Active/Passive Verbs

Prepositions

Shifts

Pronoun & Antecedent

Agreement

Pronoun Reference & Case

Peer Review

ENG101_SP15

What is a verb?

Word that shows action or state of being

Run, swim, jump, be, appear, seem, feel

There are numerous verb tenses:

Present tense, past tense, future tense, present

perfect tense, past perfect tense, future perfect

tense, present progressive, past progressive, future

progressive, present perfect progressive, past

perfect progressive, future perfect progressive,

emphatic

When should you use present tense? Present action

I want to eat pizza right now.

Action that happens over and over

I eat pizza almost every day.

Scientific facts and other things that are always

true (literature included)

Eating twenty-five pizzas a day is not good for you.

Passive voice Less dynamic

Downplays or ignores doer of action

The ball was hit and a run was scored. The score was

kept and eventually the game was won. Strong

emotions were felt by the fans and much applause

was heard.

It is okay to be passive when... The doer of action is unimportant or unknown

School is canceled today! (Who cares who canceled it?)

You want to be polite or avoid sounding bossy

Your application was rejected.

It is okay to be passive when... You want to emphasize that thing you’re talking

about more than the person performing the

action

This big blue ribbon will be given to the winner.

You are writing in an impersonal, scientific

manner

The mice were separated into two groups.

What is a preposition? Word used to show a relationship between

noun/pronoun and another word in the sentence

Tell us something about where something is, when

something happens, shows some other type of

relationship between two things

About, above, after, around, at, before, beneath,

between, by, down, for, from, in inside, of, off, on,

opposite, since, through, throughout, to, underneath,

up, with, without

Is it good writing to end a sentence in a

preposition?

Change words to not end in preposition...if it

sounds normal...if not, rewrite the sentence

completely

A senator is someone most people look up to.

A senator is someone to whom most people upwardly

look.

Most people look up to a senator.

Try it...

Notice the ease Harley hits the ball with.

Notice the ease with which Hartley hits the ball.

Eliminate distracting shifts

These distract or confuse readers

Point of view

Verb tense

Mood or voice

Indirect to direct questions/quotations

Make the POV consistent in person

& number

First person emphasizes writer

Good for informal letters and writing based on

personal experience

Second person emphasizes reader

Good for giving advice or explaining how to do

something

Third person emphasizes subject

Best for formal academic and professional writing

Make the POV consistent in person

& number

One week, our class met in a junkyard to practice rescuing

a victim trapped in a wrecked car. We learned to

dismantle the car with the essential tools. You were

graded on your speed and your skill in extricating the

victim.

One week, our class met in a junkyard to practice rescuing

a victim trapped in a wrecked car. We learned to

dismantle the car with the essential tools. You were

graded on your speed and your skill in extricating the

victim.

Maintain consistent verb tenses

Consistent verb tenses clearly establish time of the

actions being described

Which sentence is incorrect?

A. She caught the ball and then throws it to the catcher for

the out.

B. She caught the ball and then threw it to the catcher for

the out

C. She catches the ball and then throws it to the catcher

for the out.

A. She caught the ball and then throws it to the catcher for

the out.

Maintain consistent verb tenses

When writing about literature or current research, use

present tense

A. Research showed that the Great Pyramids were built

before wooly mammoths became extinct.

B. Research shows that the Great Pyramids were built

before wooly mammoths became extinct.

B.

Make verbs consistent in mood &

voiceThree moods in English

Indicative is used for facts, opinions, questions

Imperative is used for orders or advice

Subjunctive is used to express wishes or conditions contrary to fact

A. The officers advised us against allowing anyone into our homes without proper identification. They also suggested that we alert neighbors to our vacation schedules.

B. The officers advised us against allowing anyone into our homes without proper identification. Also, alert neighbors to our vacation schedules.

A.

Avoid sudden shifts from indirect or

direct questions or quotations

Indirect question: Alex asked whether the potatoes

were ready and whether he could cut them for the

salad.

Direct question: Are the potatoes ready and can I cut

them for the salad?

Avoid sudden shifts from indirect or

direct questions or quotations

Which of the following is incorrect?

A. My instructor asked whether I was prepared for the

course and have I bought myself a laptop.

B. My instructor asked whether I was prepared for the

course and whether I had bought myself a laptop

C. My instructor asked, “Are you prepared for the course,

and have you bought yourself a laptop?”

A. My instructor asked whether I was prepared for the

course and have I bought myself a laptop.

Avoid sudden shifts from indirect or

direct questions or quotations

A. Mother said that she would be late for dinner and asked

me not to leave for choir practice until Dad came home.

B. Mother said that she would be late for dinner and please

do not leave for choir practice until Dad comes home.

A. Mother said that she would be late for dinner and asked

me not to leave for choir practice until Dad came home.

Revising training

Underline all verbs to ensure that none of the

verbs shift

Ensure that there aren’t any shifts from a

statement to a question or vice versa

Newsletter Revising

2. Turn down the heat – when are you more likely to

wake up at night when you are hot or cold? The

body prefers to be in a colder milder climate to

sleep. Experts recommend bedroom

temperatures to be 65 – 70 degrees.

3. Exercise every day –This will greatly improve your

ability to sleep at night. However be careful not to

exercise too close to bed time as it can have a

negative effect on sleep.

Newsletter Revising

2. Turn down the heat – when are you more likely to

wake up at night when you are hot or cold? The

body prefers to be in a colder milder climate to

sleep. Experts recommend bedroom

temperatures to be 65 – 70 degrees.

3. Exercise every day –This will greatly improve your

ability to sleep at night. However be careful not to

exercise too close to bed time as it can have a

negative effect on sleep.

Newsletter Revising

2. Turn down the heat – People are more likely to

wake up at night when they are hot. The body

prefers to be in a colder milder climate to sleep.

Experts recommend bedroom temperatures to

be 65 – 70 degrees.

3. Exercise every day –This will greatly improve an

individual’s ability to sleep at night. However one

must be careful not to exercise too close to bed

time as it can have a negative effect on sleep.

Pronouns

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

What is a pronoun?

Substitutes a noun

He, she, it, her, him, they, we, us, them

What is an antecedent?

Noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to

Isabela gave her dog its bath.

Zack gave his sister her doll.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Do not use plural pronouns to refer to singular

antecedents

Runners must train rigorously if he or she wants to

excel.

A medical student must study hard if they want to

succeed.

The recruiter may tell the truth, but there is much

that they choose not to tell.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun

closest to it.

It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors. I

grabbed my flashlight to begin the search and

listened for its purr.

What is purring?

The flashlight

It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors. I

grabbed my flashlight to begin the search and

listened for Magic’s purr.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun

closest to it.

While driving it at 200 mph around the North Pole,

Santa swerved to avoid hitting an elf and landed his

sleigh in a snowdrift.

What is “it”?

We don’t know until the end of the sentence.

While driving his sleigh at 200 mph around the

North Pole, Santa swerved to avoid hitting an elf

and landed in a snowdrift.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun

closest to it.

I’ve been to Canada, and I like them because they are

very kind to Americans.

Who are they?

I’ve been to Canada, and I like the Canadians

because they are very kind to Americans.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Compound subjects joined by and always take a

plural referent.

Jones and Smith made their presentation.

With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the

referent pronoun agrees with the antecedent

closer to the pronoun.

Neither the director nor the actors did their jobs.

Neither the actors nor the director did his or her job.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Collective nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.)

may be singular or plural, depending on meaning

The jury read its verdict.

The jury is acting as one unit.

The jury members gave their opinions.

The jury members are acting as twelve individuals.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Indefinite pronouns are singular (anybody, anyone,

anything, each, either, everybody, everyone,

everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing,

somebody, someone, something)

When someone has been drinking, they are likely to

speed.

When someone has been drinking, he or she is

likely to speed.

When drivers have been drinking, they are likely to

speed.

A driver who has been drinking is likely to speed.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

People are who/whose

Things are which/that

She is a person that likes pie.

She is a person who likes pie.

There is the dog who ate my pie.

There is the dog that ate my pie.

Revision Checklist

Highlight all pronouns. Circle each pronoun’s

antecedent. Check to ensure that they align in

singularity and plurality. If an antecedent can not

be found, create one.

Newsletter Revisions

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the destiny of suffering and cancer. This approach to health takes on a defensive rather than an offensive stance. If you believe that more pink solves our countries cancer epidemic you choose to participate in this flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with pink – it represents all things incorrect with allopathic western medicine and the theory that you will get cancer, no action can change it – so find it early keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best. The majority of money outside of marketing and huge salaries for their top personnel (I bet their checks are even pink) goes to early detection of cancer with mammograms and treatment with drugs and surgery.

Newsletter Revisions

With the belief of a flawed human body comes the destiny of suffering and cancer. This approach to health takes on a defensive rather than an offensive stance. If one believes that more pink solves this countries cancer epidemic one chooses to participate in this flawed thinking. Here lies the problem with pink – it represents all things incorrect with allopathic western medicine and the theory that everyone will get cancer, no action can change it – so find it early keep his or her fingers crossed and hope for the best. The majority of money outside of marketing and huge salaries for the company’s top personnel (Dr. Alex bets the top personel’s checks are even pink) goes to early detection of cancer with mammograms and treatment with drugs and surgery.

Eng101_SS15

Peer review narrative analysis

Each body paragraph should…

* Give answer (How does this element

contribute to the narrative?)

* Explain answer

* Give specific examples supporting

answer

* Explain how the examples support the

answer and contribute to the narrative

Works Cited page

A Work in an Anthology, Reference, or Collection

Works may include an essay in an edited collection or anthology, or

a chapter of a book. The basic form is for this sort of citation is as

follows:

Last name, First name. "Title of Essay." Title of Collection. Ed. Editor's

Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry.

Medium of Publication.

Peer Review Narrative Analysis

On peer review sheet, write

Reviewed by: (insert your name)

Summary author: (peer’s name)

Exchange essays.

Read the essay and complete the

peer review sheet.

Give both to author (your peer).

For Wednesday…

Essay #1 due

Order of materials for submission –

rubric, final copy, prewrite (freewrite done in

class, notes on stories written for homework and

class discussions), plan (outline), rough draft(s), peer

review

Read chapter 13 (Comparison [pages 219 – 231])

Read pages 527 - 537