writing in the discipline.docx

Academic Writing General: Use English accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately in written discourse COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS Fragments SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. 12 There are sever...

Academic Writing General: Use English accurately, meaningfully, and appropriately in written discourse COMMON SENTENCE ERRORS Fragments SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. 12 There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought. It may locate something in time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but it’s lacking a proper subject- verb relationship within an independent clause: In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice. It describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship: Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat. It may have most of the makings of a sentence but still be missing an important part of a verb string: Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza’s laboratory last semester. It may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by itself: Even though he head the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker. Dependent Word Fragments Some words that begin with a dependent word are fragments. Following is a list of common dependent words. Whenever you start a sentence with one of these words, you must be careful that a fragment does not result. Dependent Words after if, even if when, whenever even though although, though in order that where, wherever until as since whether who, whose because that, so that which, whichever how before unless while what, whatever Run-on Sentences and Comma Splice A run-on is two complete thoughts that are run together with no adequate sign given to mark the break between them. Some run-ons have no punctuation at all to mark the break between the thoughts. Such run-ons are known as fused sentence: they are fused, or joined together, as if they were only one thought. Three ways to correct run-on sentences: Place a semicolon in between the two sentences. Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers; he will be the captain of the ship next month. 13 Add a transitional marker: a subordinating conjunction (it depends upon the nature of the sentence) between the two sentences. Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers, and he will be the captain of the ship next month. Divide the sentence into two. Jim’s father passed the board exam for merchant marine officers. He will be the captain of the ship next month. A comma splice is committed when a writer uses a comma without the proper connective. This, according to Tiempo and Tiempo, “destroys the unity of the sentence.” The sample sentence below looks almost the same with the sample run-on sentence. The only difference is the fact that the sentences uses a comma to divide the two independent clauses. The crowd cheered loudly when the band manager from the backstage, Eric stood quietly. Fused Sentences The bus stopped suddenly. I spilled coffee all over my shirt. Mario told everyone in the room to be quiet his favourite show was on. In other run-ons, known as comma splices, a comma is used to connect or “splice” together, the two complete thoughts. Some stronger connection than a comma alone is needed. Comma Splices The bus stopped suddenly, I spilled coffee all over my shirt. Mario told everyone in the room to be quiet, his favourite show was on. Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers We often use phrases to describe words within sentences, and we determine the meaning of our sentences by placing these descriptive phrases next to the words they point to or “modify.” For example, the sentence, “I saw a boy running down the street,” indicates that the “boy” was doing the running. However, if we wrote, “Running down the street, I saw the boy,” we would be suggesting to readers that “I” was doing the running. Misplaced Modifier Sometimes we become careless and place descriptive phrases far away from the words they modify, making our sentences unclear or inaccurate. We call these phrases misplaced modifiers. For example, in “I was told that I had been awarded the scholarship by my professor,” does the underlined phrase mean that the professor did the telling or the awarding? If the professor did the telling, we could make the meaning of this sentence clearer by repositioning the phrase: “I was told by my professor that I had been awarded the scholarship.” 14 Dangling Modifiers Other time we write descriptive phrases that point to or modify words that are not clearly stated in our sentences, making our sentences illogical. We call these phrases dangling modifiers. For example, in “Walking to college on a subzero morning, my left ear became frozen,” the underline phrase modifies “my left ear.” This doesn’t make sense; some person must have been doing the walking. We can clarify the sentence by putting a logical word after the phrase: for example, “Walking to college on a subzero morning, I froze my left ear.” Or, we can change the phrase so that it has a logical subject and verb in it: “When I was walking to college on a subzero morning, my left ear became frozen.” Examples of Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin landed on the moon, watched nearly by a fifth of the world’s population. Revision: Watched nearly by a fifth of the world’s population, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. (The world was not watching the moon; the world was watching the astronauts) After seeing the benefits of reduced employee turnover, absenteeism, and lateness, onsite daycare is being provided more frequently as a perk for working parents. Revision: After seeing the benefits of reduced employee turnover, absenteeism, and lateness, more and more companies are providing onsite daycare as a perk for working parents. (Onsite daycare is not seeing the benefits of reduced turnover, absenteeism and lateness; companies are seeing these benefits as a result of onsite daycare.) An author who did not receive much attention until after her death, readers of all ages enjoy Emily Dickinson’s poetry today. or Readers of all ages enjoy Emily Dickinson’s poetry today, an author who did not receive much attention until after her death Revision: Today, readers of all ages enjoy the poetry of Emily Dickinson, an author who did not receive much attention until after her death. 15 (The phrase, an author who did not receive much attention until after her death, should modify Emily Dickinson rather than readers or Emily Dickinson’s poetry) Cost-efficient and convenient, many of today’s corporate employees are being trained through computer-assisted instruction. Revision: Cost-efficient and convenient, computer-assisted instruction is being used by many companies to train employees. (The descriptive words, cost-efficient and convenient, modify computer- assisted instruction rather than today’s corporate employees.) Having submitted the conference registration form after the deadline, special permission by the chairperson was needed before she could give her presentation. Revision: Having submitted the conference registration form after the deadline, Susan needed special permission from the chairperson before she could give her presentation. (The example doesn’t make sense as it is written. Someone must have submitted the form late. According to the revision, Susan submitted the form late.) When purchasing a cellular phone, the wide variety of calling plans and features overwhelms many people. Revision: When purchasing a cellular phone, many people become overwhelmed by the wide variety of calling plans and features. (The calling plans and features aren’t purchasing cellular phones. People purchase cellular phones) Faulty Parallelism Words in a pair or series should have parallel structure. By balancing the items in a pair or series so that they have the same kind of structure, you will make the sentences clearer and easier to read. Nonparallel (Not Balanced) My job includes checking the inventories, initialling the order, and to call the suppliers. Parallel (Balanced) 16 My job includes checking the inventory, initializing the orders, and calling the suppliers. (A balanced series of –ing words: checking, initialling, calling) Nonparallel (Not Balanced) The game-show contestant was told to be cheerful, charming, and with enthusiasm. Parallel (Balanced) The game-show contestant was told to be cheerful, charming and enthusiastic. (A balanced series of descriptive words: cheerful, charming, enthusiastic) Nonparallel (Not Balanced) Grandmother likes to read mystery novels, to do needle point, and browsing the Internet on her home computer. Parallel (Balanced) Grandmother likes to read mystery novels, to do needle point, and to browse the Internet on her home computer. (A balanced series of to verbs: to read, to do, to browse) Nonparallel (Not Balanced) We painted the trim in the living room; the wallpaper was put up by a professional. Parallel (Balanced) We painted the trim in the living room; a professional put up the wallpaper. (Balanced verbs and word order: We painted…; a professional put up…) Faulty Coordination The Coordinating Conjunction Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses. And, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet—these are the seven coordinating conjunctions. Look at the examples that follow: The bowl of squid eyeball stew is hot and delicious. The squid eyeball stew is so thick that you can eat it with a fork or spoon. Rocky, my orange tomcat, loves having his head scratched but hates getting his claws trimmed. Rocky terrorizes the poodles next door yet adores German shepherds across the street. Rocky refuses to eat dry cat food, nor will he touch a saucer of squid eyeball stew. I hate to waste a single drop of squid eyeball stew, for it is expensive and time-consuming to make. Even though I added cream to the squid eyeball stew, Rocky ignored his serving, so I got a spoon and ate it myself. 17 Subordination Subordination, however, emphasizes the idea in the main clause more than one is the subordinate clause. Generally, the patterns look like these: Punctuate coordinating conjunctions correctly. Three patterns in writing use coordinating conjunctions. Add commas when required. Pattern 1—Connecting two main clauses. When you connect two main clauses with a coordinating conjunction, use a comma. The pattern looks like this: Here is an example: While I am at work, my dog Floyd sleeps on the bed, and my cat Buster naps in the bathtub. Pattern 2—Connecting two items. You can also use a coordinating conjunction to connect any two items. These items can be any grammatical unit except main clauses. The pattern looks like this: Here are some examples: My dog Floyd has too many fleas and too much hair. My cat Buster has beautiful blue eyes but a destructive personality. Pattern 3—Connecting three or more items in a series When you have three or more items in a series, you generally use a comma before the coordinating conjunction. Some handbooks and style guides tell you that this comma is optional, but my advice is to put it in. the pattern looks like this: Here is an example: Swatting olives off the kitchen counter, dragging toilet paper streamers through the house, and terrorizing Jacques Cousteau, the parakeet, have consumed another of Buster’s days. Subordinating Conjunctions 18 A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate clause to a main clause. An adverb clause is always introduced by a subordinating conjunction. A noun clause and adjective clause sometimes are. Adverb clause: Before you go, sign the log book. Noun clause: He asked if he could leave early. Adjective clause: That is the place where he was last seen. A subordinating conjunction is always followed by a clause. Many subordinating conjunctions can be other parts of speech. Adverb: Jill came tumbling after. Preposition: Jill came after Jack. Subordinating Conjunction: Jill came tumbling after Jack had fallen. THE TOPIC SENTENCE AND THE PARAGRAPH A good paragraph contains several related sentences that support one main idea, which is limited to and focused in one sentence. This sentence helps guide the reader through the related sentence in the paragraph. The term used to identify this main idea is topic sentence. A topic sentence has two parts: A topic (key word or phrase) A direction or general word, which may be a conclusion, an opinion, or statement about the topic. For example, the following sentences could be topic sentences: Doing housework can be very boring. Browsing in a library is an exciting experience. My trip to the botanical garden taught me a lot. You could use each one of these sentences as a topic sentence because each main idea is limited to and focused into two essential parts: a topic (key word or phrase) and a general direction (conclusion or opinion) about the topic: Topic Direction or General Word Doing housework is very boring Browsing in a library is an exciting experience The Paragraph A paragraph has three parts: 1. A topic sentence 2. Support sentences 3. A conclusion The following is an example of a paragraph that has these three parts: My blind date last night was a disaster. I got wet because just as I stopped to pick up my date, it started raining, and she borrowed my raincoat. At dinner, she ate so much that I had to use my next day’s lunch money to pay for her meal. I had a terrible time because she could not dance. To make matters worse, I 19 had a cut on my lip that hurt when I kissed her. That’s the last blind date I will ever have. Elements of a Strong Paragraph Strong paragraphs need to have the following elements: completeness, logical or sensible order, unity and coherence. Completeness A paragraph must have enough information in it to give the reader a clearer picture or a full discussion of its main idea (the topic sentence). A paragraph without details or examples will be vague and unconvincing. A paragraph that does not have enough information is called incomplete or undeveloped. Example of an undeveloped paragraph: Dancing can be good exercise. It can be entertaining. It can be lot of fun as well. Dancing can be very beneficial to everyone. Example of a complete paragraph: Logical Order All support sentences should be in clear, logical order. Sometimes the order of these supporting details does not matter. Other times, however, it does matter because if the sentences are not in logical order, the reader misses the main point of the paragraph. Illogical Order: I opened the front door of my house and went inside. I walked up the fronts steps to my front door. Logical Order: I walked up the front steps to my front door. I opened the door of my house and went inside. Unity All sentences in a good paragraph relate to the topic sentence (main idea). When any idea doesn’t relate specifically to the topic sentence, then that paragraph lacks unity or is not unified. Example of a unified paragraph: 20 Coherence One of the most important considerations in writing a paragraph is coherence—the way all the sentences should be clearly connected to each other. Without connecting words or phrases, supporting ideas may be hard to follow and sometimes may even seem to be unrelated to the topic sentence and to each other. The following paragraph has all the coherence it needs: Table of Transitional / Cohesive Devices Function Traditional / Cohesive Device To show addition again, also, and, then, besides, equally important, finally, first, further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, last, likewise, moreover, next, or, still, then, too To compare also, in comparison, in the same way, likewise, similarly To contrast although, and yet, at the same time, but, conversely, despite, even so, even though, for all that, however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, on the contrary, on the other hand, otherwise, regardless, still, though, yet To give examples or intensify after all, as an illustration, certainly, even, for example, for instance, indeed, in fact, it is true that, namely, of course, specifically, that is, to be sure, to illustrate, to tell the truth, truly To all in all, together, as a result, as had been noted, basically, 21 summarize, repeat, or conclude finally, in brief, in conclusion, in other words, in particular, in short, simpler terms, in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to put it differently, to summarize To indicate place above, adjacent to, below, elsewhere, farther on, here, nearby, on the other side, opposite to, there, to the east, to the left To indicate time after a while, afterward, as long as, as soon as, at length, at that time, before, currently, earlier, eventually, first (second, third, etc.), finally, formerly, immediately, in the meantime, in the past (future), lately, later, meanwhile, now, presently, shortly, simultaneously, since, so far, soon, still, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, until now, when, while To indicate cause and effect accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this purpose, hence, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore, thereupon, thus, to this end, with this object The Thesis Statement In a nutshell, a thesis statement: Tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion Is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper Directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be on Poverty or a movie analysis; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the issue or the movie Makes a claim that others might dispute Is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation. You can tell if your thesis is strong if you can answer the following: Do I answer the question? Re-reading the question prompt after constructing a working thesis can help you fix an argument that misses the focus of the question. Have I taken a position that others might challenge or oppose? If your thesis simply states facts that no one would, or even could, disagree with, it’s possible that you are simply providing a summary, rather than making an argument. 22 Is my thesis statement specific enough? Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. Does my thesis pass the “So what?” test? If a reader’s first response is, “So what?” then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue. Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change. Does my thesis pass the “how and why?” test? If a reader’s response is “how?” or “why?” your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader. Broadly, thesis statements can be divided into 3 categories: Analytical: An analytical thesis basically provides a comprehensive insight to some important issue and the facts that are related to the issue plus the analytical aspects of the same. For example, “An analysis of the ferruginous hawk reveals two kinds of flight patterns: patterns related to hunting prey and patterns related to courtship.” Expository: This is the simplest of all types of thesis, the expansionary thesis principally puts forth some facts and simplified explanations regarding a specific idea, in front of the people. Example: watching too much television may lead to physiological and psychological problems. Argumentative: the third type is that of the argumentative thesis and presents arguments between two viewpoints. Example: Smoking should be banned in all public places. PATTERNS OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT There are various Writing Genres or Patterns of Paragraph Development, and each pattern or genre has a specific function. Often, these genres are merged with each other to make the written output more effective. Narration Use narration to establish a series of events that tells the reader what happened. Narration follows a chronological pattern of development. It is a convincing mode of paragraph development to the extent that it tells a coherent story. 23 Descriptive Essay The descriptive essay relies on concrete, sensory detail to communicate its point. When writing a descriptive essay, writers should have a broad fund of modifiers, i.e., adjectives. Moreover, writers should be specific in using adjectives and other words that would describe the topic, i.e., beautiful may be different from pretty, cute, gorgeous, etc. Process Essay A process essay may either be “how to do” or “How something works” In a “How to do” essay the objective of the writer is to tell the reader how a certain product is produced. Most often, this type of essay uses the first person point of view because it “demonstrates” how something is does to the reader (e.g. How to apply for the Fulbright Scholarship Grant) Sample Descriptive Paragraph Sample Process Paragraph 24 Comparison-Contrast A comparison-contrast essay presents the relationship between two items; this may be in the form of similarities and differences. This essay may be organized by using either the “point by point organization” or the “block organization” Topic 1 Topic 2 In the “block or cs 25 Sample Comparison-C Cause-Effect The cause-effect essay presents the reasons or results for something. There are two possible ways to outline a cause-effect essay: (a) single cause, multiple effects of (b) multiple causes, single effect. Sample Cause-Effect Paragraph Argumentative An argumentative essay presents premises and conclusions regarding an issue. It presents the writer’s stand—whether s/he agrees or not. However, it should be noted that an argumentative essay is different from an opinion 26 simply because an argumentative essay shows evidences and support details, while most opinions are based on beliefs and personal ideologies. Premises are reasons that support conclusions, while a conclusion is the key assertion, or claim. Sample Argumentative Paragraph