KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Unit TWO and introduction to Unit 3 Getting to know the Writing center ~

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies AGENDA: Discuss week 2 content: Sentence Structure The KU Writing Center This week’s assignments Introduction to Unit 3

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Subject – what is this? Let’s discuss…..

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Subject: tells you who or what the sentence is about

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Verb: what is this?

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Verb: expresses action or state of being

Some sentences contain two or more subjects joined together with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet). The subjects that are linked together form a compound subject: Carter’s liver pills and ivory soap are examples of brand advertising Calendars, toys, and posters carried advertisements for early brand name products C OMPOUND S UBJECTS

Do not mistake a noun in a prepositional phrase for a subject. The subject is never in a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition (such as after, in, of). Examples: on the house (on) is the preposition; house is noun (telling what) S UBJECTS V S. P REPOSITIONAL P HRASES

A verb is a word or word group that indicates what the subject does or what happens to the subject. Most verbs express action or a state of being: Advertising IS bland without a slogan. The announcer SPEAKS. Often the main verb is accompanied by one or more helping verbs. The announcer WILL SPEAK. (will is helping, speak in main verb) V ERBS

Some sentences have two or more verbs joined together with a coordinating conjunctions (such as and, or, but). The “Uncle Sam Wants You” poster stirred patriotism and increased enlistments. Subject: poster Compound verb: stirred; increased Coordinating conjunction: and C OMPOUND V ERBS

What is a clause? Thoughts?....let’s discuss C LAUSES

A sentence must not only contain a subject and a verb; it must also express a complete thought. A clause is a group of related words that contains a subject and its verb. There are independent clauses that express a complete thought and dependent (subordinate) clauses that do not express a complete thought. When a dependent clause stands alone, it is a fragment. C LAUSES

An independent clause has a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete and correct sentence. Complete thought: Advertising was not halted during WWII. Subject: advertising Verb: was, halted I NDEPENDENT C LAUSES

A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a complete and correct sentence. Subordinating conjunctions signal dependent clauses (after, when, if, before, etc.). Incomplete thought: After WWII ended. (ask yourself, what happened? This is not a complete thought therefore not a correct sentence) D EPENDENT C LAUSES

Here is a list of common subordinating conjunctions: After, if, though, unless, during, before, as far as, than, that, since, even though, as soon as, because, until, whereas S UBORDINATING C ONJUNCTIONS

Does the word group have a subject Does the word group have a verb Does the word group begin with a subordinating conjunction Does the word group begin with a relative pronoun (who, whom, that, which) H OW TO S POT F RAGMENTS

Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Longman All punctuation serves one primary purpose— to separate. To correct and avoid run-on sentences and comma splices, you need a good grasp of both  in between-sentence punctuation (periods, question marks, and exclamation points) and  within-sentence punctuation (commas, colons, semicolons, hyphens, dashes, etc.). R UN -O N S ENTENCES AND C OMMA S PLICES

1. Read each sentence aloud and place a slash mark when you hear a pause. The pause indicates the need for punctuation. Example: The library has a copy machine it is very conveniently located. The library has a copy machine/it is very conveniently located. H OW TO R ECOGNIZE R UN -O N S ENTENCES

2. Look for sentences that contain two complete thoughts (independent clauses) without punctuation to separate them. Example: Houseplants are pleasant additions to a home or office they add color and variety. H OW TO R ECOGNIZE R UN -O N S ENTENCES

3. Look for long sentences. Example: Choosing a mate is one of the most important decisions you will ever make unless you make the right choice, you may be unhappy. H OW TO R ECOGNIZE R UN -O N S ENTENCES

1. Create two separate sentences. Many students do not have a specific career goal they do have some general career directions in mind. Many students do not have a specific career goal. They do have some general career directions in mind. H OW TO C ORRECT R UN -O N S ENTENCES

2. Use a semicolon. Our psychology instructor is demanding he expects the best from all his students. Correct: Our psychology instructor is demanding; he expects the best from all his students H OW TO C ORRECT R UN -O N S ENTENCES

3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions:, and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet H OW TO C ORRECT R UN -O N S ENTENCES

Like run-ons, comma splices are serious sentence errors that confuse and annoy the readers. They are corrected the same way as run-ons. They occur when only a comma is used to separate two complete thoughts. A comma also is not sufficient to divide two thoughts. A stronger separation is necessary. Example: Some people have strong mechanical ability, they often prefer hands-on tasks. C OMMA S PLICES

To test a sentence to see if you have written a comma splice, take the sentence apart at the comma. If the part before the comma is a complete thought and the part after the comma is also a complete thought, then you need to check whether the second clause starts with a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, so, for, yet, nor). If you do not have a coordinating conjunction to separate the two complete thoughts, then you have a comma splice. H OW TO R ECOGNIZE C OMMA S PLICES

To correct comma splice use any one of the methods you used to correct run-ons: Thoughts? How do we do this…..? H OW TO C ORRECT C OMMA S PLICES

To correct comma splice use any one of the methods you used to correct run-ons: Separate the two complete thoughts into 2 sentences Separate the two complete thoughts with a semicolon Join the two complete thoughts with a common and a coordinating conjunction. (and, but, for) Make one thought dependent upon the other by using a subordinate conjunction. H OW TO C ORRECT C OMMA S PLICES

Clauses either stand alone and accept the responsibility for their own meaning, or they depend on another clause to complete their meaning. Independent clauses can stand alone as sentences. Dependent clauses can never stand alone because they are not complete sentences. C OMBINING AND E XPANDING Y OUR I DEAS

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Writing Center ~ Key areas and we’ll take a tour!

KU 121 Introduction to Writing Skills and Strategies Assignments due this week Complete reading Discussion Seminar MyWritingLab Quiz

KU121 Unit 3 Introduction

KU121 Unit 3 Developing our focus and prewriting Looking at the writing process from the beginning: Prewriting How to choose a topic Prewriting process Steps of the writing process Parts of speech Complete: reading, discussion, seminar, MyWritingLab, Quiz