Grammar Presentation: Rob & Bithiah

What is parallelism?

• Parallel structure• Using the same pattern of words to show that

two or more ideas have the same level of importance

• This can happen at the word, phrase, or clause level

• The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions such as "and" or "or."

Words and Phrases

With the -ing form (gerund) of words:• Parallel: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.With infinitive phrases:• Parallel: Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a

bicycle.ORMary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bicycle.

(Note: You can use "to" before all the verbs in a sentence or only before the first one.)

Do not mix forms

Example 1• Not Parallel:

The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner.

• Parallel:The production manager was asked to write his report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.

Clauses• A parallel structure that begins with clauses must keep on with clauses• Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb (from

active to passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism.

Example 1• Not Parallel:

The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game.

• Parallel:The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

Quiz

Correct the following sentences:

1. Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.2. The salesman expected that he would present his

product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that questions would be asked by prospective buyers.

3. The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.

Answers

1. Mary likes hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle.2. The salesman expected that he would present

his product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that prospective buyers would ask him questions.

3. The dictionary can be used for these purposes: to find word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and irregular verbs.

How to Use Quotation Marks?

• Primary function: set off and represent exact language (either spoken or written) that has come from somebody else

• Designate speech acts in fiction and sometimes poetry

Direct Quotations

• incorporating another person's exact words into your own writing

1. Quotation marks always come in pairs. 2. Capitalize the first letter of a direct quote when the quoted

material is a complete sentence.

Example:

Mr. Johnson, who was working in his field that morning, said, "The alien spaceship appeared right before my own two eyes.”

Direct Quotations

3. Do not use a capital letter when the quoted material is a fragment or only a piece of the original material's complete sentence.

Example:Although Mr. Johnson has seen odd happenings on the farm, he stated that

the spaceship "certainly takes the cake" when it comes to unexplainable activity.

4. If a direct quotation is interrupted mid-sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.

Example:"I didn't see an actual alien being," Mr. Johnson said, "but I sure wish I had.”

*Note: the period or comma punctuation always comes before the final quotation mark.

Direct Quotations

5. When quoting text with a spelling or grammar error, you should transcribe the error exactly in your own text. However, also insert the term sic in italics directly after the mistake, and enclose it in brackets. Sic is from the Latin, and translates to "thus," "so," or "just as that." The word tells the reader that your quote is an exact reproduction of what you found, and the error is not your own.

Example:

Mr. Johnson says of the experience, "it's made me reconsider the existence of extraterestials [sic]."

Indirect Quotations

• not exact wordings but rather rephrasing or summaries of another person's words

• it is not necessary to use quotation marks• still require proper citations

Example:

Mr. Johnson, a local farmer, reported last night that he saw an alien spaceship on his own property.

Indirect Quotations

Use when:• the source material uses language that is

particularly striking or notable• you merely need to summarize key incidents

or details of the text• the author you are quoting has coined a term

unique to their research and relevant within your own paper

Quiz

Insert any necessary quotation marks.

1.Of all the poems in his latest book, she said, this is my favorite. It's really very funny, she added.

2.In Collins's poem, the line If you cut me I would shine suggests a child's belief in his own immortality.

Answers

1. "Of all the poems in his latest book," she said, "this is my favorite. It's really very funny," she added.

2. In Collins's poem, the line "If you cut me I would shine" suggests a child's belief in his own immortality.

A SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. 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 still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause:

In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice.

This sentence accomplishes a great deal in terms of placing the reader in time and place, but there is no subject, no verb.

Sentence Fragments

It describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship:

Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat.

This is a verbal phrase that wants to modify something, the real subject of the sentence (about to come up), probably the she who was working so hard.

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.

Remember that an -ing verb form without an auxiliary form to accompany it can never be a verb.

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 had the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker.

This sentence fragment has a subject, he, and two verbs, had and was, but it cannot stand by itself because of the dependent word (subordinating conjunction) even though. We need an independent clause to follow up this dependent clause: . . . the more powerful speaker, he lost the case because he didn't understand the jury.

Stylistic Fragments

There are occasions when a sentence fragment can be stylistically effective, exactly what you want and no more.

Harrison Ford has said he would be more than willing to take on another Indiana Jones project. In a New York minute.

Quiz : Sentence FragmentsCoach Dietz exemplified this behavior by walking off the field in the middle of a game. Leaving her team at a time when we needed her.

I need to find a new roommate. Because the one I have now isn't working out too well.

Run-on SentencesA RUN-ON SENTENCE (sometimes called a "fused sentence") has at least two parts, either one of which

can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two parts have been smooshed together instead of being properly connected.

It is important to realize that the length of a sentence really has nothing to do with whether a sentence is a run-on or not; being a run-on is a structural flaw that can plague even a very short sentence:

The sun is high, put on some sunblock.

An extremely long sentence, on the other hand, might be a "run-off-at-the-mouth" sentence, but it can be otherwise sound, structurally.

Click here to see a 239-word sentence that is a perfectly fine sentence (structurally)

When two independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they constitute a run-on sentence that is called a comma-splice. The example just above (about the sunscreen) is a comma-splice. When you use a comma to connect two independent clauses, it must be accompanied by a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so).

The sun is high, so put on some sunscreen.

Run-on sentences happen typically under the following circumstances*:

a.When an independent clause gives an order or directive based on what was said in the prior independent clause: This next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.(We could put a period where that comma is and start a new sentence. A semicolon might also work there.)

b.When two independent clauses are connected by a transitional expression (conjunctive adverb) such as however, moreover, nevertheless. Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, however, he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery.(Again, where that first comma appears, we could have used either a period — and started a new sentence — or a semicolon.)

c.When the second of two independent clauses contains a pronoun that connects it to the first independent clause. This computer doesn't make sense to me, it came without a manual. (Although these two clauses are quite brief, and the ideas are closely related, this is a run-on sentence. We need a period where that comma now stands.) Most of those computers in the Learning Assistance Center are broken already, this proves my point about American computer manufacturers. Again, two nicely related clauses, incorrectly connected — a run-on. Use a period to cure this sentence.

Quiz: Run-on Sentences

Some students think that they can study for an important exam by “cramming” all night they are probably wrong.

I once saw a lion it was cool.

Italics and UnderliningItalics and underlining are generally used interchangeably. When you write, you can choose to either italicize or underline, but make sure you are consistent in which you use throughout the essay. When handwriting an essay like the GED Essay, obviously, you’ll have to use underlining.

Italicize the titles of magazines, books, newspapers, academic journals, films, television shows, long poems, plays, operas, musical albums, works of art, websites.

Examples:

I read a really interesting article in Newsweek while I was waiting at the doctor’s office.

My cousin is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for two different classes.

I have every album from Dave Matthews Band, except for Crash.

Quiz: Italics

Dark Side of the Rainbow is my favorite work by Pink Floyd.

imdb.com is a great reference tool that I use to learn about a movie before I pay to see it.

Works Cited“1.4: Italics and Underlining.” owl.english.purdue.edu. Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010.

“Sentence Fragments.” grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar. CCC Guide to Grammar and Writing, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010

“Run-on Sentences, Comma Splices.” grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar. CCC Guide to Grammar and Writing, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010

“Parallel Structure.” owl.english.purdue.edu. Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010.

“How to Use Quotation Marks.” owl.english.purdue.edu. Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010.

“Quiz on Using Quotation Marks” grammar.ccc.commnet.edu. Guide to Grammar, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010.