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“Grammar and Spelling” Chapter 2. (aka English 101). “Words to write by…”. “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are not used to seeing in print; never use a long word where a short one will do; if it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out;.
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“Grammar and Spelling”Chapter 2 (aka English 101)
“Words to write by…” “Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are not used to seeing in print; never use a long word where a short one will do; if it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out;
“Words to write by…” never use the passive voice when you can use the active; never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or jargon if you can think of an everyday English equivalent; and break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.” --George Orwell, author
Good reporters: • Have good news judgment • Write well “To become effective writers, journalists must understand more than the basics of grammar and word usage. They have to become experts.” (from your textbook)
The basics: • Nouns • Verbs • Adjectives • Articles (“a,” “an,” “the”) • Adverbs • Pronouns • Conjunctions (“and,” “but,” “or”– words that connect other words, phrases, etc.)
Problem Areas • Agreement errors • Example: “A team of researchers have gathered the information.” Can you fix? • Example: “General Motors is expanding their car line.” Is this sentence correct? • Example: “The team won their third victory in a row.” OK…or not?
Misplaced Modifiers • Example: “A suspect in a burglary case was arrested after a high-speed chase involving two lawn mowers stolen from a hardware store.” Is this OK? • Example: “The board voted to fire the president for his sexual misconduct during an emergency meeting Saturday morning.” Huh?
Personification Problems • Example: “The fire department treated the child for smoke inhalation.” Correct? • Example: “The company, which denied any responsibility for the deaths, will appear in court next month.” Who will appear in court?
(Un)Parallel Form • Example: “She enjoys swimming, running, biking and to read a good book.” Anything wrong? • Example: “The Smiths have three children: Jim, 4; three-year-old Jane; and little Joe who just turned two.” • Better: “The Smiths have three children: Jim, 4; Jane, 3; and Joe, 2.”
Finly…be sur to spelt crectly… • Misspellings reflect laziness on the part of the writer, and they sometimes cause readers to doubt the facts in the story • Spell-check programs may catch misspelled words but they don’t always catch improper word usage.