English 105Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Melissa Gunby

Free-Write

• Tell me about your favorite meal. It can either be the thing you love to eat the most, or a memorable experience.

CHAPTER 8The reading-Writing Connection

Why Read?

• Singers listen to vocalists they admire.• Tennis players re-watch championship

matches.• Medical students observe surgical

procedures.• Long story short, we read to become

better writers.

How can reading well help me become a better writer?

• Understanding the opinions expressed in essays may spark ideas of your own

• Discovering ways others have organized and expressed ideas should help you form your own strategies

• Ultimately, analyzing the prose of others will make you more aware of the writing process itself.

Becoming an Analytical Reader

• Preview the essay• Read the essay• Summarize the essay

Previewing

• Biographical data• Title• Footnotes/endnotes• images

Read

• Read the essay carefully• Try to define unfamiliar words from their

context – how they are used in the sentence to try to figure out their meanings

• Take notes – write down what you’re thinking as you read

Summarize

• When you’ve finished reading, summarize each paragraph. Try to find the main idea for each paragraph and decide the supporting ideas and put them into your own words without adding opinion or interpretation

• After your summary, identify the writer’s thesis statement or overall main idea.

CLASS DISCUSSION: “SALVATION”

CLASS DISCUSSION“The Maker’s Eye”

PUNCTUATION REVIEWCommas and Semi-Colons

Commas

• Rule 1:• Use a comma to separate two

independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.– Coordinating conjunction = FANBOYS

• For• And• Nor• But• Or• Yet• So

Independent clauses look like they could be sentences of their own; they contain a subject and a verb and a complete thought.

Examples

• You can bury your savings in the

backyard, but don’t expect Mother Nature to pay interest.

• I’m going home tomorrow, and I’m never coming back.

CAUTION

• Do not join two sentences with a comma. This makes a comma splice. Only use a comma between two independent clauses if they are joined by a FANBOY.

Rule 2

• Set off an introductory phrase or clause with a comma– After we had finished our laundry, we

discovered that one sock was missing.– According to the owner of the Hall Laundry

House, customers have conflicting theories about missing laundry.

An introductory phrase or clause will not be able to stand alone as a sentence, and that’s how you can tell if it needs to be followed by a comma to join it to the rest of the sentence.

Rule 3

• Set off non-essential phrases and clauses. If the words can be taken out without changing the meaning of the sentence, put the phrase between commas.– The jukebox, now reappearing in local

honky-tonks, first gained popularity during the 1920s.• The addition of the phrase that they’re making a

comeback doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence if left out, so it goes between commas.

You can kind of think about these kind of commas as elevators that life out these phrases that give extra information without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Rule 4

• Put commas around conjunctive adverbs words like “however,” “therefore,” “consequently,” etc.– She soon discovered, however, that he had

stolen her monogrammed towels in addition to her pet avocado plant.

If the conjunctive adverb is at the beginning of the sentence, the comma follows the word.

• Therefore, he resolved to never speak to her again.

Rule 5

• Use commas to separate the items in a list or series. – Julio collects coins, stamps, bottle caps,

erasers, and pocket lint.• A comma before the ‘and’ at the end is

essential for clarity– This is formally known as the Oxford Comma

Strawberry, peach, coffee, vanilla and chocolate swirl

Strawberry, peach, coffee, vanilla, and chocolate swirl.

4 or 5 pints?

Rule 6

• Use a comma to separate adjectives of equal emphasis– She finally moved out of her cold, dark

apartment– She finally moved out of her cold and dark

apartment.

These commas can replace the “and” when using multiple words to describe the same noun.

Rule 7

• Follow direct address with a comma.– Gentlemen, you may be seated.– Students, may I have your attention please?

Rule 8, 9, and 10

• 8: set off items in addresses and dates– He found me on February 2, 1978, when I

stopped in Fairbanks, Alaska, to buy sunscreen.

• 9: set off degrees or titles– The Darwin Award went to Samuel Lyle,

Ph.D.• 10: set off dialogue

– “Eat hearty,” said Marie, “because this is the last of the food.”

Rule 11

• Set off weak exclamations like “yes,” “no,” and “well.”– Yes, there will be a quiz on this material next

week.– No, it will not be open book.

Rule 12

• Set off interrupters or parenthetical phrases.– Jack is, I think, still a compulsive gambler.– Harvey, my brother, sometimes has

breakfast with him.

This works a lot like Rule 3.

Rule 13

• Reduce temptation to over use commas. If you don’t need to pause, think about leaving it out.

Activity

• Working with a partner, make corrections as necessary to the handout provided.

Semi-colons

• The big rule for semi-colons is that they work like periods; each side has to be a complete sentence.

;

Rule 1

• Link two closely related independent clauses.– Anthropologists believe that popcorn

originated in Mexico; they have found popcorn poppers that are over 1,500 years old.

Rule 2

• When using words like “however,” “moreover,” and “thus.”– Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in

his entire life; however, in 1987 his Sunflowers sold for almost $40 million.

Rule 3

• Use a semi-colon to separate details as part of a series. – Last year the Wildcats suffered enough

injuries to keep them from winning the pennant, as Jake Pritchett, third basement, broke his arm in a fight; Hugh Rosenbloom, starting pitcher, sprained his back on a trampoline; and Boris Baker, star outfielder, ate rotten clams and nearly died.

Practice

• Again, working with a partner, complete the handout of editing practice.

• There will be a quiz next week.

Computer Lab

• For the last two hours of class, we will go to room 212.

• I want to discuss your Interview Essay drafts with each of you while we’re in the lab, and you should use the time to continue to make revisions.

• You can also work on your group presentation or your narrative essay.