Duck this is important to the project because its importance stems from SOURCE: “Verb Tenses.” The Writing Center. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012. Web. 23 March 2013. 20 3. To express time, in titles, and as part of other writing conventions. Colons appear in several standard or conventional places in writing. Here are a few examples: • With numbers. Colons are used to separate units of time (4:45:00 expresses four hours, forty-five minutes, and zero seconds); ratios (2:1), and Bible verses and chapters (Matthew 2:24). • In bibliography entries. Many citation styles use a colon to separate information in bibliography entries. o Example: Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt: A world history. New York, NY: Walker and Co. • With subtitles. Colons are used to separate titles from subtitles. o Example: Everest: The Last Frontier • After the salutation in a formal business letter. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter (less-formal letters tend to use a comma in this location). o Example: To Whom it May Concern: Please accept my application for the position advertised in the News and Observer. Common Colon Mistakes Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement • Example (incorrect): The very best peaches are: those that are grown in the great state of Georgia. Using a colon between a preposition and its object • Example (incorrect): My favorite cake is made of: carrots, flour, butter, eggs, and cream cheese icing. Using a colon after “such as,” “including,” “especially,” and similar phrases. This violates the rule that the material preceding the colon must be a complete thought. Look, for example, at the following sentence: • Example (incorrect): There are many different types of paper, including: college ruled, wide ruled, and plain copy paper. Should you capitalize the first letter after a colon? The first word following the colon should be lower-cased if the words after the colon form a dependent clause (that is, if they could not stand on their own as a complete sentence). If the following phrase is a complete (independent) clause, you may choose to capitalize it or not. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to be consistent throughout your paper. Example with an independent clause, showing two different approaches to capitalization:  The commercials had one message: The geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct)  The commercials had one message: the geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct) Example with a dependent clause (which is not capitalized)  There are three things that I love more than anything else in the world: my family, my friends, and my computer. (correct) 23 Dashes The first thing to know when talking about dashes is that they are almost never required by the laws of grammar and punctuation. Overusing dashes can break up the flow of your writing, making it choppy or even difficult to follow, so don’t overdo it. It’s also important to distinguish between dashes and hyphens. Hyphens are shorter lines (-); they are most often used to show connections between words that are working as a unit (for example, you might see adjectives like “well-intentioned”) or to spell certain words (like “e-mail”). To set off material for emphasis. Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses. Where parentheses indicate that the reader should put less emphasis on the enclosed material, dashes indicate that the reader should pay more attention to the material between the dashes. Dashes add drama—parentheses whisper. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways: A single dash can emphasize material at the beginning or end of a sentence.  Example: After eighty years of dreaming, the elderly man realized it was time to finally revisit the land of his youth—Ireland.  Example: “The Office”—a harmless television program or a dangerously subversive guide to delinquency in the workplace? Two dashes can emphasize material in the middle of a sentence. Some style and grammar guides even permit you to write a complete sentence within the dashes.  Example: Everything I saw in my new neighborhood—from the graceful elm trees to the stately brick buildings—reminded me of my alma mater.  Example (complete sentence): The students—they were each over the age of eighteen— lined up in the streets to vote for the presidential candidates. Two dashes can emphasize a modifier. Words or phrases that describe a noun can be set off with dashes if you wish to emphasize them.  Example: The fairgrounds—cold and wet in the October rain—were deserted.  Example: Nettie—her chin held high—walked out into the storm. To indicate sentence introductions or conclusions. You can sometimes use a dash to help readers see that certain words are meant as an introduction or conclusion to your sentence. • Example: Books, paper, pencils—many students lacked even the simplest tools for learning in nineteenth-century America. • Example: To improve their health, Americans should critically examine the foods that they eat—fast food, fatty fried foods, junk food, and sugary snacks. 24 To mark “bonus phrases.” Phrases that add information or clarify but are not necessary to the meaning of a sentence are ordinarily set off with commas. But when the phrase itself already contains one or more commas, dashes can help readers understand the sentence. • Slightly confusing example with commas: Even the simplest tasks, washing, dressing, and going to work, were nearly impossible after I broke my leg. • Better example with dashes: Even the simplest tasks—washing, dressing, and going to work—were nearly impossible after I broke my leg. To break up dialogue. In written dialogue, if a speaker suddenly or abruptly stops speaking, hesitates in speech, or is cut off by another speaker, a dash can indicate the pause or interruption. • Example: “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” denied the politician. • Example: Mimi began to explain herself, saying, “I was thinking—” “I don’t care what you were thinking,” Rodolpho interrupted. SOURCE: “Semi-Colons, Colons, and Dashes.” The Writing Center. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012. Web. 23 March 2013. 25 Sentences in active voice are also more concise than those in passive voice because fewer words are required to express action. While a word or two on short sentences does not seem like much, the extra words can significantly increase the overall sense of wordiness in essays. PASSIVE (wordy): ACTIVE (concise): Action on the bill is being considered by the committee. The committee is considering action on the bill. By then, the soundtrack will have been remixed by the sound engineers. By then, the sound engineers will have remixed the soundtrack. Changing Passive to Active If you want to change a passive-voice sentence to active voice, find the agent in a “by the…” phrase, or consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb. Make that agent the subject of the sentence, and change the verb accordingly. Sometimes you will need to infer the agent from the surrounding sentences which provide context. PASSIVE VOICE: AGENT CHANGED TO ACTIVE: The book is being read by most of the class. most of the class Most of the class is reading the book. Results will be published in the next issue of the journal. agent not specified; could be “researchers” The researchers will publish results in the next issue of the journal. A policy of whitewashing and cover-up has been used by the CIA director and his close advisors. the CIA director and his close advisors The CIA director and his advisors has used a policy of whitewashing and coverup. Mistakes were made. agent not specified; could be “we” We made mistakes. By ?? By ?? 28 Choosing Passive Voice While active voice helps to create clear and direct sentences, sometimes writers find that using an indirect expression is rhetorically effective in a given situation. Politicians are especially notorious for their use of the passive voice to avoid placing themselves too closely to unpopular policies. In scientific writing, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences. This practice helps to create the appearance of an objective, fact-based discourse because writers can present research and conclusions without attributing them to particular agents and convey information that is not limited or biased by individual perspectives or personal interests. Passive voice makes sense when the agent performing the action is obvious, unimportant, or unknown or to avoid mentioning the agent at all because it highlights the action and what is acted upon rather than the agent performing the action. ACTIVE: PASSIVE: The dispatcher is notifying police that three prisoners have escaped. Police are being notified that three prisoners have escaped. Surgeons successfully performed by a new experimental liver transplant yesterday. A new experimental liver transplant was performed successfully yesterday. “Authorities make rules to be broken,” he said defiantly. “Rules are made to be broken,” he said defiantly. Changing Active to Passive If you want to change an active-voice sentence to passive voice, consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb, and then make that agent the object of a “by the” phrase. Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence, and change the verb form. ACTIVE VOICE: AGENT CHANGED TO PASSIVE: The presiding officer vetoed the committee’s recommendation. The presiding officer The committee’s recommendation was vetoed by the presiding officer. The leaders are seeking a fair resolution to the crisis. The leaders A fair resolution to the crisis is being sought. (agent removed) Scientists have discovered traces of ice on the surface of Mars.. the CIA director and his close advisors Traces of ice have been discovered on the surface of Mars. (agent removed) 29 Some Suggestions 1. Avoid starting a sentence in active voice and then shifting to passive voice. UNNECESSARY SHIFT IN VOICE: REVISED: Many customers in the restaurant found the coffee too bitter to drink, but it was still ordered frequently. Many customers in the restaurant found the coffee too bitter to drink, but they still ordered it frequently. He tried to act cool when he slipped in the puddle, but he was still laughed at by the other students. He tried to act cool when he slipped in the puddle, but the other students still laughed at him. 2. Avoid dangling modifiers caused by the use of active voice. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. DANGLING MODIFIER WITH PASSIVE VOICE: REVISED: To save time, the paper was written on a computer. (Who was saving time? The paper?) To save time, Kristin wrote the paper on a computer. Seeking to lay off workers without taking the blame, consultants were hired to break the bad news. (Who was seeking to lay off workers? The consultants?) Seeking to lay off workers without taking the blame, the CEO hired consultants to break the bad news. 3. Don’t trust grammar-checking programs in word-processing software. Many grammar checkers flag all passive constructions, but you may want to keep some that are flagged. Trust your judgment, or ask another human being for their opinion about which sentence sounds best. Source: “Active and Passive Voice.” The OWL at Purdue University. Purdue U, 2004. Web. 22 May 2012. Redesigned by Beth Oualline, College Station High School 30 21. Write a sentence in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are juxtaposed, thus creating an effect of surprise and wit. It was the saddest and most cruel April of the five. It had held out an almost unbelievable joy and had then struck out in fury at those whose hands were outstretched. --Irene Hunt, Across Five Aprils 22. Write a sentence ending with three parallel elements: words, phrases, or clauses that have the same structure. Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. --John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address Seeking means to have a goal; but finding means to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. --Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha 23. Write a sentence beginning with three parallel elements: words, phrases, or clauses that have the same structure. Hostile to the past, impatient of the present, and cheated of the future, we were much like those whom men’s justice, or hatred, forces to live behind prison bars. --Albert Camus, The Plague 24. Write a sentence using polysyndeton to highlight quantity or mass of detail, or to create a flowing, continuous sentence pattern. She looked fresh and young and very beautiful. I thought I had never seen anyone so beautiful. --Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms Oh my piglets, we are the origins of war—not history’s forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religious, nor ideas, nor kinds of government—not any other thing. --James Goldman, The Lion in Winter 25. Write a sentence using asyndeton. Bombardment, barrage, curtain-fire, mines, gas, tanks, machine-guns, hand-grenades— words, words, words, but they hold the horror of the world. --Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front 26. Begin with a noun clause. What most people don’t seem to realize is that there is just as much money to be made out of the wreckage of a civilization as from the upbuilding of one. --Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind 27. Ask a rhetorical question. Do I walk? Have I feet still? --Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front 33 28. Write a sentence or series of sentences using anaphora. We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community. --Barbara Jordan, 1976 Democratic Convention Keynote Address 29. Write a sentence using epistrophe. Everything’s a story. You are a story. I am a story. --Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess 30. Begin with an absolute phrase (or more than one). His hands raw, he reached a flat place at the top. --Richard Connell, “The Most Dangerous Game” 31. Write an antithetical sentence that contains two statements which are balanced but opposite. Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything. --Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time 32. Write a sentence or a series of sentences using anadiplosis. Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern, you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude, it changes your behavior pattern and then you go on into some action. --Malcom X, The Ballot or the Bullet 33. Write a sentence using antimetabole, in which the arrangement of ideas in the second clause is a reversal of the first. We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. --Benjamin Franklin Fair is foul, and foul is fair. -William Shakespeare, Macbeth 34. Write a sentence using epanalepsis. The time must come. It’s enough—enough to go to cemeteries, enough to weep for oceans—it’s enough. -Elie Wiesel, Speech at Buchenwald Concentration Camp 35. Create a balanced sentence in which the phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. --Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Source: Laying the Foundation, National Math and Science Initiative Redesigned by Beth Oualline, College Station High School 34