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Dual Enrollment English
Grammar Boot Camp
College Tip of the Day
Take handwritten notes!
Benefits: Become selective in your writing, preparation for large lecture class notetaking, mastering concepts and information, increase in retention rates (and many more!).
Grammar
Discussion Questions
- Why do we use grammar? Why is it important?
- What is the importance of grammar in writing and communication?
- What is the importance of grammar in academic writing?
The Semicolon
- A semicolon separates independent clauses.
- Offers the writer more choices than a comma, period, dash (or run-ons).
- Use a semi-colon…
- In a long passage where too many commas may confuse a reader
- When in a long train of thought, semi-colons can separate complete sentences of the same train of thought.
Examples
In ‘Performative Acts,’ Butler makes an analogy to actors within a play; in this play, the actors must not act all the same, but should act according to “already existing directives’ (410)’ (Yupanqui 14).
“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (King).
Misplaced Modifiers
- The modifier is simply in the wrong place in the sentence.
Example
My dog stuck her nose in some spider webs sniffing around the chairs on the patio and could not get them off. (The spiders are not the ones sniffing.)
Correction:
Sniffing around the chairs on the patio, my dog stuck her nose in some spider webs and could not get them off.
Dangling Modifiers
- When the modifier does not refer to the noun closest to it.
Example
Dancing in the air, the field was filled with butterflies. (The field is not dancing.)
Correction:
Dancing in the air, the butterflies filled the field.
The butterflies were dancing in the air above the field.
The air above the field was filled with dancing butterflies.
Commas
According to the Purdue OWL…
•Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions:and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
- Example: Betty White was dancing to Gangnam Style, but then the DJ started playing Adele.
•Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.
- Example: At the end of Interstellar, Cooper gets on a spacecraft to find Brand.
•Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause.
•Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning withthat(relative clauses).Thatclauses after nouns are always essential.Thatclauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential.
•Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series.
•Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun.
- Example: I love Clifford, the big, red dog.
•Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives.
•Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift.
•Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion.
•Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names.
•Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.
•Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.
•And many more!
Note, the highlighted items are the ones we covered in detail in class.
The Oxford Comma
•An “optional” comma before the word and.
•Also known as “serial comma”
•We assume a short pause before the “and,” but let’s make it more obvious!
Example: I support proper grammar, correct spelling, and the Oxford comma.
Comma Splices
•When two independent or full sentences are separated by a comma
•A comma is not strong enough for this task!
5 Ways to Fix a Comma Splice:
•Use a semicolon
•; subjunctive adverb, (; however,)
•ICDC or DC, IC
•Separate both sentences with a period
•, FANBOYS
Example: We did not have time to watch two movies, we went to the park
Corrections:
We did not have time to watch both of the movies; we went to the park.
We did not have time to watch both of the movies; however, we went to the park instead.
Because we went to the park, we did not have time to watch both of the movies.
We did not have time to watch both of the movies. We went to the park.
We did not have time to watch both of the movies, so we went to the park.
Subject/Verb Agreement
- The verb and subject do not match in number.
Examples: Susie Q, together with her teammates, are an impressive opponent on the soccer field.
I don’t know about you, but I are taking a nap when I get home.
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
- When pronoun and antecedent do not match.
Fixes: Make pronouns and antecedents plural when possible
Singular with singular, and plural with plural
Examples:Everyone takes their books home. (incorrect)
Everyone takes his or her books home. (correct)
The students take their books home. (correct)
Fragments
- Sentences missing a subject or predicate
- Incomplete sentences
- In academic writing, fragments should not be used, even for emphasis.
Parallelism
•“Parallel” structure necessary when using a series.
Example: Luigi, a world-renowned plumber, likes sports, eating pasta, and living in his brother’s shadows.
Revised:Luigi, a world-renowned plumber, likes playing sports, eating pasta, and living in his brother’s shadows.
Diction and Style
Avoid 1st Person Usage
•In personal narratives, it is completely fine.
•In academic writing, first person may make the essay almost too subjective.
•By avoiding first person usage, you step back from the situation and provide a more objective(-sounding) argument.
Example: I think we should limit homework because it’s only busy work for us and we have other things to do.
Revised: Teachers should limit homework in order to eliminate busy work for students, and to allow students to have time for other assignments and extracurriculars.
Avoid 2nd Person
- Second person usage should be avoided in academic writing because “you” addresses the audience/reader as if both were in conversation (which in academic writing is not the case).
Example:You need to relax.
Revised:(Audience) should consider relaxing and having some time off and eat insane amounts of ice cream.
Avoid Passive Voice
•When used too often (or at all in some cases), it weakens the impact of the overall argument and the impact of sentence-level components.
Avoid Unclear Pronouns
•This, It, There are, There is… to begin a sentence.
•If you use This, make sure that you follow it with a noun so you indicate what “this” is referring to exactly.
Avoid Weak Words
•Lazy/weak/non-descriptive.
Example:Nice, good, bad, a lot, big, great, stuff, thing, etc.
Avoid Redundancies
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Dual Enrollment English
Grammar Boot Camp
•Early beginnings
•Free gifts
•Added bonus
•Combine together
•First discovered
•Prior experience
•Uphill climb
•Revert back
•Most quintessential
•Historic milestone
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Dual Enrollment English
Grammar Boot Camp
Avoid Contractions
Avoid Incomplete Comparisons
Avoid Absolute Language (we’ll cover this soon!)
Common Mistakes
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Dual Enrollment English
Grammar Boot Camp
- Your/You’re
- Effect/Affect
- To/Too/Two
- Peak/Peek/Pique
- Their/They’re/There
- It/It’s/Its
- I.E./E.G.
- Assure/Ensure/Insure
- Lose/Loose
- Than/Then
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Dual Enrollment English
Grammar Boot Camp
Additional Resources
Grammar Bytes: chompchomp.com
Purdue OWL:
Works Cited
Coursebook by Towles and Myers
Elements of Style by Strunk and White
Purdue Writing Lab
These four should be cited in MLA format, but these are texts you may/will use for citing practice in class. So heads up if you’re reading this!