The Basics of Writing

Expository Writing and Personal Responses

Types of Writing

Expository Writing: essays, quick writes, and summaries; formal writing. Purpose is to inform or explain something. Use third person ONLY; Write in present tense

Personal Writing: reflections, responses, and narratives; formal and informal writing. Purpose is to focus on personal opinions, ideas,

and events. Uses third person ONLY; First person is implied

Clauses and Sentence Structure Clause: a group of words that has a subject

and a predicate (verb). A clause can function as a sentence by itself or as a part of a sentence.

Main Clause: has a subject, verb, and expresses a complete thought. It is the only type of clause that can stand alone as a sentence. Every sentence MUST have at least one main

clause.

Main Clauses

Note that a coordinating conjunction is not part of a main clause.

The curtain rose. Subject Verb

The cast bowed, and the audience applauded. Subject Verb Subject Verb

Subordinate Clauses Subordinate Clause: has a subject and a

verb but does not express a complete thought, so it cannot stand alone.

Subordinate Clauses depend on the rest of the sentence because it does not make sense alone.

There are three types of subordinate clauses: Adjective Clause: modifies nouns or pronouns Adverb Clause: modifies verbs, adj, or adv Noun Clause: functions as nouns

Subordinate Clauses

A subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun usually introduces a subordinate clause.

When the dog barked, the baby cried. S V S V

Dogs that obey are a joy. S S V V

Perspective (Pronouns) First Person: the person speaking

Singular: I, me,/ my, mine,/ myself Plural: we, us,/ our, ours,/ ourselves

Second Person: the person being spoken to Singular: you,/ your, yours,/ yourself Plural: you,/ your, yours,/ yourselves

Third Person: the person being discussed Singular: he, him, she, her, it,/ his, her, hers,

its,/ himself, herself, itself Plural: they, them,/ their, theirs,/ themselves

Indefinite Pronouns

In expository writing, avoid using indefinite pronouns because they are too ambiguous and vague.

Indefinite pronoun: refers to persons, places or ideas in a more general way than nouns. ie. Anything, everything, thing, it, someone,

some, something, somebody, nobody, no one, everybody, everyone, one, any, etc…

Using Pronouns Correctly

Pronoun: a word that takes the place of a noun.

Antecedent: the noun to which the pronoun is referring to.

In expository writing, do not use a pronoun without an antecedent. ie. Though Georgia O’Keefe was born in

Wisconsin, she grew to love the landscape of the American Southwest. (ID the antecedent)

Using Pronouns Correctly Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement: all

pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number, gender, and person. Number: agree with plural or singular ant. Gender: agree with masculine or feminine ant. ie. Emily Dickinson wrote her poems on scrap

paper. (singular feminine pronoun) Person: agree with 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person ant.

The lost generation wrote about their loss of innocence because of the World Wars.

Clear Pronoun Reference Clearly state the antecedent of the

pronoun. Make sure that a pronoun does not refer to more than one antecedent. Don’t use the pronoun this, that, which, it, any,

or one without a clearly stated antecedent. ie. Dickens loved public speaking, and that

greatly boosted his popularity. (What boosted his popularity? His speeches did, but the word speeches is not specifically mentioned.)

Dickens loved public speaking, and his speeches greatly boosted his popularity.

Clear Pronoun Reference

If a pronoun seems to refer to more than one antecedent, either reword the sentence to make the antecedent clear or eliminate the pronoun. ie. After the tickets slipped between the reports,

they were lost. (Tickets or reports?) The tickets were lost when they slipped

between the reports. (clear antecedent) When the tickets slipped between the reports,

the tickets were lost. (no pronoun)

Verb Tenses (Present Tense)

Verb Tense: forms that help to show time. In expository writing, use only present

tense verbs. Present Tense: expresses a constant,

repeated, or habitual action or condition. It can also express a general truth. The present-tense form of a verb is the same as

the base form of the verb, except for the 3rd person singular, which adds –s or –es.

Present Tense Examples

Hemingway writes in a simplistic and rich style. (always; a habitual action)

Shakespeare explores the use of language in his works. (not just in one play but in every play; a repeated action)

Bilbo Baggins is an unusual hero. (a general truth).

Verb Tenses (Past Tense)

Never use past tense in expository writing because literature is ongoing.

Past Tense: expresses an action or a condition that was started and completed in the past.

Nearly all regular and irregular verbs (except be) have just one past-tense form, such as climbed or ran. The verb be has two: was and were

Verb Tenses (Future Tense) Future Tense: expresses an action or a condition

that will occur in the future. Form future tense by using the auxiliary verb shall

or will with the base form. Also, by using going to or about to with the present tense of the verb be and the base form of the verb. Pip will achieve great expectations. When shall I study? Pip is going to achieve great expectations. Pip is about to achieve great expectations.

Consistency of Tenses

Don’t shift, or change, tenses when two or more events occur at the same time. The soloist stopped suddenly and coughs

loudly. (correct this) Keep a statement about a general truth in

the present tense if other verbs are in the past tense. We remembered that Shakespeare is a master

of characterization.

Voice of Verbs (Active Voice)

In expository writing, always use active voice.

With active voice the action comes alive. An action verb is in active voice when

the subject performs the action. ie. The brown bear caught a salmon. ie. Shakespeare wrote these sonnets.

Voice of Verbs (Passive Voice)

An action verb is in passive voice when its action is performed on the subject.

Do not use passive voice- it is boring. Form the passive voice by using the

auxiliary verb be with the past participle of the verb. A salmon was caught by the brown bear. These sonnets were wrote by Shakespeare.

Subject- Verb Agreement A verb must agree with its subject in

number. Number refers to whether the word is

singular or plural. A Singular subject indicates one (with most

regular verbs, add –s or –es to form the sing.) ie. The author writes.

Plural subjects indicate more than one and require plural verbs. ie. The authors write.

Agreement with Compound Subjects

A compound subject that is joined by and or both is plural unless its parts belong to one unit or they both refer to the same person or thing. ie. The lion and the tiger are roaring. (plural) ie. Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite type

of sandwich. (singular because it is one unit). ie. His best friend and companion is George.

(singular because it is one person).

Agreement with Compound Subjects

With compound subjects joined by or or nor (or either…or or neither…nor), the verb agrees with the subject closer to it.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

When typing or handwriting: Use one side of the page Double-Space Use white 8.5 x 11 inch paper Leave one inch margins Use Black Ink 12 pt. Font, Times New Roman Number your pages at the top right

corner with your last name (Johnston 2)

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Give your paper a title that is informative, not cute. The name of the work is NOT the title of your paper.

Italicize all full-length film, play, magazine, newspaper, and book titles. Short stories, one-act plays, poems, songs, and articles go in quotation marks.

Do NOT underline or put your part of your own title in quotes or italics.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Establish the context of your paper in the first sentence: “ John Wayne first appears in Stagecoach with a rifle in his hand.” NOT: “Duke has a gun.”

GIVE YOUR PAPER A CLEAR THESIS STATEMENT!

Use a divided thesis to outline the ideas covered in the essay.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Do not write one or two sentence paragraphs. Do not allow paragraphs to become excessively long.

Each paragraph must stick to the subject introduced in the first sentence of that paragraph.

Be sure to include at least three claims, and three supports.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Do not misspell words. Misspelled words look dumb. Do not look dumb. Use a dictionary, spell check or a literate friend to check your spelling.

Be warned: spell-check will not catch all mistakes; I might.

A possessive without an apostrophe, or a plural with an apostrophe, is a misspelled word.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Do not use the first or second person. Do NOT use the passive voice (Careless

students are failed by Mr. Johnston); use the active voice (Mr. Johnston fails careless students).

Do not begin sentences in any of the following: “There are/is…”, “This is…”, “It is…”

DO NOT use contractions (don’t, can’t,…)

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Beware of unclear pronoun references. Do not use “this”, “these”, “that”, “those”, and “which” unless the word has a clear and unmistakable antecedent.

Never use “it” or “thing”. Avoid them like the plague.

Do not hedge. Words like “maybe”, “perhaps”, and “might” do not keep you from being wrong.

NEVER write an incomplete sentence.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

NEVER just summarize or paraphrase. This is PLOT SUMMARY and it is a sure sign of a lazy mind. Remember that I have read the work. I do not want to know what happened; I want to know your ideas about what happened.

Support your assertions and ideas with concrete examples or brief quotations from the work or from a reliable authority.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Never use someone else’s ideas (even in paraphrase) without giving proper credit. See your MLA for proper format.

Beginning quotation marks go after the comma [, “……” (23).

Final quotation marks go after the comma and the period but before the colon and semicolon [,” / .” / ”; / ”:]

Do not split infinitives. “I wanted to drop the course quickly.” NOT “I wanted to quickly drop the course.”

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Know and use the three basic rules of commas:

1. Join independent clauses either by using a comma with a conjunction [“Readers have long lives, but non-readers die at an early age.” or a semicolon without a conjunction [ “Readers have long lives; non-readers die at an early age.”

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

2. Separate items in a series by using a comma after every item before the conjunction. [“The arbitrary, arrogant, and nasty teacher refuses to accept journalism rules of punctuation.”]

3. Never use a comma between the subject and the verb or the verb and its object, except for interrupting clauses which use two commas.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Write about works of art in the present tense, since Hamlet will be stabbing Polonius and Charlie Chaplin will be eating his shoe long after your grandchildren have forgotten your name.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Be consistent when you have two or more parallel structures in a sentence.

1. With adjectives: Wrong: He was pompous and terrorized freshman. Right: He was pompous and fond of terrorizing freshman.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

2. With Prepositions: Wrong: A student could count on his bad temper and arbitrariness. Right: A student could count on his bad temper and on his arbitrariness.

3. With Correlatives: Wrong: He graded not only for content but for style.Right: He graded not only for content but also for style.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Avoid the following:1. Jargon: Library, not media center.2. Cliché: Romeo learns of the positives and

negatives of love; not Romeo learns that every rose has its thorn.

3. Slang: Romeo loves the notion of wooing young ladies; not Romeo is a fresh pimp.

4. Hyperbole: This man has too high a regard for himself; He was the most arrogant bastard to walk the earth.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Lose the words “very,” “effective,” and “quite” from your written vocabulary.

Avoid rhetorical questions Conclude your paper with a paragraph that

explains the importance of your ideas to some larger understanding. Answer the question “So What?”

Always do a rough draft. Even Shakespeare revised.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Before writing your final copy, have an intelligent friend read your paper to you and then fix the items you don’t like.

Staple your paper at the left-hand corner.

Never write more than the assignment specifies. Remember what Shakespeare can say in a sonnet of fourteen lines.

Professor Cohen’s 39 Picky Writing Rules:

Regardless of who loses your paper- you, I, or the computer that ate it- you’re the one who will have to rewrite it or get an F. So be safe: keep a duplicate copy, either in hardcopy or on a backup disk.