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Punctuation Exercise
1. Read the following paragraph and add apostrophes where necessary.
Rachel’s brother Mark has just started his first year in college. He’s a little nervous about his classes, but he’s really enjoying living in the dorms. He says his roommate is nice, but Mark gets a little annoyed when he finds his roommate’s clothes all over the floor. Mark’s teachers are all very impressive; he expects he’ll have learned a lot from them by the semester’s end.
2. Read the following sentences and make corrections by adding semi-colons, colons, dashes, parentheses or hyphens where needed.
The café will close early on the following holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and Easter.
Here’s an easy way to cut down on fat in your diet; cook vegetables in a low-fat spray (rather instead of butter.)
The actors who performed at the International Festival were: Jean Duffet, of Paris, France Maria-Tulenges of Madrid, Spain, Josh Carter of Berkeley, California and Petra Wolf of Berlin, Germany.
She had visited many cities (Rome, Tokyo, and Venice) but Paris was her favorite.
The seats on the airplane -those in economy class, anyway- were too small to be comfortable.
3. Read the following sentences and add the necessary punctuation.
“I want to kiss you,” John said.
Kate asked, “Are you going to be in the play?”
The word “love” has many different meanings.
The customer told us that he was satisfied.
“Did the team win?” the announcer asked.
4. Read the following paragraph and add commas where needed.
We were sitting in algebra class on June 3, 1999, the last class of the day, when the principal’s voice came over the P.A. system. "Attention class of 1999," the principal said. "I’d like to congratulate you for your hard work, determination, and focus this past year. Your parents should all be very proud of you and if they are not, tell them to come and talk to me." When he finished speaking, the whole class erupted in loud heartfelt cheering.
Introduction/Lead-In Exercise
For the following thesis statement, write four introductory paragraphs using each of the four strategies outlined in the "Lead-Ins and Introductions" section at the beginning of the lesson (just after the Lesson #7 objectives).
Thesis Statement: Teenagers usually do not fit into the rebellious, unpleasant stereotype that is often thrust upon them.
Strategies:
1. Triangular Introduction
2. Controversial Contrast Introduction
3. Narrative Introduction
4. Quotes, Figures, or Statistics Introduction.
Sample…..
STRATEGY #1: If you absolutely cannot think of anything else, approach your introduction in reverse triangular form, going from general to specific. This is a LAST RESORT (because this strategy tends to be rather boring), simply a way to get you going. Notice how the introduction begins talking about the world in general, and gradually moves to focus on one specific area: schools.
Example: The world today is a place of constant fear and mistrust. In the United States, most people are afraid to leave their doors unlocked or walk alone after dark. No major city, suburb, small town, or rural area remains untouched by violent crime. Even school, once a place of refuge, has become a dangerous place to be.
Prima facie, international business primarily affects the companies offering opportunities abroad and the localities in which these opportunities exist. However, international business and its impacts touch numerous regions and people beyond the companies’ reaches. Rather, as evidenced by the economic downturn and decades of foreign outsourcing, jobs within the United States are almost nonexistent, people are hungry in every city, home foreclosures are commonplace and many citizens share a common fate with those in lesser-developed nations. After all, many are landless, dispossessed and disenfranchised from economic opportunities because of international businesses and multinational corporations. Therefore, these companies and the policies they cultivate extend poverty in every part of the world.
STRATEGY #2: Pretend that you have a unique or controversial viewpoint, and contrast it to the "usual" point of view.
Example: When most people think of school, they imagine a place of safety, a refuge from the "real" world. Intellectual pursuits are supposed to take precedence over human prejudices, motives, and conflicts. But in today’s society, children often go to school in fear, carrying weapons for offense as well as defense. School has become a dangerous place to be.
When most people think of medicine, they envision healing arts and individualized modalities. After all, true medicine is the blend of art and science, knowledge and skill—healing arts. However, many allopathic professionals overemphasize science and engage a universal approach. Therefore, some of the most dangerous places to be are hospitals, where assembly-line medicine takes place and patients succumb to unintended and expected consequences thereof. Therefore, medicine is much less healing than it used to be.
STRATEGY #3: You can tell a quick story (narrative) to get your reader’s attention.
Example: Cynthia, a ninth grader at Gainesville High School, began the day in high spirits. It was her 15th birthday, and she expected there to be boxes of presents waiting at home for her at the end of the day. What she didn’t expect was to end up in a box herself: Cynthia was caught in the crossfire of a warring gang in her own school hallways, an innocent victim. Even school has become a dangerous place to be.
Zhang Mei, a Chinese immigrant from a small southwestern village in China arrived in the United States. A stranger to New York, she sought comfort, refuge and familiarity within New York’s Chinatown. Upon arrival, however, she didn’t expect to feel like a stranger. Unable to decipher the Cantonese spoken and surprised by the abject lack of Yunnan foods and dialects, Chinatown wasn’t familiar at all.
STRATEGY #4: Introduce some quick quotes, figures, or statistics to get your reader’s attention.
Example: Seventy-five percent of all high school football players have suffered serious physical injury. In an informal survey, three out of four girls, ages 13-17, report being sexually harassed by fellow students. A recent anonymous poll of drug dealers in the vicinity of Buckman High School reported that they do their best business in school hallways between classes. School has become a dangerous place to be.
More than half the American children under the safe of twelve take prescription medicines, By the time these children reach their teenage years, more than half of them will take two or three prescriptions daily. Obviously, they do not treat merely alleviate symptoms. Because allopathic medicine only cures less than one fourth of all diseases and prescriptions cause iatrogenic diseases, prevention is still the best medicine.
Sentence Revision Exercises
Revise the following sentences according to the method described. You must use complete sentences to receive credit.
Using Parallelism
1. Her best friend Lori was thoughtful, generous, and truthful.
2. My high school coach taught me the value of concentration, commitment, and hard work.
3. Los Angeles is a city blessed with perfect weather and picturesque palm trees.
Using a Consistent Point of View
Change verbs to a consistent tense:
4. I was late getting to the airport, so I was missing my plane.
5. The librarian directed Jaime to the stacks on the fourth floor and told her to use the elevator by the main entrance.
6. John pulled over to the side of the road, got out of his car, and started walking toward work. When he got there, he realized he left his briefcase behind.
Correct inconsistent pronouns:
7. When I first started using the Internet, I was shocked by how much information I could access from my computer.
8. Gene’s teacher spoke so fast that he could not even take notes.
9. When I walk down the street, I can’t believe how many people avoid making eye contact.
Using Specific Words
Change vague words into vivid, specific ones.
10. On my first day of college, I felt alone, distressed and excited.
11. I get along with men, women, and children from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
12. The Zen decor in his apartment revealed a lot about him.
Using Active Verbs
Change these sentences from the passive to the active voice.
13. The students are praising their teacher for being open to new ideas.
14. My sister is leaving the door wide open.
15. The tragedies in the past haunt the main character.
Using Concise Words
Revise the following sentences, omitting unnecessary words.
16. Because she didn’t have a date, Rose made up her mind to refrain from the party.
17. It is my intention to demonstrate that the author is writing about betrayal.
18. Claire is one of those people who will not tell you if something is wrong and will not express how she feels very often.
Varying Your Sentences
Combine each of the following groups of short sentences into one longer sentence.
19. Jake tried to set his VCR to record a movie.
He didn’t have the manual.
He didn’t have the remote control.
Although Jake did not have the manual or the remote control, he tried to set his VCR to record a movie.
20. We were watching the dog in the pet store.
He stuck his paws through the cage.
He chased his tail a few times.
He barked at us.
While we were watching the dog in the pet store, he stuck his paws through the cage, chased his tail a few times and barked at us
21. Jan hates to walk anywhere.
She drives to the grocery store.
The grocery store is only a block away.
Because Jan hates to walk anywhere, she drives to the grocery store a block away.
Essay Revision Exercises
Complete the following revision exercises according to the directions.
1. Understanding Unity
Write the sentence or sentences that should be eliminated from the follow paragraph in order to make it more unified.
Eliminate: I enjoyed the film immensely, but when I got home I couldn’t sleep.I still suffer from insomnia sometimes but for different reasons now.
When I was six years old, my mother took me to an adventure movie. I enjoyed the film immensely, but when I got home I couldn’t sleep. I still suffer from insomnia sometimes but for different reasons now. In one scene in the film, the characters entered a cave filled with snakes. Those snakes haunted my dreams for months. I can still remember how vivid they seemed to me in my sleep. I can never understand why people ignore the impact screen images have on children.
2. Understanding Support
Revise the paragraph by providing specific supporting examples for the writer’s main idea. You must rewrite the entire paragraph (with corrections) to receive credit.
We all have people in our lives we called "friends.” A coworker or a person we see at the gym might be a friend, but might not be one on whom we depend. The ones we turn to in the midst of crisis or call in the middle of the night are good friends, indeed, a treasure.
3. Understanding Coherence
Revise the paragraph by strengthening the organization of the supporting ideas and using transition words where appropriate.
The key to being an effective researcher is perseverance. If you cannot find information about a subject the first time you try, that doesn’t mean you should give up. If you want to find out about "headhunters" you should also try the term "executive recruiters." Perhaps there is a better way to conduct your search. Perhaps you are using the wrong keyword. Computerized search engines can be fussy about terminology. Never be afraid to ask a reference librarian for help.
The key to being an effective researcher is perseverance. If you cannot find information about a subject the first time you try, that doesn’t mean you should give up. Perhaps you are using the wrong keyword. Computerized search engines can be fussy about terminology. So if you want to find out about "headhunters”, you should also try the term "executive recruiters." Perhaps there is a better way to conduct your search. Never be afraid to ask a reference librarian for help.
4. Understanding Sentence Skills
This activity will help you to identify some of the sentence skills you may want to review in Part Four of your textbook. Edit the sentences in this first paragraph of an essay. Retype the original paragraph, indicating your corrections, where necessary.
"sleeping in"
it may sound strange but sleep is one of my favorite activities. I never, tire of it. I would probly sleep all day. If I could. Unfortunately last week i get a new job one that requires me to be up at 5:00 am. I love the new job but I miss my bed terribly. Getting out of it in the morning, is incredebly painful. I was considering quitting untill I come up with three new ways to making getting up early more enjoyible.
It may sound strange but sleep is one of my favorite activities. I never tire of it. I would probably sleep all day, if I could. Unfortunately, last week I got a new job one that requires me to awake at 5:00 am. I love the new job but I miss my bed terribly. Getting out of it in the morning is incredibly painful. In fact, I was considering quitting until I came up with three new ways to making getting up early more enjoyable.
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