D.L.P. – Week Eleven GRADE SEVEN

Day One – Skills Capitalization – Proper Nouns – Things Names of specific things must be capitalized. They may be the names of products (Kleenex), holidays (Fourth of July), or companies (Nike). When the noun is more than one word, follow the same rules for capitalizing words in a title. Punctuation – Comma – Dates When writing a date, a comma must separate the day from the year. (May 5, 2015) When an entire date is included within a sentence, the date will be followed by a comma if the sentence continues after it. (He graduated on May 5, 2015, on a warm day.) Sentence Combining – Using Subordination Two ideas can be combined into one sentence by making one sentence into a subordinate (dependent) clause. If the dependent clause begins the sentence, a comma must follow it.

James Thurber was born december in Columbus, Ohio. DAY ONE – SENTENCE ONE James Thurber was born December 8, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio.

He lost sight in one eye. A friend shot him with a BB gun. DAY ONE – SENTENCE TWO He lost sight in one eye when a friend shot him with a BB gun.

Day Two – Skills Capitalization – Proper Nouns – Organizations Names of specific organizations and government departments need to be capitalized. Follow the rules for capitalization in a title to decide which words in the multi-word name are capitalized. Style – Varying Sentence Beginnings To make writing more interesting to a reader, do not start two sentences in a row with the same word. Sentences should not all follow the same pattern either. Try to change up how sentences start. Begin some sentences with a prepositional phrase, a subordinate clause, or even a participial phrase. Punctuation – Titles When referring to a title when writing, it must be punctuated properly. Shorter works are placed in quotations. Shorter works include poems, short stories, songs, a chapter in a longer book, or a newspaper or magazine article. Longer works include books, names of magazines or newspapers, and movies.

Thurber attended Ohio State University and then worked as a code clerk for the state department. DAY TWO – SENTENCE ONE Thurber attended Ohio State University and then worked as a code clerk for the State Department.

He moved to New York City in 1926 and became a reporter for the Evening Post. DAY TWO – SENTENCE TWO In 1926, he moved to New York City and became a reporter for the Evening Post.

Day Three– Skills Punctuation – Titles When referring to a title when writing, it must be punctuated properly. Shorter works are placed in quotations. Shorter works include poems, short stories, songs, a chapter in a longer book, or a newspaper or magazine article. Longer works include books, names of magazines or newspapers, and movies. Agreement – Pronoun and antecedent A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. An antecedent is the noun that the pronoun replaces. They must agree. For example, if one is singular, then the other must be. If one is masculine, then the other must be.

Harold Ross founded The New Yorker in DAY THREE – SENTENCE ONE Harold Ross founded The New Yorker in 1925.

Thurber joined the magazine in 1927 and wrote for them for many years. DAY THREE – SENTENCE TWO Thurber joined the magazine in 1927 and wrote for it for many years.

Day Four– Skills Punctuation –Comma – Prepositional Phrases When a sentence starts with one prepositional phrase, it is the writer’s choice to place a comma after it or not. Be consistent. Some single prepositional phrases involving time seem logical. (At first, I was unsure.) However, if more than prepositional phrase begins a sentence, a comma must be placed at the end of them. (On Thursday in the morning, I…) Punctuation – Hyphen Some compound words are connected by a hyphen. To be certain if a word needed a hyphen, consult a dictionary. Hyphens are also used at the end of a written or typed line of text if the complete word does not fit. Use the hyphen between syllables of the word. Sentence Combining –Using Immersion Two sentences can be combined simply by including the information from one sentence into the other. This helps to prevent short, choppy sentence. (Mary is tall. Mary is my friend. These can be combined by immersing one into the other and saying, “My friend Mary is tall.”)

In addition to writing Thurber drew cartoons for the magazine. DAY FOUR – SENTENCE ONE In addition to writing, Thurber drew cartoons for the magazine.

His cartoons showed sad looking animals. They also showed oversized wives with undersized husbands. DAY FOUR – SENTENCE TWO His cartoons showed sad looking animals and oversized wives with undersized husbands.

Day Five– Skills Modifiers – Misplaced A misplaced modifier occurs when the word(s) used to describe something are not placed in the sentence properly. Sometimes the modifier is simply too far away from what it describes. At other times, the modifier is placed near something else that it mistakenly describes. Verb Usage – To Be The verb “be” is a linking verb. Oddly, it is never used without another helping verb before it. (will be) The verb “be” is conjugated as am, are, is, are in the present tense, was, were in the past tense, and be in the future tense with either will or shall preceding it. The other two linking verbs been and being come from other tenses of this verb. Punctuation – Comma – Items in a Series If more than two items are used in a list, this is called items in a series. Each item in the list must be separated by a comma including a comma before the conjunction.

Thurber drew cartoons until the 1950’s for many issues of the magazine. DAY FIVE – SENTENCE ONE Until the 1950’s,Thurber drew cartoons for many issues of the magazine.

The magazine be famous for its cartoons biographies and stories. DAY FIVE – SENTENCE TWO The magazine is famous for its cartoons, biographies, and stories.