Reminder:

April 21 Week- Presentation Week...

This is a powerpoint presentation...


Reminder on the steps:

• Brainstorming
• Agenda (Bringing the points together)
• Paragragh Writing (Put the points together into paragraphs)- Also remember, a paragragh should have beginning, middle, and end.
• Making Powerpoint (no paragraphs in powerpoint- point form only)
• Rehearsal (no reading paragraghs during presentation- you should know your topic well enough that you can teach it to the class)

Also remember to make a creative title for your presentation.

There will be a questioning period and discussion after each presentation.

If you have problems, you can email me or check your notes.

PS. If you want me to edit your paragraphs or if you have any questions, you can email me at adasham@gmail.com.

Good Luck...

See you all on April 21st.

Lesson 32: Punctuation

Apostrophes

The apostrophe (’) is used in three ways:

1. To show possession (ownership)
2. To show plural forms
3. To show where a letter or number has been omitted

Let’s examine each guideline in depth.

1. Use an apostrophe to show possession.

_ With singular nouns or pronouns not ending in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
· a rocket a rocket’s red glare
· a flag a flag’s stripes
· someone someone’s wish
· anyone anyone’s game


_ With singular nouns ending in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
· James James’s car
· waitress waitress’s suggestion

_ If the new word is hard to say, leave off the s.
· James’ car waitresses’ suggestion


_ With plural nouns not ending in s, add an apostrophe and an s.
· men men’s shoes
· people people’s feelings

_ With plural nouns ending in s, add an apostrophe after the s.
· several computers several computers’ hard drives
· three teachers three teachers’ lesson plans


If you are having difficulty deciding where to put the apostrophe and whether to add an s, try following these two steps:

_ To figure out if ownership is involved, ask yourself: “To whom does it belong?”
_ If the answer is a singular noun or pronoun, follow that rule. If it’s a plural noun, follow that rule.

You have the phrase “my friends party.”
Ask: To whom does the party belong?
Answer: It belongs to my friend. Friend is singular. Therefore, the phrase reads: “My friend’s party.”


2. Use an apostrophe to show plural forms.

_ Use an apostrophe and s to show the plural of a number, symbol, or letter, or words used to name themselves.
· three 7’s
· two ?’s
· your u’s look like w’s

There are too many distracting like’s and um’s in her speech.


3. Use an apostrophe to show where a letter or number has been omitted.

_ Use an apostrophe to show where letters have been left out of contractions.

Recall that contractions are two words combined. When you contract words, add an apostrophe in the space where the letters have been taken out.
· cannot can’t
· I will I’ll

_ Use an apostrophe to show numbers have been left out of a date.
the ’70s the ’90s


Colons

1. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a list. Remember that an independent clause is a complete sentence.

The colon is two dots, one on top of each other, like this (:).

If you really want to lose weight, you must give up the following sweets: cake, pie, candy, and cookies.


2. Use a colon after an independent clause to introduce a quotation.

Robert Lawson speaks impatiently of the good intentions that direct the current trends in children’s books: “Some of this scattered band may be educators or psychologists or critics, but they are all animated by a ruthless determination to do children good through their books; it is these people who start the theories and fads that are the bane of authors and illustrators and editors and a pain in the neck to children.” (Fenner, 47)


3. Use a colon before the part of a sentence that explains what has
just been stated.

Our store has a fixed policy: We will not be undersold.


4. Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
· Dear Dr. Lewis:
· To Whom It May Concern:


5. Use a colon to distinguish chapter from verse in a Biblical citation,
hours from minutes, and titles from subtitles.

· Song of Songs 4:15
· 10:15 A.M.
· Eating Healthy: A Complete Guide

Commas

Commas are the most frequently used marks of punctuation in English. In fact, commas occur in writing twice as often as all other marks of punctuation combined!

Commas tell us how to read and understand sentences, because they tell us where to pause.

A correctly placed comma helps move readers from the beginning of a sentence to the end.

Here’s the overall comma alert:

As you write, don’t add commas just because you paused in your reading. Since everyone pauses at different times, a pause isn’t a reliable way to judge comma use. Instead, rely on the rules that govern comma use.

And here are those guidelines:

1. Use a comma to set off parts of a sentence.

Use a comma to separate parts of a compound sentence.
· Use the comma before the coordinating conjunction.

The movie was sold out, so we decided to have an early
dinner.

The movie was a blockbuster, but we arrived early
enough to get seats.

Our friends are easy-going, and they don’t get upset
when plans change.


· Use a comma to set off dialogue.

Martha said, “This movie won an Academy Award.”

“This movie,” Martha said, “won an Academy Award.”

“This movie won an Academy Award,” Martha said.


· Use a comma to separate the parts of an address. Do not use a comma before the zip code in an address.

Rick lives at 163 East Plains Drive, Boston, MA 89012


2. Use a comma after introductory and concluding expressions.

_ Use a comma after an introductory word.

· Yes, I will be coming to the retirement party.
· However, I won’t be able to bring a macaroni salad.


_ Use a comma after an introductory phrase.

· To get a good night’s sleep, you should practice relaxation techniques.
· Beginning tomorrow, the store will be open until midnight.


_ Use a comma after an introductory clause.
· Although the sky is overcast, I don’t think that it will rain this afternoon.
· Since you can’t do the dishes, could you please walk the dog tonight?


_ Use a comma after the greeting of an informal letter.
· Dear Mom, Dear Mickey,


_ Use a comma at the close of any letter.
· Yours truly, Sincerely,



3. Use a comma after interrupting words and expressions.

_ Use a comma to set off interrupting words and expressions.
· The State University of New York, did you know, has 64 campuses scattered across New York State.


_ Use a comma to set off words of direct address (words that tell to whom a remark is addressed).
· Nanci, please clean up your room.
· Please clean up your room, Nanci.


_ Use a comma with names and titles.
· Ms. Barbara Gilson, Editorial Director
· Laurie Rozakis, Ph.D.


_ Use a comma to set off words in apposition (words that give additional information about the preceding or following word or expression).
· A good eater, my baby will be off the bottle soon.
· My baby, a good eater, will be off the bottle soon.


_ Use a comma to set off a nonessential clause (a clause that can be omitted without changing the sentence’s basic meaning).
· Elizabeth II, who was born in 1926 in London, is the queen of England.
· Prince Charles, Elizabeth’s first child, was born in 1948.


_ Use a comma to separate items in a series. The comma before and in a series of items is optional.
· The store had a sale on hot dogs, watermelon, and paper plates.



4. Use commas to prevent misreading.

_ Use a comma to clarify any potentially confusing sentences.
Confusing: Those who can practice many hours every day.
Clear: Those who can, practice many hours every day.
Rewritten: Those who can practice, do so many hours every day.


Confusing: Luisa dressed and sang for an enthusiastic crowd.
Clear: Luisa dressed, and sang for an enthusiastic crowd.
Rewritten: After Luisa dressed, she sang for an enthusiastic crowd.

Of course, as the rewritten examples show, you’re usually much better off revising the sentences so there is no possibility of your audience misreading your words.


5. Use commas with numbers. Do not use commas when writing telephone numbers, page numbers, or years.

_ Use a comma between the day of the month and the year.
· December 7, 1941 July 20, 1969

_ Use commas to show thousands, millions, and so on.
· 5,000 50,000 500,000 5,000,000



Dashes

A dash (—) is not the same as a hyphen. The dash, or a pair of dashes, lets you interrupt a sentence to add emphasis with additional information. Use dashes lightly or you risk creating a breathless, overly informal style.

Use a dash to emphasize an example, a definition, or a contrast.

· Two of the strongest animals in the jungle—the elephant and gorilla—are vegetarians.
· Two of the strongest animals in the jungle are vegetarians—the elephant and gorilla.


Exclamation Marks

Use an exclamation mark after an exclamatory sentence.
· How dare you say that to me!
· You can’t possibly go out wearing that dress!


Hyphens

A hyphen (-) is smaller than a dash. Use a hyphen to show a break in words. Traditionally, a hyphen was used to show a word break at the end of a line.

However, modern computer software has virtually eliminated this use of the hyphen.

1. Use a hyphen in certain compound nouns.
· pint-sized great-grandmother

2. Use hyphens in written-out fractions and in written-out compound numbers from twentyone to ninety-nine.
· one-half fifty-five

Periods

1. Use a period after a complete sentence.
· The shrimp’s heart is in its head.
· In the Arctic, the sun sometimes appears to be square.

2. Use a period after most abbreviations and initials. If an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, do not add another period.
· Dr. Ms. Jr. John F. Kennedy

3. Don’t use a period after acronyms.
· CNN ABC CBS

4. Use a period after each Roman numeral, letter, or number in an outline.
I.
A.
B.
1.
2.


Question Marks

Use a question mark after a question.
· Where is the complaint desk?
· Will the store be open late tonight?

Quotation Marks

1. Use quotation marks to set off a speaker’s exact words.
· “Did you eat the entire bag of chips?” Debbie squealed.

2. Use quotation marks to set off the titles of short works such as poems, essays, songs, short stories, and magazine articles.
· “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson (short story)
· “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (essay)
· “We’ve Only Just Begun” by the Carpenters (song)

3. Use single quotation marks to set off quoted material or the titles of short works within a quotation enclosed by double quotation marks.
· “Did you read ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’ last night?” the teacher asked.
4. Use quotation marks to set off words used for emphasis or a definition.
· The proposed “tax reform” is really nonsense.


Semicolons

A semicolon is a comma and period combined, like this (;). The semicolon’s structure shows you that the semicolon is a hybrid of a comma and a period. It’s a stronger stop than a comma but not as strong as a period.

1. Use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses when the coordinating conjunction has been left out.
· The chef cooked far too much chicken; we eagerly devoured the excess.


2. Use a semicolon between main clauses connected by conjunctive adverbs such as however, nevertheless, moreover, for example, and consequently.
· Sarah wanted to be a doctor; however, she faints at the sight of blood.


3. Use a semicolon to join independent clauses when one or both clauses contain a comma.
· Glenn, who is an accomplished musician, wanted to perform at his sister’s wedding; but he quickly discovered that Marcia, the maid of honor, had other plans for the entertainment.

Lesson 31: 25 Most Common Problems that a Writer Has….

· Please bring the notes from lesson 30 (contain 1-13)
· Discuss about the remaining agenda


Writers often misspell words because they mispronounce them. The three most common mistakes are
_ Dropping a letter or syllable when we say a word.
_ Adding an unnecessary letter when we say a word.
_ Mispronouncing a word and so misspelling it.

14. Missing letters

Here are words that are frequently misspelled because the speaker drops a letter or syllable.

_ Accidentally: The word has five syllables; drop one and accidentally becomes accidently.

_ Asked: This word gets mangled as ast or even axed. This results in such curious
spellings as askd, askt, and axst.

_ Asterisk: This word can end up spelled aterisk, askterisk, or even acksterisk.

_ Broccoli: It’s not hard to drop a c and add an l with this veggie. The correct pronunciation isn’t going to do you much good here, so try breaking the word into two parts: broc and coli.

_ Category: Make sure to say that e as an e rather than an a to avoid the misspelling catagory.

_ Cemetery: Cemetary is the result when the third e is pronounced as an a.


15. Extra letters

Because of errors in pronunciation, spellers often insert an unnecessary vowel between two letters. Here are some of the most commonly misspelled words:

_ Athlete: Often mispronounced as athalete, resulting in that unnecessary a.

_ Disastrous: The word ends up with disaster stuck in there: disasterous. What extra letter do you see?

_ Lightning: The bolt of electricity on a stormy night is often mispronounced and thus misspelled as lightening. Now, lightening is a legitimate word; it means that something is getting less dark. Say each letter to help you spell the word you want.

_ Mischievous: A surprising number of people mispronounce the word as mischievious, adding an extra i.

_ Perseverance: People often add an extra r, resulting in perserverance. Saying the word correctly will prevent this error.


16. Transposed letters

Mispronunciation can also result in scrambled letters. Here are some words especially prone to switched letters.

aesthetic allegiance analysis analyze anonymous
auxiliary bureaucrat diaphragm entrepreneur gasoline
gauge gorgeous irrelevant khaki lingerie
mileage psychology resuscitate rhyme rhythm


17. Incorrect plurals

Remember that plural nouns name more than one person, place, or thing. There are regular plurals and irregular ones. The regular plurals rarely result in spelling errors, but irregular plurals often cause trouble. Keep regular and irregular plurals straight and you’ll eliminate a bunch of spelling errors. Below are some spelling rules to help you form the correct plurals.

· Most regular plurals are formed by adding s to the end of the word.
· Add es if the noun ends in s, sh, ch, or x.
· If the noun ends in y preceded by a consonant, change the y to i and add es.
· If the noun ends in y preceded by a vowel, add s.
· Words that end in -ly keep the y when they become plural.
· If the noun ends in o preceded by a vowel, add s.
· If the noun ends in o preceded by a consonant, the noun can take es, s, or either s or es.
· Add s to most nouns ending in f. However, the f endings are so irregular as to be nearly random. If you have any doubts at all, consult a dictionary.
Exception: In some cases, change the f or fe to v and add es
Exception: This rule doesn’t hold for names. In that case, just add an s: Mr. and Ms. Wolf becomes The Wolfs.
· Words that end in -ey, -ay, or -oy do not have -ies plurals.
· In compound words, make the main word plural.
Exceptions: If there is no noun in the compound word, add an s to the end of the word, as in mix-ups, takeoffs. If the compound word ends in -ful, add an s to the end of the word, as in cupfuls.
· Some nouns change their spelling when they become plural.
· Some nouns have the same form whether they are singular or plural.
· The only plurals formed with apostrophes are the plurals of numbers, letters, and words highlighted as words.


18. Errors in confusing word pairs (such as weather/whether)

Some words in English have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings, such as bay/bay and beam/beam. We also have words with the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings, such as coarse/course or bridal/bridle. Distinguishing between these confusing words is crucial because it helps you write exactly what you mean.

Below are some of the most often misspelled words. They’re mangled because they’re so close in sound and/or spelling. After you study the list, however, you’ll be able to tell them apart and use them correctly.

· air: atmosphere There’s no air in a vacuum—hence his empty head.
· err: make a mistake To err is human; to purr, feline.
· a lot: many A lot of people are absent from work today.
· allot: divide Allot the prizes equally among all guests, please.
· all together: all at one time The students spoke all together.
· altogether: completely The job is altogether complete.


19. Missing commas or extra commas

Incorrect: Avoid commas, that are not necessary.
Correct: Avoid commas that are not necessary.

Have you ever been advised to “add commas where you would take a breath”?

Sometimes this advice works—but sometimes it doesn’t. It’s especially dangerous when you’ve gone over and over your writing. At that point, nothing looks correct. To avoid confusion and frustration, don’t use it.


20. Missing or misused apostrophes

Incorrect: Save the apostrophe for it’s proper use and omit it where its’ not needed.
Correct: Save the apostrophe for its proper use and omit it where it’s not needed.

The apostrophe (’) is used in three ways: to show possession
(ownership), to show plural forms, and to show contractions (where a letter or number has been omitted).


21. Misused exclamation marks

Incorrect: Of all U.S. presidents, none lived to be older than John Adams, who died at the age of 91!

Correct: Of all U.S. presidents, none lived to be older than John Adams, who died at the age of 91.

Never overuse exclamation marks. Instead of using exclamation marks, convey emphasis through careful, vivid word choice. Exclamation marks create an overwrought tone that often undercuts your point.


22. Misused semicolons

Incorrect: Use the semicolon correctly always use it where it is appropriate; and never where it is not suitable.

Correct: Use the semicolon correctly; always use it where it is appropriate, and
never where it is not suitable.

A semicolon has two primary uses: to separate two complete sentences (“independent clauses”) whose ideas are closely related or to separate clauses that contain a comma.


23. Proper nouns not capitalized.

Incorrect: louisa adams, Wife of john quincy Adams, was the first (and only) foreign born First Lady.

Correct: Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, was the first (and only) foreignborn first lady.

Here are the basic rules of capitalization:

· Capitalize all proper nouns. These include names, geographical places, specific historical events, eras, and documents, languages, nationalities, countries, and races.
· Capitalize the first word at the beginning of a sentence.



24. Errors in titles

Incorrect: The Wind In The Willows
Correct: The Wind in the Willows

Capitalize the major words in titles of books, plays, movies, newspapers, and magazines.

· Do not capitalize the articles: a, an, the.
· Do not capitalize prepositions: at, by, for, of, in, up, on, so, on, to, etc.
· Do not capitalize conjunctions: and, as, but, if, or, nor.


25. Missing words

Incorrect: Proofread carefully to see if you have any words out.
Correct: Proofread carefully to see if you have left any words out.

This is a simple rule, but many people run out of time before they can proofread a document.

Always make the time to proofread your writing. And try to let your writing sit and “cool off” for a few hours. The errors will become much more obvious and easier to isolate.




Going over part of the speech exercise (lesson 27)

Lesson 30: Presentation #1


The presentation will start at 10am Friday.

Remember this is a power point presentation (either save it on a memory stick or on a CD)


The presentation will be 20 minutes each then we will have a questioning period.

Then we will have a discussion about that presentation....what is good about that presentation and what can be improved...


remember no READING paragraphs.....only index cards....paragraphs are only for backup....

remember to introduce yourself in the beginning....

remember always have a backup plan....don't rely too much faith on technology......If plan A doesn't work...move to plan B

REMEMBER TO REHEARSE....and be confident ...

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL....

Lesson 29: Preparation for Presentation #3

Part 1: Look at your progress…and class time to work on project

Brainstorm Ideas
Organized Agendas
Expansion
Paragraphs
Editing/ Proofreading
Important points on index card
Practice and Rehearsal
Presentation (on Friday)


Part 2: Trouble Spot in Writing

When someone complains that a person “can’t write,” they are most often referring to errors that person makes in grammar and usage. Below are the top 25 writing hot spots.

The 25 Top Writing Errors

Grammar and Usage

1. Lack of clarity
2. Redundancy (unnecessary words)
3. Problems with subject-verb agreement
4. Lack of parallel structure
5. Wrong verb tense
6. Mixed metaphors
7. Dangling modifiers
8. Misplaced modifiers
9. Incorrect idioms
10. Biased language
11. Incorrect voice (active versus passive voice)

Sentences

12. Fragments (incomplete sentences)
13. Run-ons (two sentences run together)

Spelling

14. Missing letters
15. Extra letters
16. Transposed letters
17. Incorrect plurals
18. Errors in confusing word pairs (such as weather/whether)

Punctuation

19. Missing commas or extra commas
20. Missing or misused apostrophes
21. Misused exclamation marks
22. Misused semicolons

Capitalization

23. Proper nouns not capitalized
24. Errors in titles

Proofreading

25. Missing words


Let go over them one by one….

1. Lack of clarity

Incorrect: Prehistoric people used many inorganic substances difficult to find at archaeological sites, which included clay and rock.

Correct: Prehistoric people used many inorganic substances, including clay and rock, which are difficult to find at archaeological sites.

Sentences can be confusing for many different reasons. In the previous example, too many phrases come between the pronoun and its antecedent. As a result, the pronoun reference gets confusing.

If you’re having trouble constructing logical and cohesive sentences,
here’s the quick and dirty lowdown:

_ One sentence = one complete thought. Don’t cram too much into one sentence.

_ The more complex your ideas, the shorter and more simple your sentences should be.

_ Check that all parts of the sentence are logically related. Are they in the same tense, for example?

_ Reread your sentences to make sure all pronouns refer to their antecedents and are placed as close as possible to them.

_ Check that you have punctuated your sentences correctly.


2. Redundancy (unnecessary words)

Incorrect: If you reread your work, you will find upon serious reconsideration that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by careful editing and revising and attentive re-evaluation. Scrupulous editing can also help you make your writing less wordy.

Correct: If you reread your work, you will find that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by careful editing.

Long-winded writing may sound educated and impressive, but it actually turns off your audience because it wastes their time. Say what you need to say concisely. Since your writing will be more intelligible, it will communicate its message directly.


3. Problems with subject-verb agreement

Incorrect: Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

Correct: Verbs have to agree with their subjects.

Agreement means that sentence parts match, singular to singular and plural to plural.

Since the subject verbs is plural, it takes a plural verb, agree.
This is confusing because we add -s or -es to make the third-person singular form of most verbs but add -s or -es to make the plural form of most nouns. For example, he starts is singular, but six papers is plural. Both end in s.


4. Lack of parallel structure

Not parallel: To avoid getting hit by lightning, never seek protection under a tree, lying down on wet ground, or staying on a bike.

Parallel: To avoid getting hit by lightning, never seek protection under a tree, lie down on wet ground, or stay on a bike.

Parallel structure means putting ideas of the same rank in the same grammatical structure.

Your writing (and speech) should have parallel words, phrases, and clauses.

_ Parallel words share the same part of speech (such as nouns, adjectives, or verbs) and tense (if the words are verbs).
_ Parallel phrases create an underlying rhythm in your speech and writing.
_ Parallel clauses also give your writing balance.


5. Wrong verb tense

Incorrect: President John Quincy Adams owns a pet alligator, which he kept in the East Room of the White House.

Correct: President John Quincy Adams owned a pet alligator, which he kept in the East Room of the White House.

The tense of a verb shows its time. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”). In the example here, the action takes place in the past, so the past tense must be used.


6. Mixed metaphors

Incorrect: Take the bull by the toe.

Correct: Take the bull by the horns.

Metaphors are figures of speech that compare two unlike things to explain the less familiar object. When used correctly, metaphors make your writing more descriptive and precise. In most instances, metaphors use words for more than their literal meaning.
Here, for example, we’re not literally talking about grabbing a bull by the horns; rather, we’re figuratively talking about seizing an opportunity.

For a metaphor to be effective, it must compare images or objects that go together. Here, for instance, we would grab a bull’s horns, not its toes. When two clashing images are combined in one comparison, we get a mixed metaphor, which confuses readers.


7. Dangling modifiers

Incorrect: Flying over the countryside, cars and houses looked like toys.

Correct: As we flew over the countryside, cars and houses looked like toys.

A modifier is a word or phrase that describe a subject, verb, or object. (To “modify” is to qualify the meaning.). The modifier is said to “dangle” when the word it modifies has been left out of the sentence. Dangling modifiers confuse your readers and obscure your meaning because the sentence doesn’t make sense.

Correct a dangling modifier by adding the word or words that have been left out. Here, the subject we was added and flying was changed to flew so the sentence makes sense.

And while we’re dangling, let’s look at another mangled construction, dangling participles.

A participle is a verb ending in -ing. It is dangling when the subject of the participle and the subject of the sentence don’t agree. For example:

Incorrect: Rushing to finish the paper, Bob’s printer broke.

The subject is Bob’s printer, but the printer isn’t doing the rushing.

Correct: While Bob was rushing to finish the paper, his printer broke.

One way to tell whether the participle is dangling is to put the clause with the participle right after the subject of the sentence: “Bob’s printer, rushing to finish the paper, broke.”

You can easily hear that it doesn’t sound right.

Note: Not all words that end in -ing are participles. For example: “Completing the task by Tuesday is your next assignment.” The word completing functions as a noun, not a verb.
(Nouns ending in -ing are called gerunds.)

8. Misplaced modifiers

Incorrect: My parents bought a kitten for my sister they call Paws.

Correct: My parents bought a kitten they call Paws for my sister.

A misplaced modifier is a phrase, clause, or word placed too far from the noun or pronoun it describes. As a result, the sentence fails to convey your exact meaning. As this sentence is written, it means that the sister, not the kitten, is named Paws. That’s because the modifier they call Paws is in the wrong place in the sentence. To correct a misplaced modifier, move the modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it describes.


9. Incorrect idioms

Incorrect: It’s raining cats and puppies.

Correct: It’s raining cats and dogs.

The phrase “It’s raining cats and dogs” is an idiom, an expression that has a figurative rather than literal meaning. Expressions such as “make a big deal out of it,” “on the double,” and “down and out” are idioms. If you decide to use idioms in your writing, be sure to use the correct phrase.

For instance, it’s idiomatic to say, “She talked down to him.”
It’s not idiomatic to say, “She talked under to him.”

Idiomatic prepositions are very common and just as hard to use.

In general, avoid idioms in any writing aimed for a foreign audience, since nonnative speakers often find idioms difficult to decipher.


10. Biased language

Incorrect: That old geezer is taking my parking space!

Correct: That man is taking my parking space!

Avoid language that denigrates people because of their age, gender, race, or physical condition. This is especially crucial in business, where such language could result in a lawsuit.


11. Incorrect voice (active versus passive voice)

Passive voice: The meeting was attended by the executive.

Active voice: The executive attended the meeting.

English has two voices: active and passive. A verb is active when the subject performs the action. A verb is passive when its action is performed upon the subject. The active voice is clearer and
more concise than the passive voice.

Even though the active voice is stronger than the passive voice, you should use the passive voice in these two situations:

_ To avoid placing blame (“A mistake was made” rather than “You made a mistake.”)
_ To avoid identifying the doer of the action (“The letter was sent” rather than “Nicole sent the letter.”)


12. Fragments (incomplete sentences)

Fragment: If you want to be clearly understood.

Correct: Don’t write sentence fragments if you want to be clearly understood.

Every sentence must have three things:

_ A subject: the “doer” of the action. The subject will be a noun or pronoun.
_ A verb: what the subject does.
_ A complete thought.

The fragment in this example is missing a subject and a verb. As a result, the group of words does not express a complete thought.



13. Run-ons (two sentences run together)

Run-on: Daddy longlegs spiders are more poisonous than black widows, daddy longlegs spiders cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.

Correct: Daddy longlegs spiders are more poisonous than black widows, but daddy longlegs spiders cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.

or

Daddy longlegs spiders are more poisonous than black widows; however, daddy longlegs cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.


A run-on sentence occurs when two complete sentences (“independent clauses”) are incorrectly joined. Sentences can only be joined with a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) or a semicolon—a comma doesn’t cut the mustard.

Lesson 28: Preparation for presentation 2

Part 1: Look at your progress

Part 2: The language of charts

Types of Charts:


Pie chart Bar chart/graph Line graph


Describing Movement:

Increase/Decrease
Recover/Recovery
Go up/Go down
Jump/Slump
Rise/Fall
Surge/Plummet
Improve(ment)/Declined
Reach (a point)/Approach


Types of Movement:

Slight/Slightly
Gradual/Gradually
Sharp/Sharply
Dramatic/Dramatically
Major/Minor


Movement over Time:

There was a gradual decline in sales. (noun usage)
Sales declined gradually. (verb usage)

Enrollment increased by 4% in 1997.
There was a 4% increase in enrollment in 1997.

Immigration rose to 800,000 in 1999. (to a point/number)
Immigration rose by 20,000 in 1999. (by increment)
There was a 20% rise in immigration. (percentage)

Taxes remained the same from 2000 to 2001.
Taxes continued at 15% for two years.


Static (non-movement) Description :

Sales stood at $1,400,000 in 1998.
Profits were $27,000 in 1999.
There was a loss of $21,000 in 2001.


Part 4: The language of picture and graphic

· Let me use a graphic to explain this.
· The graphic shows that ...
· As you can see (in the picture) ...
· In the next / following picture, you can see ...
· Here is another picture.
· The next picture shows how ...
· Let the pictures speak for themselves.
· I think the picture perfectly shows how / that ...
· Now, here you can see ...



Part 5: Use of equipment

Easily your most important piece of equipment is...YOU! Make sure you're in full working order, and check your personal presentation carefully - if you don't, your audience will!

The overhead projector (OHP) displays overhead transparencies (OHTs or OHPTs). It has several advantages over the 35mm slide projector:

• it can be used in dayligh
• the user can face the audience
• the user can write or draw directly on the transparency while in use

The whiteboard (more rarely blackboard or greenboard) is a useful device for spontaneous writing - as in brainstorming, for example. For prepared material, the OHP might be more suitable.

The flipchart consists of several leaves of paper that you 'flip' or turn over. Some people prefer the flipchart to the whiteboard, but its use is limited to smaller presentations.

The Slide projector - which must be used in a darkened room - adds a certain drama. Some slide projectors can be synchronised with audio for audio-visual (AV) presentations. These projectors are typically used for larger presentations. The majority take 35mm slides or transparencies (as seen here), but projectors for 6x6cm slides are also available.

Transparencies are projected by an overhead projector or a slide projector onto a screen - in this case a folding screen which can be packed up and transported.

The notebook computer is increasingly being used to display graphics during presentations. It is often used in conjunction with an overhead projector, which actually projects the image from the computer screen onto the wall screen.

Handouts are any documents or samples that you 'hand out' or distribute to your audience. Note that it is not usually a good idea to distribute handouts before your presentation. The audience will read the handouts instead of listening to you.

Part 6: Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject is a be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is acted upon by some other agents or by something unnamed (The new policy was approved).

We find an overabundance of the passive voice in sentences created by self-protective business interests, who use the passive voice to avoid responsibility for actions taken. Thus "Cigarette ads were designed to appeal especially to children" places the burden on the ads — as opposed to "We designed the cigarette ads to appeal especially to children," in which "we" accepts responsibility.


Part 7: Biased Language

Gender-specific Pronoun:

Most gender problems can be avoided without the use of the clunky he or she/ him or her construction by using the plural: "Students planning to graduate this spring should see their counsellor at once." An occasional he or she is all right, but after a while it becomes too demanding of the reader's attention, and the device becomes more important than the message. Where a singular pronoun is necessary, use either the masculine or feminine consistently enough to avoid confusion. (You can switch pronouns within an essay, but not within a paragraph.)

Avoid sexist-terminology:

A responsible, sensitive writer will never make demeaning assumptions about gender role. Whether words such as chairman and congressman are sexist and hurtful and whether their substitutes chairperson and members of congress are unnecessary and cumbersome is an argument that some people will still make, but if we can avoid the argument (and the possibility of hurt) with the use of reasonable substitutes, it's well worth it.

Referring to Groups of People:

When a writer wishes to or has to refer to a group of people to the exclusion of others, he or she must be cautious not to use language that is regarded as hurtful by the group being referred to. Nowadays, minority groups and special-interest groups have a great deal to say, and rightfully so, about the language used to refer to them.

One need to be sensitive, fair, and respectful can lead to all kinds of social and personal discoveries. One must be careful, too, in using ethnic and nationalist terms. As long as writers try to be sensitive to the feelings of minorities and special-interest groups and as long as writers consciously attempt to avoid divisive language that offends, stereotypes, belittles, or hurtfully excludes people, that is all that anyone can ask.

Part 8: Parallelism

This principle of parallel construction requires that expressions of similar content and function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more readily the likeness of content and function. Unskillful writers often violate this principle, from a mistaken belief that they should constantly vary the form of their expressions. It is true that in repeating a statement in order to emphasize it writers may have needed to vary its form. But apart from this, writers should follow carefully the principle of parallel construction.

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed.

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method.

The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese.

The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese.

In spring, summer, or in winter.

In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter).

It was both a long ceremony and very tedious.

The ceremony was both long and tedious.

A time not for words, but action.

A time not for words, but for action.



Grammar: Sentence Structure

Part of the speech exercise…

Lesson 27: Preparation for Presentation

Part 1: Look at your progess

Part 2: Structure in your presentation

THE BEGINNING:

1 GREETING THE AUDIENCE

· Good morning, gentlemen.
· Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
· Hello. Thank you for being here.
· Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for that introduction.

2 ANNOUNCING THE PURPOSE OF YOUR TALK

· I am here today to talk about …
· My intention is to convince you that …
· The aim of my talk is show you that …
· The purpose of my presentation is to inform you about ...
· I'm going to talk about …
· I would like to talk about …
· The purpose of my presentation is……..
· My presentation would talk about…

3 PREVIEWING THE MAIN POINTS

· My talk today consists of three main points.
· I'd like to cover four main points in my talk today.
· I will address three separate issues in my talk today.

(other words you might want to use: sections, items, problems, questions,etc.)

4 ANNOUNCING THE MAIN ITEMS IN ORDER

· First … Second … Third … Last (but not least) …
· First of all … Next … Then … After that … Finally …

THE MIDDLE:

5 STARTING THE MAIN PART OF YOUR PRESENTATION

· I'd like to start by saying that …
· Let me begin by saying that …
· Okay, let's begin by looking at …
· To begin with, I'd like to discuss …
· I would like to start of by…

6 REFERRING TO VISUAL AIDS

· Let's take a look at the next foil (transparency / overhead / slide).
· As you can see from this chart, …
· We can see from this chart that …
· You will notice from this graph that …
· The table clearly shows that …

7 INTRODUCING A NEW POINT

· Now, I'd like to talk about …
· Next, let's turn to …
· Let's move on to …

8 GIVING AN EXAMPLE

· Let me give you an example.
· To show you what I mean, let's examine …
· For example, let's take a look at …
· To illustrate my point, consider …
· A case in point is …

9 GIVING A BALANCED VIEW

· On the other hand, …
· Nevertheless, …
· Still, …
· Having said that, …

10 ADDING A COMMENT

· By the way, let me say that …
· Incidentally, I'd like to say that …
· I might add that …
· Let me add a comment here.

11 MAKING A GENERALIZATION/ SUMMARIZATION

· On the whole …
· In general …
· Generally speaking …
· By and large …
· For the most part …
· Let me just summarize…

12 DRAWING A CONCLUSION FROM THE EVIDENCE

· From this, we can conclude that …
· From this, we can infer that …
· Based on this, we can draw the following conclusion / inference.

THE END:

13 REVIEWING THE MAIN POINTS

· I'd like to review the main points.
· I'd like to re-cap the main points.
· I'd like to go over the main points again briefly.

14 ENDING THE PRESENTATION

· In conclusion, …
· In conclusion let me say, …
· Let me conclude by saying, …
· Let me finish by saying, …
· In the end, …

15 INVITING QUESTIONS FROM YOUR LISTENERS

· I would be happy to answer any questions at this time.
· If there are any questions, I'll take them now.
· Are there any questions?

16 THANKING YOUR LISTENERS

· If there are no more questions, thank you for your attention.
· Thank you very much for your attention.
· Thank you for your attention.
· Thank you very much.
· Thank you.

Part 3: Transition Signals

Compare Paragraphs 1 and 2. Both give the same information, yet one is easier to follow because it contains transition signals like for example to lead the reader from one idea to the next.

Paragraph 1

A difference among the world's seas and oceans is that the salinity varies in different climate zones. The Baltic Sea in northern Europe is only one quarter as saline as the Red Sea in the Middle East. There are two reasons for this. In warm climates, water evaporates rapidly. The concentration of salt is greater than that in cold climate zones, where water evaporates slowly. In hot areas the surrounding land is dry and does not contribute much fresh water to dilute the salty seawater. The runoff created by melting snow in cold areas adds a considerable amount of fresh water to dilute the saline seawater.

(adapted from Oshima and Hogue, 1999)

Notice that the second paragraph is more coherent. Click on the transition signals in the paragraph below.

Paragraph 2

Another difference among the world's seas and oceans is that the salinity varies in different climate zones. For example, the Baltic Sea in northern Europe is only one quarter as saline as the Red Sea in the Middle East. There are two reasons for this. First of all, in warm climates, water evaporates rapidly; therefore, the concentration of salt is greater than that in cold climate zones, where water evaporates slowly. Secondly, in hot areas the surrounding land is dry and consequently does not contribute much fresh water to dilute the salty seawater. In contrast, the runoff created by melting snow in cold areas adds a considerable amount of fresh water to dilute the saline seawater.

(adapted from Oshima and Hogue, 1999)

Providing transitions between ideas is largely a matter of attitude. You must never assume that your readers know what you know. In fact, it's a good idea to assume not only that your readers need all the information that you have and need to know how you arrived at the point you're at, but also that they are not quite as quick as you are. You might be able to leap from one side of the stream to the other; believe that your readers need some stepping stones and be sure to place them in readily accessible and visible spots.


To indicate sequence or to order information :

first, second etc.
followed by
at this point
next, last, finally
previously, subsequently
after that
initially
and then
next, before, after
concurrently
simultaneously
meanwhile

To introduce an example:

in this case
for example
for instance
on this occasion
to illustrate
to demonstrate
this can be seen
when/where . . .
take the case of

To indicate time:

immediately
thereafter
formerly
finally
prior to
previously
then
soon
during
at that time
before, after
at this point

To logically divide an idea:

first, next, finally
firstly, secondly, thirdly
initially, subsequently, ultimately

To compare:

similarly
by comparison
similar to
like, just like
whereas
balanced against

To contrast:

in contrast
on the other hand
balanced against
however
on the contrary
unlike
differing from
a different view is
despite

To introduce an additional idea:

in addition
also
finally
moreover
furthermore
one can also say
and then
further
another

To introduce an opposite idea or show exception:

however
on the other hand
whereas
instead
while
yet
but
despite
in spite of
nevertheless
even though
in contrast
it could also be said that

To give an example:

for example
to illustrate
for instance
in this case
to demonstrate
take the case of

To indicate a result/ cause of something:

therefore
thus
consequently
as a consequence
as a result
hence

To summarise or conclude:

in summary
in conclusion
in brief
as a result
on the whole
summing up
as shown
ultimately
therefore
consequently
thus
in other words
to conclude
to summarise
finally


Grammar:

Go over exercise
Go to sentence structure

Part of the Speech exercise

Identify the part of the speech on the highlighted words in the following sentences:

1. I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.
2. What did she ask you to do?
3. I left my shoes under the kitchen table.
4. If we finished our work quickly, we can go to the movies.
5. On Saturdays, I work from nine to five.
6. I want to go to a university in United States.
7. I’m sure I have met your girlfriend before.
8. Well, I don’t think I will be here to answer the phone.
9. Andy knocked on the door but nobody answered.
10. After lunch, let’s go out for a coffee.