Week 8 Assignments

  • Week 8 Assignments

    • This week, we will be preparing a Writing Inventory and talking about sentences and some common sentence errors in Standard Written English.
    • Group Assignments DUE by MIDNIGHT, Wednesday, October 30
    • RWA and LJ DUE by MIDNIGHT, Sunday, November 4
  • LEARNING JOURNAL 8: 
  • First, please spend 5 to 7 minutes free writing about the different languages and dialects that you know and use, when you use these languages and/or dialects, with whom you use them, your reasons for using specific languages and/or dialects, and how you you feel when you speak and/or write in these languages/dialects.  If you would like to read more about what dialects are, click here.Second, please read the Introduction to _The World’s Greatest Short Stories_ (pp. v – vii).  Afterwards, briefly skim through the book and, without reading any story in its entirety, please select one story that you would like to read.  Then, write one paragraph explaining why you selected that story to read and why you want to read it.

Group Assignment 8:  Questions About Standard Written English and Some Answers to Those Questions


This Group Assignment is in two parts.  Before beginning it, please read Professor Rodgers’ introduction to “Understanding Sentences in Standard Written English (SWE)”:

Part I: After reading this introduction, what specific questions do you have about sentences in Standard Written English (SWE) that you would like to have answered?  Please post three questions about some specific aspect of the SWE sentence.  For instance, “what is a run-on?”  “What is the difference between a period and a comma?”  “What is wrong with this sentence:  ‘The is dog cat eating the.'” “If it is possible to start a SWE sentence with the word ‘Because,’ why did my high school English teacher tell me NEVER to do that?”  “What is a sentence fragment, and how can I revise these in my writing?”  Be creative!  Ask anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to know about SWE sentences, and their functions/malfunctions.

Part II:  Please read through all of your own and your classmates’ questions posted to GA8.  Locate the answer to ONE of your own questions and TWO of your classmates’ questions by looking up the answer to these questions on the Purdue OWL or in your English handbook.  Post a brief synopsis of the “answer,” along with a link to the Purdue OWL site or a reference to the page number of your handbook where you located this information.

RWA8: Meeting with Me to Pick Up Your Essay, Creating a Writing Inventory, and Meeting With a Writing Tutor

Purpose:  to identify the writing issues that you plan to work on for the rest of the semester

Part I: Meet with me to pick up and briefly discuss your draft essay

Part II:  Creating a Writing Inventory:

1.  Take a look at all of the starred sentences.  What do you notice about these sentences? Why do you think Prof. Rodgers thinks they are impressive? Do you think they are impressive? Are there other sentences in the essay that you think are particularly impressive or effective?  If yes, list them and explain why you think they are impressive.

2.  List, interpret, and categorize each circled word/issue and marginal comment in the essay.  What’s going on with each word/sentence marked?  What happened? Did you make a typo? Need to revise?  Can you name the error?

3.  Make a list of all of the categories circled on the essay grading rubric

4,  Re-read Professor Rodgers’ ebook College Writing:  Some FAQs and her Understanding and Repairing SWE Errors in College Writing.

5.  Make a list of what you are beginning to see as recurring issues that you can work on in your writing.  Some of these may be SWE errors and therefore would be categorized as being related to Clarity.  Other issues may be related to Argumentation.  Some may be related to Structure.  Some may be related to Revision.  Please list at least one and no more than three issues that you plan to work on in the following three categories:  Argument/Structure/Clarity.

Part III:  Meet with a SPECIAL ENG1101 tutor.  When you go to meet with one of the tutors, who are available from 10:00am-7:30pm Monday through Thursday, and from 10:00am-4:00pm on Fridays and Saturdays, you MUST BRING ONE OF YOUR RWAs OR ESSAYS and a copy of the original ASSIGNMENT to your tutoring session.  I would like you to discuss SENTENCE EDITING STRATEGIES with the tutor.  If you’d like, you can also discuss questions that you have about Professor Rodgers’ handouts with the tutor.

10 Responses to Week 8 Assignments

  1. Jose Medina says:

    GA 8: Can a independent clause and dependent clause count as a full sentence?
    Does writing briefly count as a full sentence? (this question does not really represent what Jose is asking. Here is a revision: People often use long sentences and they may be complete. However, can a simple sentence be a complete sentence.)
    What is a run-on sentence in a draft?

  2. RANMA says:

    GA8
    1. Is it same between a sentence fragment and a dependent clause?
    2. I am confused to use semicolon and comma. What are they differences?
    3. What is sentence structure?

    Answer for Q2:
    Comma:
    Use a comma after the first independent clause when you link two independent clauses with one of the following coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
    Semicolon:
    Use a semicolon when you link two independent clauses with no connecting words.

    Source: Online Writing Lab
    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/04/

  3. artovsiy says:

    Professor Rogers,
    Do we post the questions here or under the actual GA post?

  4. GA8:
    1. What is clauses and some of its examples?
    2. What’s a dependent clauses and independent clauses?
    3. What’s a run-on sentence?

    Answer: A run-on sentence is a compound sentence that is not punctuated correctly.
    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/
    1. A sentence structure is the arrangement and combination of two of the independent clauses.
    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/5/26
    2. Both sentence fragment and dependent clauses are incomplete sentences that do not express a complete thought.
    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/01/
    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/620/1/

  5. Allison Lamm says:

    GA8:
    What is considered a sentence fragment?
    How can we fix a sentence fragment?
    Can a run-on sentence be considered a good sentence if you add commas or would it better to split it into two sentences?

    Answer to question 2:
    The easiest way to fix a sentence fragment is by removing the period between the fragment and the main clause.

    Source: Online Writing Lab
    https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/620/1/

  6. Thanks, everyone for posting here. I’m very sorry that I did not create a designated area for GA8.

  7. Nicole Bynoe says:

    If you use a semi colon is it still considered one sentence?

    To answer Allison: it would be better to break off a run on sentence into 2 sentences in most cases
    To answer Jose: A single independent clause can be a sentence by itself. However, dependent clauses are used to make sentences more complete and more interesting.

  8. Raisa says:

    GA:8
    Q.1 What does an independent and dependent clause mean being related to the topic os STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH (SWE)?
    Q.2 What does theoretically infinite mean in writings?
    Q.3 Why commas are also meaningful marks of punctuation?

    My answer for Q.3
    *Use a comma to separate the elements in a series.”He hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to first base.”
    *Use a comma + a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so) to connect two independent clauses, as in “He hit the ball well, but he ran toward third base.”

    LINK: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

    Answer to Jose’s 3rd Q.

    A 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 a short sentence.

    LINK: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm

    Answer to Ranma’s 1st Q.

    Sentence Fragments:

    It happens by treating a dependent clause or other incomplete thought as a complete sentence. You can usually fix this error by combining it with another sentence to make a complete thought or by removing the dependent marker.

    Incorrect: Because I forgot the exam was today.
    Correct: Because I forgot the exam was today, I didn’t study.
    (or) I forgot the exam was today.

    Dependent Clause:

    It is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word.

    EXAMPLE: When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz . . . (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.)

    LINK: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/01/

  9. uriahj1 says:

    1) With the independent clause and dependent clauses would the dependent clause be part of the same sentence as the independent clause because it cannot stand alone? For example: I love cats and dogs(independent), but im allergic to them(coordinating conjunction plus comma plus independent clause)
    2)If so should they be seperated by punctuation comma, semi-colon etc?
    3)What are ways to convey to your reader that you have used a “run-on” or “fragment” for style choice? I seem to struggle getting that across or am I just too early in my writing career to execute that?

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