Grammar and Style of the Sentence Course Overview Grammar and Style of the Sentence is an online course designed to teach basic principles of grammar and style to improve your writing. New topics are introduced by expositions which are in turn followed by interactive exercises. As you complete your exercises, they will either be instantly evaluated by the program or automatically submitted to your tutor, who will review your work and return feedback as needed. You may reach your tutor at the email address above with any questions. This course includes no required meetings in the virtual classroom, but you may arrange virtual-classroom office hour if you wish. Assignment Schedule Below is a suggested thirteen-week schedule for completing this course. 1. Week One Chapter 1: Subjects and Verbs a. Lecture: Subject and Predicate Exercise: Multiple Choice Exercise: Identify Subjects and Predicates. Exercise: Compose Sentences b. Lecture: Noun and Verb as Core Elements of Complete Subject and Predicate Exercise: Multiple Choice. c. Lecture: Simple Subject and Simple Predicate Exercise: The Terms Simple Subject and Simple Predicate Exercise: Identify Subject and Predicate Core d. Lecture: Simple Subject and Simple Predicate: Sentence Subject and Verb Exercise: The Terms Subject and Verb Exercise: Sentence Composition e. Lecture: Action Verbs and Linking Verbs Exercise: Multiple Choice
f. Lecture: More on Action Verbs Exercise: Identify Verbs in Sentences g. Lecture: Subjects of Action Verbs Exercise: Identify Subjects of Action Verbs h. Lecture: Introduction to Prepositional Phrases, Part 1 Exercise: Identify Prepositions and their Objects i. Lecture: Introduction to Prepositional Phrases, Part 2 Exercise: Identify Prepositional Phrases and their Objects j. Lecture: Do not Confuse a Sentence Subjects with the Object of a Preposition. 2. Week Two Exercise: Identify Sentence Subjects a. Lecture: More on Linking Verbs b. Lecture: Common Linking Verbs Exercise: Identify Linking Verbs and Action Verbs c. Lecture: Some Verbs Can Be Either Linking Verbs or Action Verbs d. Lecture: A Test to Distinguish Linking Verbs from Action Verbs Exercise: Determine whether the Verb is an Action Verb or a Linking Verb Exercise: Identify Verbs and Action or Linking e. Lecture: Linking Verbs with Nouns in the Predicate Exercise: Determine whether the Linking Verb Connects Subject with an Adjective, a Noun, or a Pronoun f. Lecture: Identifying Subjects of Linking Verbs Exercise: Identify the Subjects of Linking Verbs and Action Verbs g. Lecture: Imperative Sentences (Commands): You as Implied Subject Lecture: Introduction to Conjunctions: Coordinating Conjunctions Exercise: Identify Coordinating Conjunctions in Sentences h. Lecture: Correlative Conjunctions Exercise: Identify Correlative Conjunctions 2
3. Week Three a. Lecture: Compound Verbs Exercise: Identify Compound Verbs b. Lecture: Compound Verbs with Various Coordinating Conjunctions Exercise: Identify Compound Verbs c. Lecture: Compound Verbs with Correlative Conjunctions Exercise: Identify Compound Verbs d. Lecture: Compound Verbs: Summary Exercise: Identify Compound Verbs e. Lecture: Verb Phrases: Main Verb and Helping Verbs Exercise: Identify Main Verb and Helping Verb(s) f. Lecture: Style: Subject Choice and Verb Choice Exercise: Subject and Verb Choice g. Lecture: Subjects and Verbs in Interrogative Sentences Exercise: Identify Subject and Verb h. Lecture: Compound Subjects Exercise: Identify the Compound Subject i. Lecture: There and Here are not Sentence Subjects Exercise: Identify the Subject and Verb j. Lecture: Subject after Verb Exercise: Identify the Subject k. Lecture: Subject Separated from Verb Exercise: Identify the Subject 4. Week Four a. Lecture: Verbs: Active and Passive Voice Exercise: Active and Passive Voice b. Lecture: More on Passive Voice (Agents of Action) Exercise: Identify Active or Passive Verbs and Change Passive Voice to Active c. Lecture: Use of Passive Voice for Effect Exercise: Identify Verbs as Active or Passive. Sylistic Choices. 3
d. Cumulative Exercise: Identify Subject and Verb e. Chapter 1 Test 5. Week Five Chapter 2: Clauses a. Lecture: Introduction to Clauses Exercise: Identify Each Clause. Identify Subject and Verb in Each Clause b. Lecture: Coordinating Conjunctions that Link Clauses Exercise: Identify Each Clause. Identify Subject and Verb in Each Clause Exercise: Differentiate Sentences. Identify Subject and Verb within Clauses c. Lecture: Commas and Clause Coordination Exercise: Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions that Link Clauses d. Lecture: Clause Coordination and Relationships between Ideas Exercise: Combine Independent Clauses using Coordination e. Lecture: Differentiating Clauses from Non-clauses Exercise: Determine whether a Given Group of Words Constitutes a Clause Exercise: Add text to complete the clause. f. Lecture: Introduction to Sentence Combining Exercise: Edit a Given Paragraph by Combining Sentences g. Lecture: Subordinating Conjunctions Exercise: Identify Clauses and Subordinating Conjunctions h. Lecture: More on Subordinating Conjunctions Exercise: Identify Clauses and Subordinating Conjunctions i. Lecture: Commas with Subordinating Conjunctions Exercise: Commas with Subordinating Conjunctions 6. Week Six a. Lecture: Some Clauses Cannot Stand Alone Exercise: Multiple Choice b. Lecture: Independent Clauses and Dependent Clauses 4
Exercise: Multiple Choice c. Lecture: More on Independent and Dependent Clauses Exercise: Identify Conjunctions and Identify Clauses d. Lecture: Dependent Clauses as Incomplete Thoughts Exercise: Add Independent Clauses to Complete the Thought e. Lecture: Every Sentence Must Have at Least One Independent Clause Exercise: Identify Sentences and Add an Independent Clause Where Necessary. f. Lecture: Add an Independent Clause to a Dependent Clause Fragment Exercise: Edit a Paragraph to Fix Dependent-Clause Fragments g. Lecture: More on Dependent Clauses Exercise: Combine Sentences Using Subordinating Conjunctions h. Lecture: More on Sentence Combining 7. Week Seven Exercise: Edit a Paragraph by Combining Sentences a. Lecture: Commas to Separate Exercise: Insert Commas where Necessary b. Lecture: Commas to Set Off Exercise: Insert Commas where Necessary c. Lecture: Commas to Clarify Exercise: Insert Commas where Necessary d. Lecture: Semicolons: Main Use (Clause Coordination) Exercise: Combine Sentences using Semicolons Exercise: Choose a Pair of Sentences to Combine Using a Semicolon Exercise: Compose Sentences using Semicolons e. Lecture: Semicolons: Main Use (Clause Coordination) Exercise: Combine Sentences using Semicolons Exercise: Insert Semicolons as Needed. Exercise: Compose Sentences using Semicolons f. Lecture: Differentiate Semicolon Use from Comma Use in Clause Coordination 5
Exercise: Determine whether Semicolons are Used Correctly g. Lecture: Comma Splices Exercise: Comma Splices h. Lecture: Run-together Sentences. Exercise: Run-together Sentences Exercise: Comma Splices and Run-together Sentences Exercise: Insert Semicolons as Needed i. Lecture: Semicolons: Secondary Use (Items in Series) Exercise: Semicolons Exercise: Semicolons 8. Week Eight a. Lecture: Introduction to Conjunctive Adverbs Exercise: Semicolons with Conjunctive Adverbs b. Lecture: Transitional Phrases as Conjunctive Adverbs Exercise: Combine Pairs of Sentences using Conjunctive Adverbs c. Lecture: Conjunctive Adverbs and Style Exercise: Conjunctive Adverbs within Clauses d. Lecture: However within a Clause e. Lecture: Classifying Sentences by Structure Exercise: Identify Sentences by Structure f. Lecture: Coordination and Subordination (Summary) Exercise: Combine Sentences using Coordination and Subordination g. Lecture: Colon to Introduce a Statement Clarifying, Amplifying, or Supplementing Exercise: Colons Introduce a Statement Clarifying, Amplifying, or Supplementing h. Lecture: Colon. Other Uses. i. Chapter 2 Test 6
9. Week 9 Chapter 3: Sentence Patterns and Sentence Diagramming a. Lecture: Introduction to Sentence Patterns Exercise: Intro to Sentence Patterns b. Lecture: Introduction to Sentence Diagramming Exercise: Intro to Sentence Diagramming c. Lecture: How to Use the Sentence Diagramming Tool Exercise: Intro to Sentence Diagramming d. Lecture: Modifiers: Review of Adjectives and Adverbs Exercise: Review of Adjectives and Adverbs e. Lecture: Direct Objects: A Quick Review 10. Week Ten Exercise: Direct Object Review a. Lecture: Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers Exercise: Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers b. Lecture: Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers of Adverbs Exercise: Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers of Adverbs c. Lecture: Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers of Prepositional Objects Exercise: Prepositional Phrases as Modifiers of Prepositional Objects d. Lecture: The Subject-Verb (S-V) Pattern Exercise: Sentence Pattern S-V e. Lecture: Predicates and Complements Exercise: Complements f. Lecture: The Subject-Verb-Direct Object (S-V-DO) Pattern Exercise: Sentence Pattern S-V-DO g. Lecture: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs Exercise: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 7
11. Week Eleven a. Lecture: Diagramming Subjects, Verbs, and Direct Objects Exercise: Diagramming Compound Elements b. Lecture: Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object (S-V-IO-DO) Pattern Exercise: Indirect Objects c. Lecture: The Subject-Verb-Predicate Adjective (S-V-PA) Pattern Exercise: Predicate Adjectives d. Lecture: The Subject-Verb-Predicate Noun (S-V-PN) Pattern Exercise: Predicate Nouns e. Lecture: Subject-Verb-Direct Object-Object Complement (S-V-DO-OC) Pattern Exercise: Object Complements f. Lecture: Summary of Sentence Patterns Review Exercise: Summary of Sentence Patterns g. Chapter 3 Test 12. Week Twelve Chapter 4: Verbals (Participles and Gerunds) a. Lecture: Introduction to Verbals Exercise: Introduction to Verbals b. Lecture: ing Verbals as Adjectives Exercise: -ing Verbals as Adjectives c. Lecture: A Test to Distinguish Verbs from Verbals Exercise: The Test of Time d. Lecture: Another Test: Is the ing Form a Verb or a Verbal? Exercise: Another Test for ing Verbals e. Lecture: Introduction to ing and ed Participles Exercise: More on ing and ed Participles f. Lecture: Verbal Phrases as Sentence Fragments Exercise: Verbal Phrase Fragments g. Lecture: Introduction to Phrases Exercise: Introduction to Phrases 8
h. Lecture: More on Phrases Exercise: More on Phrases Exercises: More Verbal Adjectives i. Lecture: Diagramming Verbals that Function as Adjectives Exercise: Diagramming Verbal Adjectives j. Lecture: More on Diagramming ing and ed Verbal Adjectives Exercises: More on Diagramming Verbal Adjectives k. Lecture: Analyzing Participial Phrases Exercise: Analyzing Participial Phrases l. Lecture: Sentence Combining Using Verbal Adjectives (Participles) Exercise: Combining Sentences Using Participles 13. Week Thirteen a. Lecture: Analyzing Participial Phrases Exercise: Analyzing Participial Phrases b. Lecture: Sentence Combining Using Verbal Adjectives (Participles) Exercise: Combining Sentences Using Participles c. Lecture: Introduction to Gerunds Exercise: Intro to Gerunds d. Lecture: Diagramming Gerunds Exercise: Diagramming Gerunds e. Lecture: Gerund Phrases within Sentences Exercise: Analyzing Gerund Phrases f. Lecture: Distinguishing Noun Verbals from Adjectival Verbals Exercise: Distinguishing Gerunds from Participles g. Lecture: Sentence Combining using Gerunds Exercises: Combining Sentences using Gerunds h. Chapter 4 Test 9