Where I Stand Essay Corrections

1. Where I Stand Essay Corrections Miss Michel – English I

2. Common “Spelling” Errors Make sure that you know your words!

3. Its VS. It’s Its It’s • Possessive pronoun • My family has a Lexus; its seats are leather and super comfortable. • Contraction for “it is” • My mom drives an Acura; it’s hopefully going to hopefully be mine when I get my permit.

4. Your VS. You’re Your You’re • Possessive pronoun • Your best friend will always be there for you, even when it seems like no one else will. • Contraction for “you are” • You’re probably wondering why I would want to get a tattoo at all.

5. Their, There, and They’re • Their = possessive pronoun • “The Braves are my favorite professional baseball team. Their work ethic is so high; I’ve gone to spring training three times.” • There = a location, often an adverb • “I love my Aunt. She is one of the closest people in the world to me. Her house is always open when I need her, so I go there when I need advice.” • They’re = a contraction for “they are” • I sometimes cook for my family. When they’re tired at the end of the day, they love my lasagna.

6. Try to avoid using: • Very, a lot, etc. • These words undermine what you are saying. • P.S. A LOT IS TWO WORDS! • Also – write out numbers less than 100. • “I am fourteen years old.”

7. Subject / Verb Agreement Does your subject match your verb in number?

8. Subject / Verb Agreement Errors • A singular subject demands a singular verb; a plural subject demands a plural verb. That is the simple principle behind subject-verb agreement. • Sample sentences: “All families has feuds and bumps heads at times.” “Chores is one of the things I hate.” “Winter and summer is my two favorite seasons.”

9. Pronoun / Antecedent Error If you have a pronoun, is it abundantly clear what the noun is that it is replacing?

10. Pronoun / Antecedent Errors • Pronoun A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. It refers to a person, place, thing, feeling, or quality but does not refer to it by its name. The pronoun in the following sample sentence is bolded. • Antecedent An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, understood by the context. The antecedent in the following sample sentence is bolded.

11. Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement • Agreement A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in three ways: Personrefers to the quality of being. Number is the quality that distinguishes between singular (one entity) and plural (numerous entities). Gender is the quality that distinguishes the entities as masculine or feminine. **Your antecedent must also be abundantly clear.

12. Ambiguous Pronoun Reference Sentence to be improved: Improved sentence: Other times they would make fun of me for stupid little things. Half of THEM didn’t make sense. Other times they would make fun of me for stupid little things that didn’t even make sense.

13. Sentence Fragments What’s missing?

14. Which is a sentence fragment? • We walked. • Because we stopped by the ice cream shop on Main Street, the store with the amazing double dark chocolate and coffee milkshakes and those ice cream cakes that Bertha always had at little Tasha’s birthday parties back when she was little.

15. Any sentence, short or long, can be a sentence fragment! The length of your sentence does not matter!

16. Sentence Fragments • Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. • One of the easiest ways to correct them is to remove the period between the fragment and the main clause. Other kinds of punctuation may be needed for the newly combined sentence.

17. Suggestions for Revision: • Fragment: I need to find a new PS3. Because the one I have now isn't working out too well. Possible Revision: I need to find a new PS3 because the one I have now isn't working out too well. • Fragment: My current list of chores is way too long. Which is why I believe my mom should let up some. Possible Revision: Because my current list of chores is way too long, I believe my mom should let up some.

18. Sentence Fragments Flawed Sentence Corrected Sentence • “With music pumping through the speakers, bodies slamming together and flying through the air, the screamers (singers) jumping onto the front-row-watchers.” • “There is nothing better than when music is pumping through the speakers, bodies are slamming together and flying through the air, and the screamers are (singers) jumping onto the front-row-watchers

19. Academic Versus Journalistic Writing • You may have noticed that newspaper and magazine journalists often use a dependent clause as a separate sentence when it follows clearly from the preceding main clause, as in the last example above. This is a conventional journalistic practice, often used for emphasis. For academic writing and other more formal writing situations, however, you should avoid such journalistic fragment sentences.

20. But don’t start a sentence with a conjunction! (haha) (That makes it a sentence Fragment.)

21. Run-On Sentences What do you need to fix your run-on sentences?

22. What makes a Run-On sentence? • Mindy and I argue a lot but when it comes to people bothering her I’m the first one there to help her. My sister has an independent personality so she doesn’t’ always accept my help but I offer it anyways. She may act like she doesn’t love me but I know deep down that she does. Mindy is strong-willed and I think she will be able to defend herself whenever she’s an adult. • When you combine two complete sentences with a coordinating conjunction, USE A COMMA!

23. Comma Splice What is holding your sentences together??

24. Sample Comma Splice Errors • “Tattoos can express so much more than most people think, there’s feelings, memories, art, and importance to people.” Sample corrected sentences: “Tattoos can express so much more than most people think; there’s feelings, memories, art, and importance to people.” “Tattoos can express so much more than most people think because there’s feelings, memories, art, and importance to people.” “Tattoos can express so much more than most people think, for there’s feelings, memories, art, and importance to people.”

25. Correction Directions Corrections due by Friday, September 23

26. How to do corrections: Minor Errors Major Errors (X’s) • Hand in a new, revised final draft of your essay. Highlight the changes you’ve made. • Also hand in your graded final draft so I can see how your writing has improved. • On separate paper, write the flawed sentence, the error it contains, and a corrected version of the sentence. • Major errors include S/V agreement, ambiguous pronoun, fragment, run-on, and comma splice.