writing skills--”done” --avoid using the verb “done”. choose a better, more accurate verb....

Writing Skills--”done”--Avoid using the verb “Done”. Choose a better,

more accurate verb. Rewrite the sentence eliminating “done” or “do”

1. I have done well on my test.2. I do wrestling.3. Sam does many activities and does badly at

them all.4. He’s not doing so well writing the paper.5. My left hand has been doing involuntary

movements.

Writing Skills--Avoid “this”Whenever possible, avoid the word “This.” It is non-descriptive and can lead to

confusion if the meaning of “this” is not clear. Rewrite the following while avoiding using the word “this.” You may need to do more than replace the word.

1. Smoking is the number one cause of cancer. This is why we need to make people quit smoking.

2. Many things plague teenagers during adolescence and this and other things make it difficult to survive this time.

3. People all over the world are giving money to support Haiti. This is why many people are donating money to other causes.

4. Physicians are beginning to find cures for illnesses and also for patients’ habits that have long-term health implications. This is definite progress.

Writing Skills- PRONOUNS and ANTECEDENTS

Pronouns are words that replace specific nouns (he, she, it, this, someone, this, etc). The antecedent is the word the pronoun refers to. In your writing you

need to make sure that your antecedents are clear. DIRECTIONS--identify the pronouns and antecedents below.

1. The car has a leak in its transmission.2. Someone from the circus led the injured horse out of

the ring. 3. The hostages have been free for months, but some

have not yet recovered from the experience. 4. During winter snowstorms, the sparrows depend on

our feeder for their food. 5. The audience applauded her performance.

Writing Skills--GenderWhen referring to a singular person, use the pronoun he, she, or if

talking in the abstract use he/she NOT they. Correct the sentences below. When referring to a woman call her

she or her and a man is he or him. Rewrite below assuming you don’ t know the gender.

1. If a person like that feels bad then they should apologize.2. A student failed the test, and they need to retake it.3. When the future president takes over they will have a lot of

money to work with.4. Our mailcarrier has his work cut out for him today.5. Whichever nurse we see, she will be happy with progress.

Writing Skills--Comma SplicesA “Comma Splice” is basically a teacher’s term for a comma error,

usually when a comma is used unnecessarily or when a period or semi-colon should have been used instead. Write the examples below & then fix them.

Ex--This computer doesn't make sense to me, it came without a manual.

Ex--This next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.

Ex--Mr. Nguyen has sent his four children to ivy-league colleges, however, he has sacrificed his health working day and night in that dusty bakery.

Writing adverbs “ly”When using an adverb often it should end in “ly” however

many people leave this suffix off which is incorrect.

INCORRECT--My lips hurt real bad.CORRECT--My lips hurt really badly.

Fix the following sentences.1. I feel real good today.2. He plays real athletic in the football games.3. My sister sings bad in church.4. At school, I get poor grades because I study bad.5. This computer runs slow6. He dances stupid and awkward.really badly.

Rewrite the following sentences

• She thinks positive.• She does things correct.• The trial went quick.• He done real good on his test.• Me and my mom went shopping this

weekend.• I do writing good.

Writing Skills--Parallellism #1PARALLELLISM is using the same pattern of words to show that two or more

ideas have the same level of importance.

Examples of parallel structure: (write examples down)

--Mary likes hiking, swimming, and bicycling.--Mary likes to hike, to swim, and to ride a bicycle.--Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bicycle.

Non-examples of parallel structure.Mary likes to hike, to swim, and riding a bikeMary likes to hike, swim, and to ride a bike.

Examples of parallel and non-parallel structures #2

• Not Parallel:• The production manager was asked to write

his report quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner.

• Parallel:• The production manager was asked to write

his report quickly, accurately, and thoroughly.

Examples of parallel and non-parallel structures #3

Not Parallel:The teacher said that he was a poor student because

he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low. (not in past tense-ed)

Parallel:The teacher said that he was a poor student because

he waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a careless manner, and lacked motivation.

Examples of parallel and non-parallel structures # 4

Make the following non-parallel sentences parallel to make them more clear, more fluent, and more poetic. You may change words

1. Make the sentences clearer, flow better, and sound better.

2. Bethany enjoys baking cakes, cookies, and to making brownies.

3. She doesn’t like washing clothes or doing housework.

4. The British Museum is a wonderful place to see ancient Egyptian art, you can explore African artifacts, and beautiful find textiles from around the world.

Make the list Parallel (Begin with a verb or adjective or noun)

16 GOALS FOR SUCCESS• 1) Commitment• 2) Unity - Come Together

As Never Before• 3) Be Tough• 4) Great Effort• 5) Never Give Up• 6) Refuse To Allow Failing

To Become A Habit• 7) Expect To Win• 8) Leadership

• 9) Improve Every Day• 10) Self-Discipline - Do It

Right And Don't Accept Less

• 11) Eliminate Mistakes - Don't Beat Yourself

• 12) No Self-Limitations - Expect More Of Yourself

• 13) Consistency• 14) Responsibility• 15) Unselfishness• 16) Enthusiasm

Writing Skills--Placing ModifiersA modifier is a word or a phrase that describes something

else. You should place it as close as possible to what it describes. If you don't, your intended meaning may not be clear. Consider the unintentional meanings in the following:

• The young girl was walking the dog in a short skirt.• The dog was chasing the boy with the spiked collar.

CORRECT• The young girl in a short skirt was walking the dog.• The dog with the spiked collar was chasing the boy.

Writing Skills--Placing Modifiers 2You also need to watch the placement of modifiers such

as almost, even, hardly, nearly, often, and only. A couple of examples should be enough:

1. Big Dog almost ran around the yard twenty times. 2. He nearly ate a whole box of treats.In both sentences--when he "almost ran" and "nearly

ate"--nothing happened! He didn't quite get around to doing either thing. What is intended is:

1. Big Dog ran around the yard almost twenty times.2. He ate nearly a whole box of treats.

Writing Skills--Placing Modifiers 2Write what the following sentences mean to see how misplacing a

modifier can change the meaning of the sentence.

1. I almost failed every art class I took.2. I failed almost every art class I took. 3. Rolling down the hill, Twiggy was frightened that the

rocks would land on the campsite.4. Rolling down the hill, the rocks threatened the

campsite and frightened Twiggy.”5. Covered in wildflowers, the aardvark pondered the

hillside's beauty.

Writing Skills--Placing Modifiers 3Rewrite the following sentences so the modifiers are in

the correct place.

1. On her way home, Jan found a gold man’s watch

2. The kid ate a cold dish of cereal this morning3. One morning I shot an elephant in my

pajamas.4. The only employee was a pleasant young

woman with a nose ring named Rebecca.

Writing Skills--Placing Modifiers 3Fix the following text from a Jan 6, 2012 Capital

Journal story so the sentence makes more sense and is more readable.

“On Friday, The Topeka Capital-Journal learned that a burning 2004 Cadillac DeVille found hours after Hudson Crossing developer Corey Brown disappeared Tuesday evening belongs to Monroe Lockhart, who owns Mo’s Express convenience store in Hudson Crossing.”

Rewrite and Fix the following sentences (parallelism, modifiers, poor

verbs, antecedents)1. My brother and cousin both are runners, but

he is faster than my brother. 2. The test is required with blood to do the

diagnosis for the disease.3. When the disease worsens symptoms could

be muscle spasms, sensitivity to heat, fatigue extremely, and changes in one’s thinking.

Writing Skills--QuizFix the following sentences. 1. The pharmacist added chemical A, B, and

measured the Ph in C.2. In that long ago era, children worked eighteen

hours a day, eat almost nothing, and sleep in back alleys.

3. The patient was referred to a psychologist with several emotional problems.

4. Sam found a letter in the mailbox that doesn't belong to her.

Writing Skills--Active vs. Passivehttp://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx

A Passive Sentence is a sentence that uses a passive verb.

PASSIVE VERBS include any form of “be”: be, is, am, was, been.ACTIVE VERBS show action: run, jump, swim, love, hate, etc

Circle the passive verbs in the following sentences.1. Amy is loved by Dan 2. Toys are made by China to sell in the USA.3. Shots were fired.4. Mistakes were made.5. I am holding a pen


Passive Voice should be avoided because it makes your sentencesWeaker by not taking responsibility for the action. For example,Nixon said, “Mistakes were made.” By stating in passive voice, WHO made the mistake is not clear.

Passive Voice is also bad because it sounds weak because the Verb “be” is weak

Choose stronger, active verbs, to improve word choice and to Make your meaning stronger.

PASSIVE: The student is told to be quite by the teacher.ACTIVE: The teacher told the student to be quite.


Rewrite the following sentences so they’re in ACTIVE voice.

1. Amy is loved by Dan 2. Toys are made by China to sell in the USA.3. Shots were fired.4. Mistakes were made.5. I am holding a pen.

Writing Skills--How to QuoteA quote indicates that those words are exactly what came out of a

person’s mouth.

1. Put quotations around those words.2. Put a comma before or after the tag.

1. Dan said, “You’re getting loud, Ray.”2. “You’re getting loud, Ray,” Dan said.3. “You’re getting loud, Ray!” Dan said.4. “Ray,” Dan said, “You’re getting loud.”

3. Period at the end of the sentence.4. Quotes over 4 lines, need to be indented 10 spaces for the

entirety of the quote.

Writing Skills--How to QuoteRewrite the following quotes so they are grammatically correct.

Also add the necessary apostrophies.

1. Gary Coleman is famous for saying what you talkin bout Willis?

2. What you talkin bout Willis? was Gary Colemans famous catchphrase.

3. When skipping class Brandi expounded make sure your friends don’t know.

4. What she yelled is wrong with you?

Writing Skills--How to QuoteRewrite the following long quote so that it is correct. Just the quote itself

should be indented.

According to Bill Self before the first KU/K-State meeting: in a game like that,the most aggressive teams usually get the benefit of the officiating. That’s theway it always works. Everybody thinks that the least aggressive teams don’tfoul. No, the least aggressive teams foul the most. The most aggressive teamsusually at the end of the day feel like they got a pretty good whistle. Self went on to say that that’s the way the game is called.

Writing Skills--How to QuoteRewrite the following long quote so that it is correct. Just the quote itself

should be indented.

According to Bill Self before the first KU/K-State meeting: In a game like that, the most aggressive teams usually get the benefit of the officiating. That’s the way it always works. Everybody thinks that the least aggressive teams don’t foul. No, the least aggressive teams foul the most. The most aggressive teams usually at the end of the day feel like they got a pretty good whistle.

Self went on to say that that’s the way the game is called.

Writing Skills--How to Quote1. When quoting a person who is quoting another use single quotes

2. When you need to change a quote so the sentence makes sense, place the changed word or words in brackets

EX--According to the people at the rally, “[Fred Phelps] should be silenced.”--in this instance the exact quote would have been “HE should be silenced,” but using “he” would be confusing so we change the word and put it in brackets.

FIX THE FOLLOWING1. Connor said, Mr. Robinson said dirty 20 times in class.2. Katie said, Ms. Brooks you won’t believe it but my mom said

you’re not going to that school anymore.3. Katie said my mom said I’m not coming to school anymore.

(think about what the exact words from the mom would be)

Writing Skills--TransitionsTRANSITIONS are words that help sentences flow from one to another. A good transition will show the relationship between one sentence and another.

TRANSITIONS--can also be words and sentences that help one paragraph flow into another. A good transition will show how the topic of one paragraph relates to the next one.

Writing Skills--Sample Transitions

Words to COMPARESimilarly, likewise, like, also, as, in the same wayWords to CONTRASTAlthough, even though, On the other hand, still, butotherwise, yetEMPHASIZE A POINTAgain, in fact, to repeat, forthis reason, to emphasize,truly

Words to CONCLUDEAll in all, finally, in summary, therefore, as a result, Words to ADD INFORMATIONAdditionally, equally important,in addition, again, likewise,along with, as well, moreoverFor example, besides, 4instanceWords to CLARIFYFor instance, in other words, put another way, that is

Writing Skills--use transitions from yesterday to rewrite and

make sentences better.1. Her new car cost her $10,000. $10,000 is what she

makes in 4 years. (CLARIFY)

2. Her new car cost her $50,000. $50,000 is more than some people pay for a house! (EMPHASIZE)

3. My first car cost $1000. My new one cost $30,000. (CONTRAST)

4. He found his car in an ad in the newspaper. I found my car in a newspaper ad. (COMPARE)

5. Buying a car can be a stressful. Buying a car is fun. (SUMMARIZING).

WRITING SKILLS-EDITINGUse transitions and reorganize this paragraph to make it more coherent, less choppy, grammatically correct &

easier to read.

The book Cursed is about a girl named Judy who lived in a family of 7 children. Her dad beat their mom and was an alcoholic. She was raised in a Mormon family. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a Mormon or not. She met a boy named Derek. She began to drink and do things against Mormon Rules. Her dad was fed up with everything she had been doing. He forced her to move in with her aunt that lived out in the country.

WRITING SKILLS-EDITINGUse transitions and reorganize this paragraph to make it more coherent, less choppy, grammatically correct &

easier to read.

The book Cursed is about a girl named Judy who lived in a Mormon family of seven children. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a Mormon or not because ______. Her alcoholic dad beat their mom and was an alcoholic. She was raised in a

Mormon family. Transition Word/Soon, she meets a boy named Derek. She began to drink and do things against Mormon rules. Transition Word/ Because of her behavior Her dad was fed up with everything she had been doing and consequently he forced her to move in with her aunt that lived out in the country.

Writing Skills--Generalizations vs. Specifics

When writing avoid making over generalizations such as :

--“All people can agree that people are strange.”--“Everyone has met a person who is truly evil.”--“Stats show that most people are in favor of monkey fighting.”

-- “In a time of crisis, every American supports his/her president”

The problem is that there will be exceptions to these rules and when they disagree with your overgeneralization then your argument then has no weight and you lose your reader. Statements that make sweeping generalizations tend to exaggerate and oversimplify reality, ignoring important details

Writing Skills--Generalizations vs. Specifics

TO FIX--use less general words like “most,” “many,” “in many cases,”

TO FIX--be more specific by using facts and statistics

Fix the following overgeneralized statements.

--“All people can agree that people are strange.”--“Everyone has met a person who is truly evil.”--“Stats show that most people are in favor of monkey fighting.”

-- “In a time of crisis, every American supports his/her president”

Writing Skills--Prepositions Prepositional Phrases

Prepositions are words that show relationships.

Of, in, around, inside, at, out, over, through, under, etc…

The phrase is the thought that follows the phrase

EX--In the book, Holly is elegant.

A. Having too many prepositions in a sentence can make the sentence unclear, cumbersome, and difficult to read

B. When you begin a sentence with a prepositional phrase, it should be followed by a comma.

Writing Skills--Prepositions Prepositional Phrases

Circle the prepositions and underline the prepositional phrases in the sentences below.

1. I can’t complete the report without the information

2. Upon my arrival I was whisked into a secret chamber

3. Come into the garden with me.

4. She wanted to go to the movies

5. The stories in that book were translated by my professor.

6. She was looking for a man with money.

1. 1. Upon my arrival, I was whisked into a secret chamber.

Rewrite the following sentences

• Yesterday I had the fortune to attend our Career Cats luncheon. Over 35 Wildcat student-athletes came in their business attire to do practice interviews with nearly 30 companies. Immediately before the luncheon I hosted an online chat which you can read at www.kstatesports.com. In addition to the topics covered yesterday here are some other items I want to share with you.(from a real email received yesterday)

Edit this paragraph and offer suggestions to the author

• The book, ___, is a journey in the eyes of a group of German soldiers and their lovers back home. It is a journey of an adulteress who can’t seem to find herself in her own selfish world. It is a Romeo and Julie story portraying noting, not even the Fuhrer him self can not stop true love from getting what it wants. It is a journey of how loyalty to your coutry, friends, and family holds great rewards, and with it, great consequences. The story of Peter is truly one of truth, yet, is not solely based on fact.

Edit this paragraph and offer suggestions to the author

• The book ends on a note that I found a little typical but original. The ending was one of sorrow, death, pain, and the end. The end of the book consisted of one other thing through hope. Just like the story of Pandora and the box of evils. Peter and Hans are in a truck, speeding down a road to get out of Stalingrad. The Russian radio tower notices a truck full of German soldiers in it and orders an airstrike on the area. The Airstrike was successful and blew the truck of the oad and threw the soldiers, including Peter and Hans, out of the truck and onto the ground.

Writing Skills--Rewrite these Bad Sentences

1. He is given orders to relax. But when Mr. D offers to take Alex around the world Alex cant’ resist. But he is given tools to…2. She is at her boyfriend’s house who is a vampire3. Edward soon knows cause he can read minds.


4. The room starts shaking and the ceiling collapses he grabs items and runs.

5. The butcher made a comment about her that was derogatory.

6. Even though he was clean, his dad was not pleased and he still punished him

7. They are two people that are very much in love


8. Yet its all fact.9. He was a widower that lived in the mts. 10. Jacobs friends show up.11. They gave their best pilot to the project

who was Joe Kennedy Jr., the ambassador’s son.

12. The students parents are overtaking the gym.

Edit these bad sentences

• Current estimates are the state will end it’s current fiscal year with a cash balance of $351 million. (TCJ 1/12/2012)

• The patrol said none of the injured teens was wearing a seatbelt. (TCJ1/12/2012)


• For the better part of my life; I purposely avoided a lot of foods. Especially ones with even a tiny bit of seasoning. (TCJ Ad 1/12/2012

• I felt great, until about one year ago; when I read an FDA warning that scared the heck out of me. (TCJ Ad 1/12/2012


(In a story about the KU basketball team)•“An opportunity was presented Monday to gauge what was flubbed and what was aced in preseason polling. Or so it seemed.” “We shot the ball terribly, we played selfish, we played soft and we didn’t play smart,” KU coach Bill Self said.

Misplaced & Dangling Modifiers

• Delightfully cooked by his father, Clinton loves peas.

• After paying for the books, the salesman gave me a calendar as a free compliment.

• Even after being dead for 150 yeas, many people still admire the music of Beethoven.

Dangling Modifiers • Before shifting the hospitals from the

present location, the public must be consulted.

• Using the Doppler ultrasound device, fatal heartbeats can be detected by the twelfth week of pregnancy.

• A nursemaid is wanted to look after a baby about twenty-years old.

Word Order• After the accident, I was for thirty days

confined to the cot with swollen legs. • During your trip to Delhi, You must not

forget to visit the spot where Gandhi was assassinated.

• Promotions, retirements, deaths and other actions approved by the board of directors at its May meeting will be reported in the July issue of the company paper.

Pronouns—make sure the pronouns match the subject

• I have studied well for ACT and it has given me the confidence that I will score more than 27.

• If one looks at the clear sky away from the glare of the city, he can see not less that 3000 stars with his naked eyes.

writing skills--”done” --avoid using the verb “done”. choose a better, more accurate verb....

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