Monthly Archives: May 2015

Sentence Fragments

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"Williamsburg Bridge: April 1, 2014" by Jennifer Sears

“Williamsburg Bridge: April 1, 2014” by Jennifer SearsFragment

Fragment

~ a small part broken or separated off something

  • ~ an isolated or incomplete part of something

A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Every sentence needs a subject/noun and a verb. A noun is a person place or thing, and a verb is an action or state of being. A sentence fragment is either missing a noun or a verb or, it doesn’t contain a complete thought. When looking for sentence fragments there is a tendency to look for short sentences. While it’s true that some sentence fragments are short, it’s not always the case. There are short sentences that are fine.

I am here.   She is fun.   We jumped.    Rachel ate.
Each of these sentences is a complete sentence containing a subject and a verb.

Subject             Verb
I                          am
she                     is
we                      jumped
Rachel                ate

There are longer sentences that may not look like fragments, because they contain more information, but are still incomplete. This can happen when the subject or the verb is missing, or when the sentence does not contain a complete thought. Like this:

While eating cheetos, caressing her cat lovingly, and watching her favorite TV show.

There is no subject in that sentence. It is not clear who is eating cheetos. We can fix that sentence like this:

Jessica was eating cheetos, caressing her cat lovingly, and watching her favorite TV show.

Another way to fix that sentence is to complete the scenario that was set up by using the word while. Using the word while in the first version of that sentence, makes it seem as if something happened while Jessica was eating cheetos, caressing her cat, and watching TV. So, what happened?

Jessica fell asleep while eating cheetos, caressing her cat lovingly, and watching her favorite TV show.

Here is another sentence fragment.
For example what my father has done before.

This fragment contains a subject and a verb, but it does not contain a complete thought. It is a particularly difficult sentence fragment because we have no idea what it is talking about. It could be saying just about anything.

For example what my father has done before was take his helicopter when he was late for work. For example what my father has done before is stay inside of the house for the entire winter because he hates the cold.

Do you see what I mean?

Proofread your essays and look for sentence fragments. Check to see if each sentence has a subject and a verb. Then, make sure that each sentence contains a complete thought. See the links below for tutorials and exercises on sentence fragments.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/620/1/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/5/18/38

 

Finding the Main Idea

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Your grammar and your sentence structure are great. You’ve got a good handle on how to write a pretty decent essay in ninety minutes. The only problem is that your professor keeps saying that you’re going off topic. It’s possible that you’re missing the main point; the author’s main idea. And while it’s great that you can write a good essay, for the CATW, it’s extremely important that your essay is a response to the passage that you were given.

So, how do you find the main idea? If you’re lucky the title of the article can be a big help. If an article is titled “Smoking is Bad for You” then, most likely the main idea of the article is that smoking is bad for you, and the author will go on to tell you why this is so. But if the title is something more obscure like, “Cigarette Breath and Nicotine Withdrawal,” you have to look a beyond the title, in order to ascertain what the main idea of the passage is.

Sometimes the main idea is stated very clearly in a thesis statement like this:  Many people used to think that smoking a cigarette was a  good way to take a much needed break from their problems. Now, studies show that smoking causes serious health hazards. It is most likely that the rest of that passage is going to be about the health hazards that can occur as a result of smoking.

If a passage doesn’t have a very clear thesis statement you will have to figure it out on your own. A good thing to remember is that the main idea is going to be something  general like, smoking is bad for you. It will be followed by supporting details which are more specific such as, smoking causes emphysema, halitosis, and lung cancer. Try not to get sidetracked by a particularly interesting supporting detail and focus on that, while losing track of the main idea.

If you’ve read through the essay once and you’re not positive that you know what the author’s main point is:
1. Read the title again.
2. Look for a thesis statement.
3. Look for a general idea followed by more specific details.

General Idea                        Supporting Details
Smoking is bad                      It causes emphysema, halitosis, and lung cancer
I had a bad day                      I got fired from my job, my dog doesn’t like me anymore
Smart phones are useful        You can make calls, check your email, and take pictures

4. Look for repeated words and phrases. If the author keeps saying something over and over again it’s probably pretty important to the passage.

Run-on Sentences

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A sentence is considered a run-on sentence when it has several ideas that are crammed together one after the other without punctuation or without joining them properly with conjunctions this often happens when we write fast and think fast and also when we don’t take time to proofread.

The previous sentence is a run on sentence. There are four ideas in that sentence. 1. several ideas crammed into one sentence 2. without pause or joining them properly with conjunctions or punctuation 3. this happens when writing and thinking fast 4. and when we don’t take time to proofread.

This would be a better way to deal with that sentence. A run-on sentence has several ideas that are crammed together without punctuation or, without joining them properly with conjunctions. This often happens when we write fast and think fast. It can also happen when we don’t take time to proofread.

Notice how much easier it is to take in all of the ideas that are presented when they are not thrown together in one sentence. Also notice that some words were cut while reconstructing that sentence. Eliminating excess words helps to avoid repetition and often makes things clearer. Please remember that using the proper conjunctions and punctuation allows the reader time to pause, in order to understand what they have read.

Check out the following links for tutorials on run-on sentences.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/

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

 

Punctuation

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Fancy Clock 時計 of a Hairdressers Salon messed up in Traffic Signs in : City Chiba Japan by: Arjan Richter

Punctuation marks are like road signs for the reader. They tell the reader when to pause, and when to stop. They indicate when one idea ends and another one begins. Using proper punctuation in an essay can mean the difference between presenting coherent ideas and confusing your reader. So, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the proper usage of the different punctuation marks.

For basic essay writing you will have to be proficient in using periods, commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks. The period ( . ) is a dot at then end of the sentence that indicates a full stop. The comma ( , ) indicates a pause inside of the sentence.

Last night I forgot to turn on my alarm clock. So, this morning I was running late. I usually leave my house an hour before I’m scheduled to show up at my job. I got dressed quickly, hurried through breakfast, and barely had time to brush my teeth. In the end, I managed to make it to work before my boss showed up.  

(Please see a previous post for an more in depth look at the use of commas.)

Quotation marks ( “ ) indicate that someone is speaking or, that we’re using someone else’s words. Using quotation marks is especially important in essay writing if we want to use someone else’s words without plagiarizing.

My mother used a lot of aphorisms when I was little. She would say, “do as I say not as I do,“ when I wanted to join her, as she was doing grown up things. At the time, I found that very annoying. She also liked to quote the Dalai Lama whenever my sister and I got into a fight. He said, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.“ I think it’s good for me to remember that one.

Apostrophes indicate possession or, allow us to combine words like: can‘t (can not,) couldn‘t (could not,)  won‘t (will not,) wouldn‘t (would not,) and shouldn‘t (should not.) (Please see a previous apostrophe post for an in depth tutorial on the proper use of apostrophes.)

There are also semi colons ( ; ) colons ( : ) dashes  and hyphens, all of which indicate different kinds of pauses. Once you master the proper use of periods, commas, quotation marks and apostrophes, you can move on to incorporating colons, semi colons, and hyphens.

The following link contains tutorials about comas, apostrophes, quotation marks, and hyphens.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/6/