Introductory College Grammar and Writing Practical Grammar for Developing Writers Second Edition Marian Anders Alamance Community College Carolina Academic Press Durham, North Carolina
Copyright 2013 Marian Anders All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anders, Marian. Introductory college grammar and writing : practical grammar for developing writers / Marian Anders. -- Second Edition. pages cm ISBN 978-1-61163-413-6 (alk. paper) 1. English language--grammar. 2. English language--rhetoric. 3. Report writing. I. Title. PE1112.A53 2013 428.2--dc23 2013016307 Carolina Academic Press 700 Kent Street Durham, North Carolina 27701 Telephone (919) 489-7486 Fax (919) 493-5668 www.cap-press.com Printed in the United States of America
Contents Quick Reference Page............................................................................ xi Chapter 1 Verbs............................................................................... 3 Compound Verbs.............................................................................. 6 EXERCISE 1.1 Finding Verbs............................................................... 7 EXERCISE 1.2 Finding Verbs............................................................... 7 EXERCISE 1.3 Finding Verbs............................................................... 8 Chapter 2 Subjects............................................................................. 9 Finding the Subject............................................................................ 9 EXERCISE 2.1 Finding the Subject......................................................... 10 EXERCISE 2.2 Finding the Subject......................................................... 11 EXERCISE 2.3 Finding the Subject......................................................... 11 Compound Subjects.......................................................................... 12 EXERCISE 2.4 Compound Subjects........................................................ 12 One Word Subjects........................................................................... 13 EXERCISE 2.5 One Word Subjects......................................................... 13 Strange Subjects.............................................................................. 14 EXERCISE 2.6 Strange Subjects............................................................ 14 Chapter 3 Clauses and Phrases................................................................. 15 How to Tell if a Group of Words Is a Clause...................................................... 15 EXERCISE 3.1 Clauses and Phrases........................................................ 16 EXERCISE 3.2 Clauses and Phrases........................................................ 17 Prepositional Phrases......................................................................... 18 EXERCISE 3.3 Prepositional Phrases....................................................... 19 Chapter 4 Sentence Types Part 1 Simple and Compound........................................ 21 EXERCISE 4.1 Labeling Clauses........................................................... 21 EXERCISE 4.2 Simple and Compound Sentences............................................. 23 EXERCISE 4.3 Simple and Compound Sentences............................................. 24 EXERCISE 4.4 Simple and Compound Sentences............................................. 25 Chapter 5 Independent and Dependent Clauses................................................... 27 Subordinating Conjunctions................................................................... 27 Subordinating Conjunctions and Dependent Clauses............................................... 28 EXERCISE 5.1 Subordinating Conjunctions................................................. 29 EXERCISE 5.2 Independent and Dependent Clauses.......................................... 30 EXERCISE 5.3 Independent and Dependent Clauses.......................................... 31 EXERCISE 5.4 Independent and Dependent Clauses.......................................... 32 v
vi CONTENTS Chapter 6 Sentence Types Part 2 Simple, Compound, and Complex............................... 33 EXERCISE 6.1 Labeling Clauses........................................................... 33 EXERCISE 6.2 Complex Sentences with the Dependent Clause First............................. 35 EXERCISE 6.3 Mixed Complex Sentences................................................... 36 EXERCISE 6.4 Mixed Complex Sentences................................................... 37 EXERCISE 6.5 Simple and Complex Sentences............................................... 38 EXERCISE 6.6 Complex and Compound Sentences........................................... 39 EXERCISE 6.7 Complex and Compound Sentences........................................... 40 EXERCISE 6.8 Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences................................... 41 EXERCISE 6.9 Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences................................... 42 EXERCISE 6.10 Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences.................................. 43 Chapter 7 Sentence Fragments.................................................................. 45 EXERCISE 7.1 Finding Fragments......................................................... 47 EXERCISE 7.2 Finding Fragments......................................................... 48 EXERCISE 7.3 Finding Fragments......................................................... 49 Fixing Fragments............................................................................. 50 EXERCISE 7.4 Fixing Fragments by Erasing a Period.......................................... 50 EXERCISE 7.5 Fixing Fragments by Erasing a Subordinating Conjunction........................ 51 EXERCISE 7.6 Finding and Fixing Fragments................................................ 52 EXERCISE 7.7 Finding and Fixing Fragments................................................ 52 EXERCISE 7.8 Finding and Fixing Fragments................................................ 53 Chapter 8 Finding Comma Splices and Run-ons.................................................. 55 EXERCISE 8.1 Comma Splices and Run-ons................................................. 56 EXERCISE 8.2 Comma Splices and Run-ons................................................. 57 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons............................................................. 58 First Method Semi-colon................................................................. 58 EXERCISE 8.3 Sentences with Semi-Colons................................................. 58 Second Method Comma with a Coordinating Conjunction.................................... 59 EXERCISE 8.4 Identifying Subordinating and Coordinating Conjunctions........................ 60 EXERCISE 8.5 Sentences with Coordinating Conjunctions..................................... 61 EXERCISE 8.6 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with a Coordinating Conjunction or a Semi-colon.............................................................. 62 EXERCISE 8.7 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with a Coordinating Conjunction or a Semi-colon.............................................................. 63 EXERCISE 8.8 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with a Coordinating Conjunction or a Semi-colon.............................................................. 64 Third Method Subordinating Conjunction.................................................. 65 EXERCISE 8.9 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with a Subordinating Conjunction............. 66 EXERCISE 8.10 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with a Subordinating Conjunction............ 67 EXERCISE 8.11 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with Any Method You Like.................. 68 EXERCISE 8.12 Fixing Comma Splices and Run-ons with Any Method You Like.................. 69
CONTENTS vii Chapter 9 Mechanics.......................................................................... 71 Capital Letters............................................................................... 71 EXERCISE 9.1 Capital Letters............................................................. 71 More Capitals................................................................................ 72 EXERCISE 9.2 More Capitals.............................................................. 73 Advanced Capitals............................................................................ 74 EXERCISE 9.3 Advanced Capitals.......................................................... 75 Quotation Marks............................................................................. 76 EXERCISE 9.4 Quotation Marks........................................................... 77 EXERCISE 9.5 Quotation Marks........................................................... 78 Numbers.................................................................................... 79 EXERCISE 9.6 Numbers.................................................................. 79 Chapter 10 Punctuation....................................................................... 81 Commas.................................................................................... 81 EXERCISE 10.1 Commas in a List.......................................................... 82 EXERCISE 10.2 Commas in Dates and Place Names.......................................... 83 EXERCISE 10.3 Commas in Compound Sentences........................................... 85 EXERCISE 10.4 Analyzing Comma Jobs..................................................... 87 EXERCISE 10.5 All Three Comma Jobs..................................................... 88 EXERCISE 10.6 All Three Comma Jobs..................................................... 89 EXERCISE 10.7 All Three Comma Jobs..................................................... 90 Apostrophes................................................................................. 91 EXERCISE 10.8 Apostrophes in Contractions................................................ 91 EXERCISE 10.9 Apostrophes for Possession................................................. 92 EXERCISE 10.10 Both Apostrophe Jobs..................................................... 93 EXERCISE 10.11 Both Apostrophe Jobs..................................................... 94 Chapter 11 Homophones...................................................................... 95 Homophones Part One........................................................................ 95 EXERCISE 11.1 Homophones Part One..................................................... 96 Homophones Part Two........................................................................ 97 EXERCISE 11.2 Homophones Part Two..................................................... 98 Homophones Part Three...................................................................... 99 EXERCISE 11.3 Homophones Part Three.................................................. 100
viii CONTENTS Chapter 12 The Writing Process............................................................... 101 Writing a Paragraph Is Like Baking a Birthday Cake............................................... 101 Steps for Baking a Cake...................................................................... 102 Steps for Writing a Paragraph................................................................. 103 Don t Skip the First Step!..................................................................... 104 Freewriting.............................................................................. 105 Listing.................................................................................. 105 Clustering............................................................................... 106 One More Method Talking............................................................... 106 EXERCISE 12.1 Gathering Ideas.......................................................... 107 Drafting and Revision........................................................................ 108 Purpose and Audience........................................................................ 109 Different Types of Purposes................................................................ 111 Different Types of Audiences................................................................ 112 EXERCISE 12.2 Audience................................................................ 112 Point and Support........................................................................... 113 Enough Reasons............................................................................. 115 EXERCISE 12.3 Enough Reasons.......................................................... 115 Strong, Specific Details....................................................................... 116 EXERCISE 12.4 Specific Details........................................................... 116 EXERCISE 12.5 Writing Specific Details................................................... 117 Relevant Support............................................................................ 118 EXERCISE 12.6 Relevant Support......................................................... 118 Organization/Structure....................................................................... 119 EXERCISE 12.7 Organization............................................................ 119 EXERCISE 12.8 Organization............................................................ 120 EXERCISE 12.9 Outlining............................................................... 121 Transitions................................................................................. 122 Practice with Time Order Transitions........................................................... 123 EXERCISE 12.10 Finding Time Order Transitions........................................... 123 EXERCISE 12.11 Writing Time Order Transitions........................................... 123 Practice with List Order Transitions............................................................ 124 EXERCISE 12.12 Finding List Order Transitions............................................. 124 EXERCISE 12.13 Writing List Order Transitions............................................. 124 FAQ Frequently Asked Questions............................................................ 125 Editing.................................................................................... 126 Formatting Your Paper....................................................................... 127
CONTENTS ix Chapter 13 Writing Different Kinds of Paragraphs............................................... 129 Narration Telling a Story................................................................... 129 Thinking of Ideas (Invention) for Your Narrative Paragraph..................................... 129 Rough Draft of a Narrative Paragraph........................................................ 130 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 130 After Revision............................................................................ 130 Inspiration............................................................................ 131 Exemplification Giving Examples............................................................ 132 Thinking of Ideas (Invention) for Your Exemplification Paragraph................................ 132 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 133 Funny Exemplification Paragraph......................................................... 134 Serious Exemplification Paragraph........................................................ 134 Process Analysis Telling the Steps............................................................ 135 Thinking of Ideas (Invention) for Your Process Analysis Paragraph............................... 136 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 136 Process Analysis Paragraph #1............................................................ 137 Process Analysis Paragraph #2............................................................ 137 Exposition Proving a Point................................................................. 138 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 139 Stellar.................................................................................. 140 Stellar Paragraph....................................................................... 140 Describing a Person...................................................................... 140 Vacation................................................................................ 141 Vacation Paragraph..................................................................... 141 Keystone............................................................................... 142 Inspiration............................................................................ 142 Classification Telling the Different Kinds..................................................... 143 Thinking of Ideas (Invention) for your Classification Paragraph.................................. 143 Working on Structure...................................................................... 144 Two Ways to Write Your Topic Sentence...................................................... 145 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 146 Rough Draft of a Classification Paragraph.................................................... 146 After Revision............................................................................ 146 Compare or Contrast Telling Similarities or Differences......................................... 147 Thinking of Ideas (Prewriting) for Your Compare or Contrast Paragraph.......................... 147 Working on Structure...................................................................... 149 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 150 Rough Draft of a Contrast Paragraph........................................................ 150 After Revision............................................................................ 150 Discovery Writing to Figure Something Out.................................................. 151 Things to Think About When You Revise..................................................... 151 Your Rock.............................................................................. 152 Unexpected............................................................................. 153 The Genie.............................................................................. 154 Mr. Clean or Pig Pen..................................................................... 154 Two Roads.............................................................................. 154 Inspiration............................................................................ 155