Egregious Errors III the Final Frontier

Egregious Errors III the Final Frontier

Egregious Errors III The Final Frontier…

  1. Always put punctuation inside quotation marks.

Unless it is a question mark or an exclamation point that has to do with the sentence and not the part in quotes, you do NOT want punctuation hanging out in la-la land. (The British do the opposite; the Americans do it right!)

WRONG:

  • I loved watching the film “Great Expectations”.
  • She asked, “When will you be leaving”?
  • “Symbolism”, when something stands for something else, is too difficult to understand.

RIGHT:

  • The song says, “Wake me up before you go.”
  • Did you like the film “Romeo and Juliet”?
  • “Tomorrow,” she said, “will be great.”
  • In the beginning, Pip goes through an “innocent stage.”
  1. Avoid Ambiguous and/or Vague Pronouns

Ambiguous pronouns lack a clear antecedent, while vague pronouns lack an antecedent altogether. (Remember: antecedent refers to the noun or pronoun that a pronoun has replaced.)

  • Fred visited Bob after his graduation.Who’s graduation? Fred’s or Bob’s?
  • The film “Great Expectations” seemed too rushed and they left out many characters.

Who is “they” referring to?

  • Medicines can be harmful to young children. Make sure to lock them in the closet. keep them locked in the bathroom cabinet The kids or the medicine?!
  1. Use the word novel instead of book.

This is just a personal pet peeve, but when you slap the colloquial term “book” to wonderful works of art such as Great Expectations, you are equating its excellence to a paperback copy of The Babysitters Club: Jessie Braids Hair. Call literary works by acclaimed authors “novels” and the latest John Grisham legal drama a “book.”

  1. The word “amazing” is amazingly overused.

Although much of the literature we read is “amazing,” there are dozens of other words that can express this feeling. Instead of just stating something is “amazing” and leaving it at that, why not evince something’s “amazing-ness” by providing examples and ample explanations?

  1. Underline Vs. Quotation Marks

We’ve been over this before, but this concept clearly needs a refresher. LARGE works need to be underlined: novels, plays, epic poems, etc. SMALL works need quotation marks: short stories, individual poems, chapter titles, etc. (Movies, TV Shows, and song titles fall under the “small” category.) When in doubt, ITALICIZE! 

  1. Past Tense vs. Present Tense

Movies and works of literature never die: just open up to a page or press play on the VCR, and the story unfolds all over again. Therefore, when discussing films or novels in writing, stay in the present tense. (When telling your own story or discussing historical events, use the past tense.)

Last, but not least…

  1. Common Misspelled Words (in addition to A LOT, SEPARATE, and IT’S vs. ITS):

Judgment (no “e) Definitely (fit finite in there)Loose vs. Lose (adj. vs. verb)

LAST BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST…

The apostrophe has TWO uses:

1) to form possessives of

  • the boy's hat = the hat of the boy
  • three days' journey = journey of three days

2) to show the omission of letters (contractions)

  • don't = do not
  • I'm = I am
  • he'll = he will
  • who's = who is
  • shouldn't = should not
  • didn't = did not
  • could've= could have (NOT "could of"!)
  • '60 = 1960
  • Let’s = Let us

wrong: his' book

correct: his book

wrong:The group made it's decision.

correct: The group made its decision.

wrong: a friend of yours'

correct: a friend of yours

wrong: She waited for three hours' to get her ticket.

correct: She waited for three hours to get her ticket.

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