UGRC 210 Academic Writing

1. UGRC 210Academic Writing Lecturer: Dr. David AkoOdoi Contact Information: odoiski@yahoo.com Session 2- Shifts and Mixed Constructions

2. SESSION OVERVIEW Introduction Hello student, you are welcome to another session in which we are going to continue talking about verbs. As you may have observed so far, verbs communicate the action and time of each sentence. So it is important that you use verb tenses consistently. In this session I will discuss some other problems that writers face in constructing their sentences. Sometimes, people unknowingly mix tenses and also shift from one voice to another in sentences. This section will help you identify and correct shifts and mixed constructions in your sentences. Read along with me and learn something new. Objectives • By the end of this section, you should be able toidentify mixed constructions • use verb tenses consistently • avoid shifting from one voice to another

3. SESSION OUTLINE • The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows: • Shifts in Person • Shifts in Number • Shifts In Tense • Shift in Voice • Shift in Mood • Mixed Constructions

4. SHIFTS A shift is a sudden, unexpected change in point of view, verb tense, voice, or level of diction that may confuse your readers. Let us start our discussion by looking at the following text. A bank commonly owes more to its customers that is held in reserve. They kept enough assets to meet reasonable withdrawals, but panicked customers may demand all their deposits. Then demandwillexceedsupplies, and banks failed. These days, a person’s losses are not likely to be great because the government insures your deposits.

5. Now, upon first reading, you may think that there is everything right with the short paragraph above but there are a lot of inconsistencies in the area of verb tense, person, and voice. Now let us revise the paragraph. Revised A bank commonly owes more to its customers that it holds in reserve. It keeps enough assets to meet reasonable withdrawals, but panicked customers may demand all their deposits. Then demands will exceed supplies, and the bank will fail. These days, the losses of customers are not likely to be great because the government insures their deposits.

6. Shifts like those in the first draft are likely to occur while you write. When you edit your work, make your sentences consistent in grammatical elements. Proofread your work on your own, looking carefully for inconsistencies. The following are the steps you can take to avoid inconsistencies in your writing:

7. TOPIC ONE SHIFTS IN PERSON

8. Shifts in Person Person in grammar refers to the distinction among the person talking (first person), the person spoken to (second person), and the person, object, or concept being talked about (third person). (Recall UGRC110, Unit 1, Section 3). Most shifts in person occur because we can refer to people in general, including our readers, either in the third person ( a person, one, people, they) or in the second person (you). Person shows the writer’s point of view. Look at the following examples that share the same meaning but written from different points of view. • People should not drive when they have been drinking. • One should not drive when he or she has been drinking • You should not drive when you have been drinking.

9. TOPIC TWO SHIFTS IN NUMBER

10. SHIFTS IN NUMBER Number refers to the distinction between one (singular) and more than one (plural). Inconsistency in numbers occurs most often between a pronoun and its antecedent. For example: • If a student does not understand a lesson, they should consult the instructor. (shift) • If students do not understand a lesson, they should consult the instructor. (revised) • OR • A student who does not understand a lesson should consult the instructor. (revised)

11. You should note that generic nouns and most indefinite pronouns take singular pronouns with a definite gender: he, she, or it. Whenever you use a generic noun like student or person or an indefinite pronoun like everyone or each, include both males and females. To indicate this meaning, use he or she or better still, rewrite in the plural.

12. TOPIC THREE SHIFTS IN TENSE

13. Shifts In Tense Maintain consistency in verb tense throughout a paragraph or an essay, unless the the meaning requires you to change tenses. Changes that are not required by meaning distract readers. Lets look at an example: • The virus mutated so quickly that it develops a resistance to most vaccines. (inconsistent) • The virus mutates so quickly that it develops a resistance to most vaccines. (revised) • The city’s crime rate continues to decrease, but experts disagreed on the reasons. (inconsistent) • The city’s crime rate continues to decrease, but experts disagree on the reasons

14. Use the present tense consistently to describe what an author has written, including the action in literature or film. Shifts between the present and the past are among the most common shifts writers make. You can, however, change verb tense when you want to indicate an actual time change. Notice the intentional shifts in the following passages. The verbs are underlined. Every spring migratory birds return to cooler climates to raise their young. This year, a pair of blue jays is occupying a nest in my backyard, and I spy on them. The hatchlings are growing larger and developing furthers. Last spring, robins built the nest that the jays now call home, and I watched them every morning until the young birds left home for the last time. As the event switch from this year (present) to the previous year (past), the writer changes from the present tense to the past tense. It is now time for an activity.

15. ACTIVITY • Activity 2.1 Revise the following sentences to make them consistent in person, number and tense. • A plumber will fix burst pipes, but they won’t repair waterlogged appliances. • When a person is expecting a delivery from the mail, you begin to notice what time the mail carrier arrives. • When tax payers does not file their returns early, they do not get a refund quickly • The contestants will be arriving tomorrow morning and needed room allocations. • The dog keeps scratching his ear and will need medical attention. I believe you were able to find the shift in person (2 sentences), shift in number (1 sentence), and shift in tenses (2 sentences)

16. TOPIC FOUR SHIFT IN VOICE

17. SHIFT IN VOICE When a verb is in the active voice, the subject is the actor of the activity described by the verb (Adjoa passed the salt.)and when a verb is in the passive voice, the subject names the receiver of the action (The salt was passed by Adjoa). Unnecessary shifts between the active voice and passive voice can disorient your readers and create confusion. Look at the following shifts and their revised versions. • Internet newsgroups cover an enormous range of topics for discussion. Forums for meeting people with like interests are provided in these groups. (inconsistent) • Internet newsgroups cover an enormous range of topics for discussion. And provideforums for meeting people with like interests. (revised)

18. Drought and windstormsmade farming impossible and many familieswere forced to leave Okom village due to starvation. • Drought and windstorms made farming impossible, and starvationforced many families to leave Okom village. • In the sentences above, the inconsistent ones have shift in voice from the active voice to passive. Avoid such shifts in your sentences.

19. TOPIC FIVE SHIFT IN MOOD

20. SHIFT IN MOOD Mood indicates whether the sentence states a fact or asks a question (indicativemood), gives a command or direction (imperativemood), or expresses a condition or a suggestion (subjunctivemood). Shifts in the mood of verbs occur most frequently in directions when the writer moves between imperative mood (Unplug the appliance.) and the indicative mood (You should unplug the appliance). For example: • Cook the mixture slowly, and you should stir it until the sugar is dissolved. (inconsistent) • Cook the mixture slowly and stir it until the sugar is dissolved. (revised) Directions are usually clearer and more concise in the imperative, as long as its use is consistent. Let us try another activity.

21. ACTIVITY • Correct the shifts in person, verb tense, voice and mood in the following paragraph. • Driving on a muddy road need not be dangerous if you practice a few rules. First, one should avoid fast starts, which prevent the wheels from gaining traction and may result in the car’s getting stuck. Second, drive slowly than usual, and you should pay attention to the feel of the car: if the steering feels unusually loose or the wheels did not seem to be grabbing the road, slow down. Third, avoid fast stops, which lead to skids. One should be alert for other cars and intersections that may necessitate that the brakes be applied suddenly. If you need to slow down, the car’s momentum can be reduced by downshifting as well as by applying the brakes. When braking, press the pedal to the floor only if you have antilock brakes; otherwise, the pedal should be pumped in short bursts. When you feel the car skidding, the brakes should be release and the wheel should be turned into the direction of the skid, and then the brakes should be pressed or pumped again. If one repeated this motions, the skid would be stopped and the speed of the car would be reduced. • I hope you were able to identify each kind of shift errors that we have discussed so far. Now we will turn our attention to another grammar issue which is also closely related to what we have discussed so far.

22. TOPIC SIX MIXED CONSTRUCTIONS

23. A mixedconstruction contains phrases or clauses that do not work together logically and that cause confusion in meaning. For example: • The fact that the marathon is twenty-six kilometres, a length that explains why I never have finished it. The sentence above has mixed constructions. The sentence starts with a subject (thefact) followed by a dependent clause (that the marathon is twenty-six kilometres). The sentence needs a predicate to complete the independent clause; instead it includes a noun (a length) and another dependent clause (that explains why I never have finished it). The independent clause that begins with The fact is never completed. The sentence could be revised to read as the following: • The marathon is twenty-six kilometres long, which is why I never have finished running it.

24. To avoid mixed constructions in your writing, it often helps to check the words that connect clauses and phrases, especially prepositions and conjunctions. You can take the following steps to avoid mixed constructions: • Make sure your subjects and predicates are consistent. faulty predication occurs when a subject does work grammatically with its predicate. For example: • Faulty: The most valued attribute in an employee is a person who is loyal • Revised: The most valued attribute in an employee is loyalty. • The first sentence is wrong because a person is not an attribute. • Avoid constructions: is when or is where or reason … is because.

25. Faulty • Indigestion is when you cannot digest food. •  Gravitation is where one body is being attracted by another. • The reason I enjoy skipping is because it provides outdoor exercise. • Revised • Indigestion is the inability to digest food. • Gravitation is the attraction of one body for another. • I enjoy skipping because it provides outdoor exercise. I hope you will remember the lessons in this section when writing.

26. Summary All too soon, we have come to the end of another section. In this section, you learned how to improve upon your writing by paying attention a common error that writers often commit; shift and mixed constructions. This is a very important lesson because it is sometimes difficult to identify these errors. You have to read over your essays over and over again to be able to correct these kinds of errors. See you soon!