Monday, October 17, 2011

Grammar: FragmentsWriting: Exemplification

Housekeeping

What is wrong with these sentences?

1. After I stopped drinking coffee.

2. Jill had to wait in line at the bank for almost an hour. To cash her paycheque.

3. I spent all day in the employment office. Trying to find a job that suited me. The prospects were bleak.

4. Tony has trouble accepting criticism. Except from Lola.

5. One example of my father’s generosity is that he visits sick friends in the hospital. And takes along get well cards with a few dollars folded in them.

Fragments, p. 414-429

A fragment is a word group that might look like a sentence, but is not a sentence because

• it is missing a subject or a verb, and

• it does not express a complete thought.

Ex: To cash his paycheque.

Before I had my shower.

Correcting Fragments

Ex: After I learned the price of new cars. I decided to keep my old pickup.

1. Join the fragment correctly to other sentence:

Ex: After I learned the price of new cars, I decided to keep my old pickup.

2. If the fragment starts with a dependent word, rewrite it without the dependent word:

Ex: After I learned the price of new cars. I decided to keep my old pickup.

Correcting Fragments

Ex: Anna tried all the appetizers on the table. Then found that when dinner arrived she was not hungry.

• Add a subjectEx: Anna tried all the appetizers on the

table. Then she found that when dinner arrived she was not hungry.

Correcting Fragments

Ex: The class often starts late. For example, yesterday at a quarter after nine instead of nine o’clock.

• Add a subject and verb

Ex: The class often starts late. For example, yesterday it began at a quarter after nine instead of nine o’clock.

Correcting Fragments

Ex: I spent almost two hours on the phone yesterday. Trying to find a garage to repair my car.

• Add a subject and change the existing verb as needed

Ex: I spent almost two hours on the phone yesterday. I was trying to find a garage to repair my car.

Four Kinds of Fragments, p. 415

1. Dependent Word Fragments

2. “-ing” and “to” Fragments

3. Added-detail Fragments

4. Missing-subject Fragments

Fragments Challenge

1. After I stopped drinking coffee. (p.416-417)

2. Jill had to wait in line at the bank for almost an hour. To cash her paycheque. (p. 419-420)

3. I spent all day in the employment office. Trying to find a job that suited me. The prospects were bleak. (p. 419-420)

4. Tony has trouble accepting criticism. Except from Lola. (p. 422-423)

5. One example of my father’s generosity is that he visits sick friends in the hospital. And takes along get well cards with a few dollars folded in them. (424-425)

Fragments Challenge

1. After I stopped drinking coffee. (p.416-417)

. . . coffee, I made an analysis about how healthy it was for my heart.

I stopped drinking coffee. I started writing my letter.

Fragments Challenge

2. Jill had to wait in line at the bank for almost an hour. To cash her paycheque. (p. 419-420)

. . . an hour to cash her paycheque.

. . . at the bank, to cash her paycheque, for almost an hour.

. . at the bank for almost an hour in order to cash her paycheque.

Fragments Challenge

3. I spent all day in the employment office. Trying to find a job that suited me. The prospects were bleak. (p. 419-420)

. . . office, trying to find a job that suited me.

. . . office. I was trying to find . . . .

Fragments Challenge

4. Tony has trouble accepting criticism. Except from Lola. (p. 422-423)

. . . criticism, except from Lola.

. . . criticism. From Lola, he doesn’t care.

. . .criticism, but he can accept it from Lola.

. . . criticism, but he can accept Lola’s criticism.

Fragments Challenge

5. One example of my father’s generosity is that he visits sick friends in the hospital. And takes along get well cards with a few dollars folded in them. (424-425)

. . . hospital, and he takes along . . .

. . . hospital, taking along

. . . hospital. He takes

Independent Practice

• Review the parts of the chapter and do the exercises as needed.

• Complete answer keys for this chapter will be posted online.

• This material will be part of a short grammar quiz in a couple of weeks!

BREAK

Exemplification, p. 177-183

• Exemplification is the first pattern of paragraph development that we will study.

• Basically, exemplification means to support a statement by giving examples. (sometimes called “illustration”)

• Another way to think about this type of writing is that it is a combination of showing and telling.

• First, the writer makes a statement (telling).

• Then, he or she gives examples that help the reader to see and understand the statement (showing).

Exemplification, p. 177-183

• Let’s look at some examples of statements (telling) and examples (showing).

• Turn to p. 177• Examples help us see for ourselves the truth of

the author’s statement.

Exemplification, p. 177-183

• For homework, you should have read some examples of statements and examples in paragraph form (See p. 177-179)

• Remember that some of these examples are stronger than others.

• We will go over the questions on p. 179-180 now. • If you did not do the homework, you should read

these paragraphs and do the questions on your own time.

Answers, p. 179-180

1. 6, 72. six3. 114. For instance, Another, Yet another, A final

example5. also, Finally6. “Inconsiderate Drivers”

Writing Assignment #1, p. 183

• Sample Unfinished Paragraph – “A Selfish Person”

• The paragraph follows the same basic structure we have learned so far:

Topic Sentence. For one thing, Reason 1. Specific evidence

for Reason 1. Also, Reason 2. Specific evidence for Reason 2.

Another example, Reason 3. Specific evidence for Reason 3.

Finally, Reason 4. Specific evidence for Reason 4. . .

• In this type of paragraph, the specific evidence is given using examples.

Textbook Example

Example 1: For one thing, he refuses to move out of the city, even though it is a bad place to raise the children.

• We inherited some money when my parents died, and it might be enough for a down payment on small house in a nearby town, but Roger says we would miss neighbours

Writing Assignment #1, p. 183

• Brainstorm a specific example for the second way Roger is selfish.

Time: 5 minutes

Student Examples

Example 2: Also, when we go on vacation, we always go where Roger wants to go. For example, In 2008 we went to Victoria for one week, but I did not visit my sister because Roger does not like her.Last year I wanted to go to the place where kids can play but he decided to go to Las Vegas because he wanted to play at casinos.Last year, we went to Italy, although it was raining all the time, but he didn’t take us to Spain which I had talked about for a year.

In-class Writing Assignment

• Turn to p. 185 – Writing Assignment 2

• Write an exemplification paragraph about one quality of a person you know well.

• Read the Instructions carefully.

• Follow the writing process suggested.

• You will be marked based on the checklist on p. 188.

• You may leave when you have finished

• hand in all your work stapled together, with the final draft on top and your name on the top right corner.

Homework

If needed:• fragments practice, English Skills, p. 414-429

(answers will be available online)

Pre-reading for next Monday:• Process Paragraphs, English Skills, p. 192-195• Run-On Sentences, p. 430-439