Common Mistakes, Vol. I

1. Common Mistakes, Vol. I ENG11DC Mr. Lidington

2. The dreaded comma splice • Dr. Ridgeon finds the cure for tuberculosis, but only enough for one person, he has to choose a patient to give it to. • Fix by dividing into two independent clauses with a period or semicolon. • Dr. Ridgeon finds the cure for tuberculosis, but only enough for one person; he has to choose a patient to give it to.

3. The floating quote • This quote explains Ridgeon’s personal gain in the end. “No, by all that’s true on earth, he made his WIDOW the happiest woman on earth.” • Each quote must have attribution and context and include a transition from preceding info. • Ridgeon reveals his true motivation when he says, “No, by all that’s true on earth, he made his WIDOW the happiest woman on earth.”

4. The run-on sentence • The monster ran to the door and looked out, checking to see if Victor had arrived but he was disappointed to see that he was still alone. • Too much. • The monster ran to the door and looked out. He did not see Victor and was sad that he was still alone.

5. Shun passive voice • When the monster is created, Frankenstein is disgusted with him and runs away. • Use active rather than “be” verbs, which communicate ACTION • Victor creates the monster, which disgusts its creator.

6. Academic Voice • When looking at these two books, you must consider they are the same, yet different. • For summer reading this year I was told I had to read a novel called Frankenstein by some author I have never heard of. • There is NO place for first-person pronouns or ANY type of reader address in formal academic writing.

7. Verb Tense Should Agree • Victor looked for the monster, but runs when they meet in the mountains. • This is called FAULTY PARALLELISM. • Victor looked for the monster, but ran when they met in the mountains.

8. Watch Fragments • Bobby’s decision to keep the baby rather than give her up for adoption despite the recommendation from several social workers. • Subject, check; but where’s the verb? • Bobby’s decision…from several social workers made sense to his mother.

9. Spell it out • These decisions affect the outcome of the characters’ lives. Once they make their decisions there is no turning back. • Great, but WHAT ARE the decisions? You can summarize briefly in the intro.

10. Didn’t double-space paper

11. Poor Thesis • The thesis is the roadmap for your essay. • Inside the thesis, the reader should be able to see ALL points you’re going to make. • So, make sure your thesis has a BRIEF MENTION of all the causes and effects of your topic.

12. Improper citation style

13. More Quote Citation Style BOOK TITLE But Lidington refutes that argument. As he wrote in his book “Life on the Streets,” “…on the contrary, pimpin’ IS easy” (Lidington). QUOTE ENDS HERE QUOTE FROM BOOK BEGINS HERE CITATION, WITH PERIOD AT END

14. Improper Intext Citations • Each minor detail in your paper must have a citation (which tells the reader which of your sources the information came from) • If you use the same source in consecutive sentences, no need to use the same citation TWICE. • “Cancel out like terms” and place the citation at the end of the LAST SENTENCE to use the repeated source information.

15. Didn’t DBL space Works Cited Page