What the Frag

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What the Frag!!!!

• Sentence Fragments
• What they are and how to fix them!

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Sentence Construction

• A quick review
• A sentence is an independent clause - a group of
  words that contains a subject and a predicate.
  The subject names the thing or person that the
  sentence is about it is acted upon by the verb.
  The predicate consists of the verb and any
  object, modifier or compliment of the verb.
• Stephen Kings fiction (Subject) has influenced
  contemporary horror films (predicate)

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What is a Fragment?

• A sentence fragment is a group of words that, for
  various reasons, fails to qualify as a sentence.
• A sentence is complete when there is at least a
  subject and a verb combined with a complete
  thought.
• A sentence fragment looks like a sentence it
  begins with a CAPITAL it ends with a period or ?
  or ! mark. But if it lacks a subject or verb -
  its a fragment! If it doesn't express a complete
  thought - its a fragment!

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Here are Some Examples

• Frag The telephone with redial capacity. no
  verb
• Revised The telephone has redial capacity
• Frag Rang loudly for ten minutes. no subject
• Revised The telephone rang loudly for ten
  minutes.
• Frag. At midnight. no subject or verb
• Revised The telephone rang at midnight.
• Frag. Because the telephone rang loudly
  dependent clause
• Revised Because the telephone rang loudly, the
  family was awakened in the middle of the
  night.
• Frag her garden is a rich source of vegetables.
  For example, zucchini, lettuce, and tomatoes.
  The list is a phrase frag
• Revised her garden is a rich source of
  vegetables. It yields plenty of zucchini,
  lettuce, and tomatoes (independent )

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Checking for Three Things

• 1) Is there a subject?
• The boy jumped over the fence. The main actor
  or subject is Boy.
• 2) Is there a verb?
• The boy felt sad. The verb felt shows the
  emotional condition of the subject - The Boy
• 3) Can the group of words stand alone as an
  independent clause?
• If all three questions are answered yes, then
  the word group is a complete sentence, and it is
  not a fragment

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How to Fix Sentence Fragments

• 1) Connect the fragmented phrase to a nearby
  sentence.
• Incorrect Hoping that his sister was all right.
  Mark went to the emergency room
• Correct Hoping that his sister was all right,
  Mark went to the emergency room.
• Incorrect Jon went to the store to buy bread.
  After he dropped Mary off at school.
• Correct Jon went to the store to buy bread after
  he dropped Mary off at the store.
• Correct After he dropped Mary off at school, Jon
  went to the store to buy bread.
• Correct Jon went to the store to buy bread. He
  dropped Mary off at school

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How to Fix Sentence Fragments

• 2) Make the fragment complete by adding the
  necessary subject and revising as needed.
• Mark went to the emergency room. He hoped that
  his sister was all right.
• 3) Make the fragment complete by adding the
  necessary verb and revising as needed.
• Incorrect I spent hours researching the paper.
  A difficult topic.
• Correct I spent hours researching the paper. The
  topic was difficult.

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Splice it and Run!

• Run-on Sentences
• Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

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Run-on Sentences

• One of the most common problems in writing is the
  run-in sentence. They occur when independent
  clauses are joined together incorrectly. They
  fall into two categories fused sentences and
  commas splices

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The Fused Sentence Comma Splice

• The comma splice occurs when a writer tries to
  join two independent clauses with a comma alone
• A fused sentence occurs when a writer joins two
  independent clauses with no punctuation and no
  connecting word.
• Comma Splice The fire blazed out of control, the
  alarm sounded. (joined with a comma)
• Fused Sentence The fire blazed out of control
  the alarm sounded. (runs together with no
  punctuation).

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How to Fix Them

• Correct comma splices and fused sentences in one
  of three ways (1) by separating independent
  clauses with strong punctuation (2) by joining
  the clauses with a semicolon (3) or by using a
  connecting word and appropriate punctuation
• Editing Using Methods of Separation
• 1) Use end punctuation (usually a period)
• The fire blazed out of control. The Alarm
  sounded.
• 2) Separate independent clauses using a semicolon
• The fire blazed out of control the alarm sounded

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How to Fix Them continued...

• Editing Using Methods of Linking and Relating
• 1. Insert a comma before an appropriate
  co-coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor,
  for, yet and so )
• The movie opened to rave reviews, but
  audiences for it were small
• 2. Subordinate one clause to another
• The movie opened to rave reviews although
  audiences for it were small
• 3. Make one of the clauses into an introductory
  phrase
• Despite the movies rave reviews, audiences
  for it were small.

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The Basics of Pronouns

• Using them correctly

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The Basics of Pronouns

• Definition A word that takes the place of a
  noun. Pronouns are used to avoid repetitive use
  of the same noun within a sentence or narrative.
  The following is an example of a sentence written
  without pronouns
• When the angry bear became hungry, the angry bear
  ate.
• The sentence would sound much better if a pronoun
  were introduced
• When the angry bear became hungry, he ate.
• An antecedent is the word to which the pronoun
  refers . He (pronoun) Bear (antecedent)

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• Here are some examples
• 1) Singular pronouns singular Antecedents
• Incorrect The person wrote their paper quickly
• Correct The person wrote his or her paper
  quickly
• 2) Collective Nouns singular pronoun is used
• Incorrect The construction crew finished their
  project
• Correct The construction crew finished its
  project.
• When the group members are considered
  individually, then the plural pronoun is used
• Correct The construction crew, some of them
  laughing, strolled into the work site and
  gathered their tools.

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• 3) When you use each, either, neither, one, no
  one, everyone, someone, anyone, No body,
  everybody, somebody, and anybody
• Here is a problem area. Writers assume that these
  are plural because they are unknown. The root of
  each word, such as -one or, - body, is singular.
  Therefore, the pronoun must be singular.
• Incorrect Everyone loves their baby
• Correct Everyone who is a mother loves her baby

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• 4) Pronouns should agree in person
• If you are writing in the first person, (I)
  dont confuse your reader by switching to the
  second person (you) or third person (he, she,
  they, etc..)
• Incorrect When a person comes to class, they
  should have their homework ready.
• Correct When a person comes to class, he should
  have his homework ready.

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• 5) Refer Clearly to a specific noun.
• Dont be vague or ambiguous
• Not Although the motorcycle hit the tree, it was
  not damaged. (is it the motorcycle or the
  tree?)
• Not I dont think they should show violence on
  TV. ( who are they?)
• Not Vacation is coming soon, which is nice.
  (What is nice, the vacation or the fact that it
  is coming soon?)
• Not Anna told Amy that she needed a holiday. (To
  whom does she refer?)

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End of Slides