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)