Handout 1 : Sentence fragments
What is a
sentence fragment?
A sentence
fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence, but it is not. A
capital letter begins the group of words, and a period ends it. But between
them some necessary parts have been felt out or put in a wrong form, resulting
in a fragment.
Here are
some examples of fragments:
The
skinniest boy in town.
When
my mother was in high school.
The
girl who wears glasses.
All these
examples look like sentence. All begin with capital letter and end with a
period. And they all give information. Some of them even have subject and a
predicate. But none of them is complete.
Here you
are going to see some other examples that seem to have sense but as you read
them they do not convey any meaning. Fragments often confuse the reader.
Fragment:
John gave a report on Louis Agassiz. The well-known naturalist and
teacher.
Revised:
John gave a repot on Louis Agassiz, the well-known naturalist and
teacher.
Fragment:
Then the two boys out the puppy in box. And hid the box in the basement.
Revised: Then the two boys out the puppy in box
and hide the box in the basement.
What is wrong with a sentence fragment?
They seem improvised and arbitrary, and as if the writer could only know and
then from a complete thought. Though sentence fragments can sometime enhace a
passage, thet are just as like as to break it into disconnected pieces. For
this reason, they are not acceptable in college essays, and you should avoid
them.
Charlie
smiled self-consciusly. Like a politician before a camera.
Soon I
began to work for the company. Firs in the rock pit snd later in the highway.
She will have a chance to go home next weekend. And to meet his new stepfathers.
Astronauts venturing deep into space may not come back for fifty days. Returning only to
discover an uninhabitable planet.
I tried to read the directions. Which were confusing and absurd.
He lost the golden watch. The one which had belonged to his grandfather.
Is a term describing two independent clauses with are joined together with no
connecting word or punctuation to separate the clauses.
When you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, it must be accompanied
by a little conjunction (FANBOYS). (e.g: The sun is high, so put some
sunblock.)
A rambling sentence may be defined as any sentence that is exceedingly long,
and contains too many independent clauses.
Rambling sentences tend to contain coordinating
conjunctions (i.e. and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet), or words that
connect independent thoughts to one another.
Rambling sentences are often confused with sentences
that contain comma splices.
Example One: Sentence containing a Comma Splice
''I saw a bear
lumbering through the woods, it was crashing and thrashing through
the brush. ''
Example Two: Sentence containing three Comma
Splices
I saw a bear
lumbering through the woods, the air smelled like pine, as I listened I could
hear him breathing, he was giant.
Example Three: Rambling Sentence
I saw a bear
lumbering through the woods, and the air smelled like pine, but as
I listened I could hear him breathing, and he was giant.
Example Four: Rambling sentence containing one
Comma Splice
I saw a bear
lumbering through the woods, and the air smelled like pine, but
then as I listened I could hear him breathing, he was giant.
Example:
the first thing to do is take out all the coordinating conjunctions that
separate complete , distinct thoughts, and the replace them with periods.
Contains a necessary words and phrases that add nothing to the meaning of a
sentences
Repeat the same idea -Make statements without supporting them
THIS SENTENCE LACKS LOGIC BECAUSE IT SAYS THAT THE FIRST CASE OF SMALLPOX HAS
GONE UNCHECKED UNTIL RECENTLY.
Mixed Constructions
Principle:
Expressions of similar content and function are outwardly similar.
When we use the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the
same level of importance
Gerunds and Infinitives:
When talking to
the group, he spoke sincerely and passionately.
When talking to the group, he spoke with sincerity and passion.
_or_
The couch told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not eat too
much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game.
Spotting and correcting sentences.
A fragment occurs when you do these things:
You
begin a group of words with capital letter.
You
conclude this group of words with an end mark- either a period (.), question
mark (?), or exclamation point (!).
You
neglect to insert a main clause somewhere between the capital letter at the
beginning and the end mark concluding the word group.
The best way to avoid fragments,
however, is to recognize the structural differences between sentences and
non-sentences. Remember that a complete statement is an independent unit
containing at least one subject and predicate.
Types of fragments:
Isolated phrase
Prepositional
phrase
Infinitive phrase
Participial phrase
Subordinate clause
Appositive
Handout 2 : Comma Splice and Run-on Sentence
Comma
splices are similar to run-on sentences because they also incorrectly connect
independent clauses. A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are
connected with only a comma. As with a run-on sentence, there are a few
different ways to correct a comma splice.
Examples:
Comma
splice: My family bakes together nearly every night, we then get to enjoy
everything we make together.
Correction
1: My family bakes together nearly every night. We then get to enjoy everything
we make together.
The comma
splice has been corrected by breaking the sentence into two separate sentences.
Correction
2: My family bakes together nearly every night, and we then get to enjoy
everything we make together.
The comma
splice has been corrected by adding a coordinating conjunction and a comma.
Correction
3: After my family bakes together nearly every night, we get to enjoy
everything we make together.
The comma
splice has been corrected by adding a subordinating conjunction and a comma.
Run- on sentence
Incorrect:
They weren’t dangerous criminals they were detectives in disguise.
Correct:
They weren’t dangerous criminals; they were detectives in disguise.
How to fix
a comma splice:
Comma
splice: I completed my essay, I have not submitted it.
Run-on
sentence: I completed my essay I have not submitted it.
Solution:
1-
Use
a period: I completed my essay. I have not submitted it.
2-
Use
a semi-colon: I completed my essay; I have not submitted it.
3-
Use
a coordinating conjunction: I completed my essay, but I have not submitted it.
4-
Use
a subordinating conjunction: I completed my essay, although I have not
submitted it.
Run-on sentence: (Sometime called a “fused sentence”)
has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself, but he two
parts have been smooshed together instead of being properly connected.
When two
independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they constitute a run-on
sentence that is called a comma splice. (e.g: The sun is high, put some
sunblock.)
Handout 3 : Rambling sentences
When a
writer chooses to use coordinating conjunction after coordinating conjunction
to combine what should be separate sentences, the result almost always is a
rambling sentence.
The other
day I went to my Grandma’s house and when I was there I ate cookies and
crackers and she gave me some soda and then I went outside to pick apples and I
felt and scraped my knee so she brought me back inside and helped me wash it
out and it didn’t hurt at all.
How to fix
it:
The other day I went to my Grandma’s house.
When I was there I ate cookies and crackers. She gave me some soda.
Then I went outside to pick apples. I felt and scraped my knee. She
brought me back inside and helped me wash it out. It didn’t hurt at all.
Once this
has been done, the next step is to understand that some of the individual
sentences in the newly formed paragraph were originally dependent upon one
another. Specially the word “so” in the clause” I felt and scraped my knee so
she brought me back inside and helped me wash it out” tells the reader that the
second clause (“she brought me back inside and helped me wash it out”) happens
as a result of the first one (“I felt and scraped my knee”)
The other day I went to my Grandma’s house.
When I was there I ate cookies and crackers. She gave me some soda.
Then I went outside to pick apples. I felt and scraped my knee,
so she brought me back inside and helped me wash it out. It didn’t hurt at
all.
Having
learned how to break rambling sentences into sentences that are more precise
and exact, it is important to understand that coordinating conjunctions are not
merely nasty things hat should be eliminated from a person’s writing, but they
have to be used correctly.
Handout 4: Overloaded, Padded and Empty Sentences
Long
sentences containing a number of ideas, usually connected by and's, are
confusing. Sentences should usually contain only one central thought.
Overloaded sentences shuold be broken into smaller sentences.
Avoid sentences
that contain more information than the reader can easily follow. Instead,
divide such sentences into more manageable pieces that can be easily grasped.
Weak: Because researchers
interested in speech synthesis and automatic recognition need to find rules
that improve intelligibility of speech, they need to study the psychological
determinants more closely before they can solve what has become a complex set
of questions.
Improved: Researchers
interested in speech synthesis and automatic recognition need to find rules
that improve intelligibility of speech. Consequently, they need to study the
psychological determinants more closely before they can solve what has become a
complex set of questions.
Weak: In response to the
leak history of the pipe made of 304-L stainless steel, a work request, IJ-117,
was prepared by Plant Maintenance in August of 1989 to replace approximately 55
feet of the HLD 304-L pipe--the entire segment running from the
"cells" area to the point in the drainage system that turns south to
exit the building--with pipe made of a different material, Iconel 600 (see Figure…).
Improved: Plant
Maintenance responded to the leak history of the stainless steel pipe(304-L)
with a work request in August 1989 to replace a 55-foot section with Iconel 600
pipe. This section made up the entire pipe segment running from
the"cells" area to a point where the drainage system turns south to
exit the building (see Figure N).
Lents is often blamed for sentences going awry, but the problem is more
complex than that because a long sentence sometime works.
Long sentences can become confusing when:
WE PUT TOO MUCH INFORMATION IN BRACKETS.
WE OVERUSE “WHICH” CLAUSES.
WE MAKE OUR SUBJECTS TOO WORDY.
Padded sentences
Example: When my family went on vacation, my
family went to visit this cave in Arizona where bandits who held up a train hid
the loot, which was thousands of dollars of gold coins and other gold. Count
how many words this is
Revised: On
our vacation my family visited a cave in Arizona where train robbers hid
thousands of dollars of gold.
Empty sentences
Example: A
freight train is a train that carries freight. Freight trains carry grain,
coal, and other goods.
Revised: Trains
are a good way to transport goods. Rail trains are efficient because they don’t
get delayed in traffic such as trucks.
ADVICE TO REVISED PADDED AND EMPTY SENTENCES
Think about the ideas you want to express Look for unnecessary words and
phrases to take out Look for long phrases that don’t tell your reader much.
Replace each of those phrases with one or two words.
Handout 5: Mixed an Illogical Constructions
Every part of the sentence must agree with the other parts in some
logical way if the meaning of the sentence is to be clear.Types of mistakes are written in parenthesis.Be
sure that the subject makes sense in its relationships to the verbs: (LACK OF
SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT)
Vague:
The first case of smallpox dates back more than a thousand years before the
birth of Christ and had gone unchecked until recently.
Improved:
The first case of smallpox dates back more than a thousand years before the
birth of Christ, but only recently has the disease been checked.
Every
verb must have a clear-cut subject: (LACK OF CLEAR-CUT SUBJECT)
Vague: With a family to support makes his decision
all the more important.
Improved: His having a family to support makes his
decision all the more important.
Avoid
mixed construction: (MIXED CONSTRUCTION)
Vague:
Despite of what you say, I think you are wrong.
Improved:
In despite of what you say, I think you are wrong. OR
Despite what you say, I think you are wrong.
Avoid
double negatives: (DOUBLE NEGATIVES)
Akward:
I can’t hardly see you.
Improved:
I can hardly see you.
A mixed construction is a sentence
with incompatible elements that begins with one type of structure and shifts to
another type of structure. In these sentences, the speaker sets out to say one
thing and abruptly switches to something else resulting in confusion.
As a refresher, think of the
sentence as a mathematical equation with the following structures:
Subject + predicate = sentence or
Phrase + clause = logical connection
These will always make sense as
distinct equations. However, one component of an equation is mixed with a
component of another equation, the meaning becomes unclear. For example,
consider the following revision:
Mixed Construction: Beginning in the fall of 1997, we began to charge
students a trash tax, was the responsibility of student government.
Revision: Beginning in the fall of 1997, we began to charge
students a trash tax. The student government was responsible for this project.
Handout 6:Faulty Parallelism
What
is Parallelism?
In other words:
Where or when does it occur?
• It occurs at the level of a word,
phrase, or clause.
Faulty parallelism: Formerly, science was taught by
the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed.
Revised: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by
the laboratory method.
An article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must
either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term.
Faulty parallelism: In spring, summer, or in winter
Revised: In spring, summer or Winter.
OR (In spring, in summer, or in
winter)
(e.g.) I love to run, hike, and swim.
CORRELATIVE
CONJUNTIONS: (both – and, not – but, not only – but also, rather - than, either – or, neither – nor, first,
second, third) should be followed by the same grammatical construction.
• Jose is both intelligent and wise.
• He is not only smart but also
athletic.
• He will either become a doctor or
become a lawyer.
• Neither his mother nor his father have
doubts about his success.
• He would rather study medicine than
study law.
When making comparisons the things you compare should
be couched in parallel structures whenever that is possible and appropriate.
Faulty parallelism: My income is
smaller than my wife.
Revised: My income is smaller than my wife’s.
WORDS AND PHRASES
Faulty parallelism: Fidel likes
hiking, swimming and to drive his car.
Revised:
• Fidel likes hiking, swimming and
driving his car.
• Fidel likes to hike, to swim, and to
drive his car.
• Fidel likes to hike,
swim, and drive his car.
- Faulty parallelism: When
talking to the group, he spoke sincerely and with passion.
CLAUSES: A parallel structure that begins
with clauses must keep on with clauses. Changing to another pattern or changing
the voice of the verb will break parallelism.
Not parallel: The couch told the players that they should get a lot
of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises
before the game.
Parallel: The couch told the players that they should get a lot
of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some
warm-up exercises before the game.
ITEMS IN A LIST OR SERIES (THREE OR MORE)
NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, VERBS, PHRASES
Kevin likes to study, read, and write.
I have pens, pencils, erasers, and notebooks in my desk.
LISTS AFTER A COLON:
The dictionary can be used to find
these: word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up
irregular verbs.
The dictionary can be used to find
these: word meanings, pronunciations, correct spelling, and irregular verbs.
USING PARALLEL STRUCTIRES IN YOUR
WRITING WILL HELP WITH
Economy
Clarity
Equality
Handout 7-8 Misplaced and dangling modifiers
What is a
modifier? A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause which functions as an adjective
or an adverb to describe a word or make its meaning more specific.
WHAT KINDS OF MODIFIERS ARE
WE GOING TO STUDY?
ž
MISPLACED MODIFIERS
ž
DANGLING MODIFIERS
ž
SQUINTING MODIFIERS
Misplaced modifiers
Some modifiers, especially
simple modifiers — only, just, nearly, barely — have a bad habit of
slipping into the wrong place in a sentence. (In the sentence below, what does
it mean to "barely kick" something?)
Confusion:
He barely kicked that ball twenty yards.
Repair
Work: He kicked that ball barely twenty yards.
Many careful writers will
insist that "only" be placed immediately before the word or phrase it
modifies:
"I only
gave him three dollars.”
Some grammarians, however,
have argued that such precision is not really necessary, that there is no
danger of misreading and that "only" can safely and naturally be
placed between the subject and the verb.
"I
gave him only three dollars.
"I only
gave him three dollars.” (You did
not do anything else.)
"I
gave him only three dollars.” (no more money)
The
example above suggests that a gold man owns a watch.
There are
several kinds of misplaced modifiers:
1. Misplaced adjectives:
They are incorrectly separated from the nouns they modify and almost always
distort the intended meaning.
ž
Example:
Correct the error by
placing the adjective next to the noun it modifies.
Corrected:
ž
2. Placement of adverbs can also
change
For example, the sentences below
illustrate how the placement of just can change the sentence's
meaning.
Just means only
John was picked, no one else.
Just means
that John was picked now
Just means that John hosted only the program, nothing
else
3. Misplaced phrases
may cause a sentence to sound awkward and may create a meaning that does not
make sense.
correct:
ž 4. Misplaced
clauses may cause a sentence to sound awkward and may create a meaning that
does not make sense.
(a buttered woman?) Example 1.
correct:
Dangling modifier
dan·gling: /ˈdaNGɡliNG/
Adjective:hanging or swinging loosely.
Example: "a pair of dangling earrings"
ž A
dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that is not clearly and logically
related to the word or words it modifies (i.e. is placed next to).
Two notes about dangling modifiers:
ž Unlike a
misplaced modifier, a dangling modifier cannot be corrected
by simply moving it
to a different place in a sentence.
ž In most
cases, the dangling modifier appears at the beginning of the
sentence, although
it can also come at the end.
Sometimes
the dangling modifier error occurs because the sentence fails to specify
anything to which the modifier can refer.
ž EXAMPLE:
This sentence means that my
mother enrolled in medical when she was nine years old!
At other times the dangling modifier is
placed next to the wrong noun or noun substitute.
Because of the placement of
walking to the movies, this sentence suggests that the cloudburst is
walking to the movies even though a possible walker - Jim - is
mentioned later.
Hoe to correct dangling
modifiers
Dangling modifiers may be
corrected in two general ways:
ž
Correction Method #1:
ž
1. Leave the modifier as it is.
ž
2. Change the main part of the sentence so
that it begins with the term actually modified.
ž
3. This change will put the modifier next to
the term it modifies.
Now the sentence means that
I was looking toward the west.
Using the same method…
This dangling modifier may
be connected to
Now the sentence means that Jim was drenched by the cloudburst.
Correction #2
Change the dangling modifier phrase to a subordinate clause, creating a
subject and verb.
2. Leave the rest of the sentence as it is.
Example:
ž Now the
sentence means that I (not my mother!) was nine years old when my mother
enrolled in medical school.
SQUINTING MODIFIERS
ž What Is a
Squinting Modifier? (with Examples)
A squinting modifier is a modifier (usually an adverb) which could feasibly
modify the words before it or the words after it. A squinting modifier is a
type of misplaced
modifier.
EXAMPLE:
Cycling up hills quickly strengthens your
quadriceps.
In this example, the adverb quickly is a squinting
modifier.
It is unclear
whether quickly pertains to Cycling
up hills or strengthens.)Taking a moment to
think clearly improves your chances.
(In this example, the adverb clearly is a squinting
modifier. It is unclear whether it belongs to think or improves.)
I
consider that my performance during the semester was as I expected since the
very beginning. I was eager to learn as much as possible even though I was not
so good at writing. Among the things that helped me to work well in Composition
I are: to attend classes, to pay attention and participate in classes, and to
deliver homework assignments. Furthermore, the entries of my first Composition
journal were basically where I put into practice all my knowledge of the topics
studied in classes even though the ideas didn’t come to mind so easy as I wanted,
most of the time when the topics were controversial and I didn’t know what
position take in order to write my point of view about them. Finally, I started
to write down what the teacher have asked for and deliver almost all of them on
time. All that valuable information, I got during the last of the course, will
help me to understand better not only Composition II, but also the rest of the
subjects I will take then.
