Writer’s Workshop Section 3

1. Writer’s WorkshopSection 3 Fun with grammar!

2. What We’ll Cover Today Sentence structure Modifiers Punctuation Word choice Passive voice And off we go!

3. Sentence Structure Writing sentences that are just right

4. The Four Basic Types of Sentences Simple sentences: These consist of one main clause and nothing more. Compound sentences: A sentence consisting of at least two independent clauses. Complex sentences: A sentence that contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Compound-complex sentences: A sentence with one or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

5. Simple Sentences Victor Frankenstein is the true monster of the text. The Creature mourns the loss of his Creator. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

6. Compound Sentences A compound sentence connects two independent clauses through one of the following three methods: By using a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so); Using a semi-colon with or without a coordinating conjunction; Or simply using a colon to connect the two clauses.

7. Famous Examples of Compound Sentences "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”(Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1949) "Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't go to yours."(Yogi Berra) "Arguments are to be avoided: they are always vulgar and often convincing."(Oscar Wilde)

8. Complex Sentences In order to be complex, a sentence must have one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. In the quote, I have put the independent clause in bold and the dependent clause in italics. "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything.” (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.)

9. Independent/Dependent Clause: The Difference Independent clauses Dependent clauses An independent clause could stand on its own as a sentence. An independent clause provides a complete thought consisting of a subject and verb at least. By its nature, a dependent clause cannot stand alone. Dependent clauses are very often set off by or connected to a sentence through the use of commas.

10. The Vonnegut Quote The Independent Clause Dependent Clause "Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists…” On its own, this could stand as a sentence as it presents a cohesive, clear idea. “Unless laughter can be said to remedy anything." On its own, this would be a fragment simply because it is meant to modify an idea, not stand for one.

11. Other examples of complex sentences "I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible.“ (Sean O'Casey, The Plough and the Stars) "Although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear of the man who wishes to take the good of it by being a slave himself."(Abraham Lincoln)

12. Compound-complex sentences These are the most common sentences in our colloquial speech. A compound-complex sentence, as its name suggests, represents the marriage between the two sentence types. A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, as in this example: "Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law."(James Baldwin)

13. "Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law.” • There are two independent clauses here which are joined by a coordinating conjunction (and) that makes this a compound sentence. • The clause set off by commas is the dependent clause, which thus makes this sentence complex. Why is this compound-complex?

14. Other examples of compound-complex sentences "We operate under a jury system in this country, and as much as we complain about it, we have to admit that we know of no better system, except possibly flipping a coin” (Dave Barry). "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.“ (Theodor Geisel, aka Doctor Seuss)

15. Other Sentence Issues Fragments Run-ons A sentence fragment is a collection of words without a subject or verb, thus making it an incomplete thought which cannot stand on its own as a sentence. By contrast, a run-on sentence occurs when two independent clauses are “smashed together” without providing any transitional wording or grammar.

16. Examples of fragments In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice. This is a fragment because there is no verb. Although the context is clear, the sentence goes nowhere. Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat. This one is tricky because we have a verb phrase, but don’t let it fool you. This is a verbal phrase that is meant to modify the clause which will follow it. As you can see, there is nothing that is modified.

17. Yay! More fragments! Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza's laboratory last semester. Again, we have a verb somewhere in here, but it is an auxiliary verb, meaning it needs to be modifying something, but we don’t have the subsequent clause. Even though he had the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker. This one is sneaky, but still a fragment. Yes we may have a verb and a subject, but the words “even though” once again indicate that something is being compared, so we need a phrase to follow it in order for this to make sense grammatically.

18. Quick Fix for Sentence Fragments Very often a fragment is a dependent clause that simply needs to be attached to another sentence via a comma: Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat, Joanna eventually managed to plug the leak and make her way back to the shore.

19. Examples of Run-on Sentences The most common type of run-on sentence is known as a comma splice, meaning that two independent clauses are connected by a comma which is structurally too weak to adequately hold them together. “The sun is high, put on some sunscreen.”—This is a comma splice because the two independent clauses, though connected, cannot be combined without a coordinating conjunction. Correction: “The sun is high, so put on some sunscreen.”

20. More Run-ons “This next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.” How to correct: where the first comma falls, you can either put a period to start a new sentence or you can use a semi-colon if you want the two ideas to remain closely linked. “Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, however, he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery.” The same correction could work here because the transitional phrase “however” indicates the beginning of another independent clause.

21. Yet more comma-splices “This computer doesn’t make sense to me, it didn’t come with a manual. To correct this, simply place a period where the comma is. The “it” in the next clause is still clearly connected to “this computer,” so you won’t lose any of the essential meaning.

22. Although length is not the marker of a run-on per se, you should still be careful of how lengthy your sentences become. If you have more than one independent clause in a sentence, be careful to check how exactly you are linking the two ideas. • http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/indep_clauses.htm • The above link provides concrete ways to make sure your independent clauses are adequately connected with each other. Quick Fix for Run-on Sentences

23. And now for something completely different… Passive voice: the killer of action

24. Compare the following sentences As I walked to work this morning, I tripped over something and fell on my face. When walking to work this morning, something managed to trip me and made me fall in such a way that I was face-first on the ground.

25. Sentence 1 In sentence one, I fall face first because I, the agent of the sentence, tripped on something. This sentence is in active voice because it ties the action of the sentence to a performer or agent of that action.

26. Sentence 2 In the second sentence, it sounds as if some mystical entity made me trip and fall, thus indicating that I am not the actor in the sentence, but an object being acted upon. This sentence is in passive voice because I have disconnected myself from any sense of responsibility for my tripping.

27. In the examples, the passive voice sentence is considerably longer, but doesn’t actually contain any content that is radically different from the first example. I believe in economy of language: if you can say with one word what you tried to say with five, then you should use the one word. Why Ms. Howell hates passive voice

28. Absurd examples of passive voice Victor Frankenstein’s acquisition of knowledge and his thirst for power is emblematic of his inability to discern the difference between rationality and romanticism. Yeesh…what a mouthful. Notice how it takes me ten words to get to my verb, and it’s not a very powerful verb either. I also use an absurd amount of nominalizations (using the noun version of a verb) which further contribute to the feeling that I could word this more simply. Here’s a challenge: re-write this sentence to make it active.

29. Enjoy this non sequitur while you revise

30. Ms. Howell’s Revision Victor Frankenstein thirsts for power and knowledge throughout the novel and loses sight of the difference between coherent, rational thought and the delusions of grandeur that will ultimately lead to his downfall. This is much better. I have two solid verbs and I have taken the nominalizations and turned them into more precisely worded ideas. Although it could be a tad clearer, it’s not nearly as complicated as the first example.

31. So when is it okay to use passive voice? You can use passive voice to focus on an object: “100 votes are required to pass the bill.” You can use passive voice to indicate an unknown agent: “Twelve different carcinogens have been found in the water supply.” Your reader does not need to know who the actor is: “The baby was delivered at 3:40 pm on August 6, 2012.” In the last example, you have a choice between active and passive voice here. If you wanted to make this sentence active, simply indicate the actor: “Dr. Jameson delivered the baby at 3:40 pm on August 6, 2012.”

32. Other contexts for passive voice Passive voice in itself does not constitute a grammar error. Very often passive voice is used in the sciences and in other such fields to indicate that more than one actor has been involved in an experiment or process. Also, there are time when you cannot avoid passive voice. Still, for the purposes of most essays in this class, passive voice will not really serve you because we very often know who is acting on what in the course of our reading. So avoid it if possible because more often than not it makes your sentences unnecessarily wordy.

33. Punctuation The traffic lights of the English language

34. Punctuation is powerful. Although it may seem like we use these symbols arbitrarily, they each have a specific purpose intended to guide the reader through the various ins and outs of written English. Without punctuation, sentences can become garbled and indecipherable, and paragraphs can become gigantic run-on sentences. Think of each symbol as a traffic light indicating how to proceed from one concept to the next. Punctuate the following sentence:“A woman without her man is nothing.”

35. See the difference? “A woman, without her man, is nothing.” “A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

36. The No Brainer Marks End punctuation marks always come after the last word of a sentence. These marks are the period, the question mark, the exclamation mark and the ellipsis (…). Without one of these guys present, your reader will assume that your thought is going to continue on. These marks are the stop signs of language. If it weren’t for them, we’d have twenty-five word pile-ups on a daily basis. Not pretty.

37. The Tricky Ones The Comma—for such an ubiquitous part of our language, the comma is probably one of the most misunderstood marks out there. The apostrophe—like the comma, the apostrophe is essential but is often neglected altogether. The hyphen—simple enough to use, easily abused. The semi-colon—the sneaky cousin to the comma that everyone loves to freak out about.

38. Basics of the Comma As we saw earlier, most dependent clauses require a comma to connect them to independent clauses. This is why the comma is such a work-horse. The comma is also used to set off phrases which, while helpful in the sentence, may not be utterly necessary for understanding. The comma is often used to list off a group of ideas. A comma is absolutely needed between two independent clauses connected by a FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) conjunction.