NACTEP Writing Workshop

1. NACTEPWriting Workshop David Bowman 8/5/2010

2. Writing is a skill. I can learn any skill.

3. Purpose: Why good writing is important • Reader understanding • Will the reader understand what you write? • Reader information • Does the writing say what you mean it to say? • Reader judgment • What will the reader think of you? Oh, and better grades in classes, too!

4. Overview of the workshop • Purpose of the workshop • Grammar basics • Commas and apostrophes • Sentence structure • Paragraph structure • Writing and Peer Editing • Conclusion

5. Grammar-major issues • Complete sentences • Subject–verb agreement • Subject–pronoun agreement

6. Complete sentences • Basic structure: Subject [word or phrase] + Predicate • “John smells.” • “The interior of your truck smells like an old sock.” • “In the evenings, mosquitoes swarmed the camp.” • “After the rain stopped falling, we fixed the car.” • “The post office was closed, and we couldn’t get our mail.” • “I knew Mary was old and needed help at home.”

7. Complete sentences • Rule A: Every sentence needs a subject and predicate.

8. Complete sentences • More examples: • “In the evenings, mosquitoes swarm the camp.” • “After the rain stopped falling, we fixed the car.” • “My mother, the woman who made cake, will arrive late.” • “At fish camp this year, my uncle shot a brown bear.” • “The four-wheeler got stuck in the river.” • “Mentors are nice, and they help me succeed.”

9. Subject-verb agreement • Overview of conjugation (present tense) • I/you/we/you all/they + (basic form) • He/she/it + (basic form + S) • Simple examples • “I run to school.” • “You run to school.” • “They run to school.” • “He runs to school.”

10. Subject-verb agreement • Rule B: “HE,” “SHE,” and “IT” require an S in the present tense. Elements of Style, #9

11. Subject-verb agreement • More examples: • “Frank love/loves his mother.” • “Every Tuesday, June find/finds time to eat pizza.” • “I think/thinks that you is/are on fire.” • “Do you know/knows where they is/are?” • “My brother, the one with the car, have/has a dog.” Remember: HE, SHE, and IT require an S in the present tense.

12. Subject-verb agreement • Compound/complex subjects and agreement • “John, Mary, and Tom eat/eats too much.” • “John, the owner of the dogs, eat/eats too much.” • “John, eating out with some friends, prefer/prefers buffets.” • “John and his buddies prefer/prefers buffets.” • Which is correct? Remember: HE, SHE, and IT require an S in the present tense.

13. Pronoun number agreement • Which is correct? (vote) A student should do his/their homework on time.

14. Pronoun number agreement • Pronouns and Antecedents • Antecedent: The word to which the pronoun refers. • Examples: • “Bob saw that his sister was asleep in her bed.” • “We like to visit our friends when they are home.” • “My mom and dad worked on their house.”

15. Pronoun number agreement • Rule C: Singular antecedents require singular pronouns.

16. Pronoun number agreement Singular and plural pronouns Singular Pronouns (only one person or thing) I, my, me You, your He, his, him She, her It, its Plural Pronouns (more than one person or thing) We, our, us You, your They, their, them

17. Pronoun number agreement • Fix these sentences: • “If the owner takes their dog home, they will have fun.” • “No one likes it when they have a sick pet.” • “A good manager does their best for their company.” (his, her, his or her) (he, she, he or she) (he, she, he or she has) (his, her, his or her) (his, her, his or her)

18. Pronoun number agreement • So…which is correct? “A student should do his/their homework on time.”

19. Subject pronouns • Which one of these is correct? (vote) • “My mom and me went home.” • “My mom and I went home.” • “Me and my mom went home.” • Let’s figure it out together.

20. Subject pronouns • Subject Pronouns: Can be used as subjects • I: I ate the eyeballs. • You: You ate the eyeballs. • He: He ate the eyeballs. • She: She ate the eyeballs. • It: It ate the eyeballs. • We: We ate the eyeballs. • They: They ate the eyeballs. • Who: Who ate the eyeballs?

21. Subject pronouns • Rule D: Use subject pronouns as subjects. Elements of Style, #10

22. My mom and I went home. Subject pronouns • My mom and me went home. • My mom and I went home. • Me and my mom went home. • Another way to do this: • My mom went home. (Correct?) • Me went home. (Correct?) • I went home. (Correct?)

23. Punctuation: Major issues • Commas • Apostrophes

24. Commas: 3 Primary uses • The basic purpose of the comma: • Divide and identify major elements of a sentence • Separate ideas into understandable units • Primary uses: • Series • Joining sentences • Introductory phrases

25. Commas: Serial comma • Put a comma after every item in a series except the last. • Simple example: “Her dog ate my socks, shoes, and slippers.” (This is a series.) Elements of Style, #2

26. Commas: Serial comma • Rule E: Put a comma before “AND” in a series.

27. Commas: Serial comma • Example: • “I love my parents, Santa Claus and the president.” (How many people do I love: 2 or 4?) • Revised: “I love my parents, Santa Claus, and the president.”(4 people!) • Example: • “Susan, Fritz and Tom and Julie have one dog each.”(How many dogs are there: 2, 3, or 4?) • “Susan, Fritz, and Tom and Julie have one dog each.”(3 dogs!)

28. Commas: Joining sentences • Complete sentence: • Has a subject and predicate • Examples: (find the subject and predicate) • “Her dog wrestles with Mr. Sock.” • “Her dog, the furry animal running in circles, has a lot of energy! • “Her dog is very small, but it sure can bark loudly at night!”

29. Commas: Joining sentences • Rule F: Put a comma before “AND” or “BUT” when joining two sentences. Elements of Style, #4

30. Commas: Joining complete sentences • Example: (find the complete sentences) • Wrong: “Dogs like running and jumping is good for them.” • Right: “Dogs like running, and jumping is good for them.” • Example: (find the complete sentences) • Wrong: “Some dogs have a good sense of smell but not hearing or taste and sight is best in young dogs.” • Right: “Some dogs have a good sense of smell but not hearing or taste, and sight is best in young dogs.”

31. Commas: Introductory phrases/clauses • Introductory adverbial phrase/clause: A phrase at the beginning of the sentence that tells something about the main action: • Examples (find the phrase): • “After the visit to the vet, her dog was hungry.” • “Because she doesn’t like vets, her dog barked.” • “Even though the vet is nice, her dog was scared.” • “If the vet had given her treats, her dog wouldn’t be scared.”

32. Commas: Introductory phrases/clauses • Rule G: Put a comma after introductoryphrases and clauses.

33. Commas: Introductory phrases • Example: • “Although she gets unhappy going to the vet is necessary sometimes.” (What’s wrong?) • Right: “Although she gets unhappy, going to the vet is necessary sometimes.” • Example: • “Because her dog is small and doesn’t look imposing other dogs sometimes play too roughly.” (What’s wrong?) • Right: “Because her dog is small and doesn’t look imposing, other dogs sometimes play too roughly.”

34. Apostrophes and Plurals • Apostrophes are for • Possessives • Contractions • Apostrophes are not for adding S to make a plural • Which sentence is wrong? • “The car’s motor makes noise.” • “The car’s at the store.” • “The car’s won’t start.”

35. Apostrophes and Plurals • Rule H: Never, never, never, never use an apostrophe to make a plural.

36. Apostrophes: When NEVER to use them • Which apostrophes are in the wrong place? • “These hamburger’s have too many pickle’s.” • “In the 1990’s, people bought a lot of CD’s.” • “Editor’s get upset when writer’s use apostrophe’s to make plural’s.”

37. Building Great Sentences

38. Powerful sentence structure • Basic concept: Write like people think. • Meaning: Who did what to whom? • Writing application: Subject + Verb + Object • Simple examples: • “John kissed Mary.” • “The old man on the bench read his newspaper.” • “When I saw her, I tossed my cookie.” • “Although I tried to kiss her, she preferred John.”

39. Powerful sentence structure • Extending this concept 1: Place the main verb as closely to the subject as possible. • Poor: The old man, who had been sitting at the same bench for as many years as I could remember, never speaking, always watching the cars as they raced by, read his newspaper. (What are the first 6 words of the edited sentence?) • Better: The old man read his newspaper, sitting at the same bench where he had sat for as many years as I could remember, never speaking, always watching the cars go by.

40. Rule I: Keep the subject andmain verb together.

41. Powerful sentence structure • Extending this concept 2: Break complicated sentences into simpler, shorter sentences. • Poor: Once the business opened, which occurred after much effort, expense, and planning, the owner, a long-term veteran of new business ventures, some successful and others not, found, to his dismay, though not to his surprise, that he was unable to acquire the necessary workforce to keep his business open every day. (do and share) 2 1 3 4 List the ideas in this sentence. Share and rewrite.

42. Rule J: Limit the number of ideasin one sentence.

43. Powerful sentence structure • Better: After much effort, expense, and planning, the owner opened his new business. He found that he was unable to acquire the necessary work force to keep his business open every day. As a veteran of new business ventures, he was dismayed but not surprised.

44. “There” is a crummy subject. • What are the subjects of these sentences? • “There used to be a house here.” • “There is a river that goes by the village.” • “There will be a fair this weekend.” • “There are no people in the restaurant.”

45. “There” is a crummy subject. • The problem with “there.” • The subject does the main action. • “There” isn’t a thing, so it can’t do anything. • “There used to be a house here.” • What thing is this sentence about? • What did that thing do? • “A house used to be here.”

46. “There” is a crummy subject. • Rule K: Don’t use “there” as a subject.

47. “There” is a crummy subject. • What are these sentences about? • “There used to be a house here.” • “There is a river that goes by the village.” • “There will be a fair this weekend.” • “There are no people in the restaurant.” • “There is a dog in my bed.” • Rewrite them.

48. “There” is a crummy subject. • “There used to be a house here.” • “A house used to be here.” • “There is a river that goes by the village.” • “A river goes by the village.” • “There will be a fair this weekend.” • “A fair will occur this weekend.” • “There are no people in the restaurant.” • “No people are in the restaurant.” • “There is a dog in my bed.” • “A dog is in my bed.”

49. Writing papers 1. Determine topic 2. Determine main ideas 3. Determine content 4. Write 5. Revise and proofread

50. 1. Determine topic • Usually given to you • For this exercise: My favorite teacher