EOC REVIEW

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EOC REVIEW

• Punctuation and grammar rules to improve your
  scores on the English I EOC

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EOC Review NotesEOC TERMSStyle is the
particular way in which a writer uses language.
Style reflects an authors personality. Factors
that contribute to an authors style include
level of formality, use of figurative language,
diction or word choice, sentence patterns, and
methods of organization.Tone is the authors
attitude toward both the subject and readers or
listeners. In conversations, you can hear a
speakers tone in the way words and phrases are
spoken. When reading, you can hear tone in an
authors choice of words and details. The tone of
a literary work can often be described with a
single word such as pompous, playful, serious,
personal, sarcastic, or friendly .Perspective
is the viewpoint or opinion an author expresses
about the subject, either directly or indirectly.
Bias occurs when a writer makes a one-sided
presentation (for example, by ignoring relevant
facts or by using emotional language that
unfairly sways readers or listeners
feelings).Purpose is the authors reason for
writing. Common purposes are to inform, to
persuade, to honor, to entertain, to explain, and
to warn.
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Tricks for Passing the Editing and Composition
section of the English I EOC

• Introduction
• The first section that you will encounter on the
  English I EOC is the editing and composition
  section. This part of the exam tests your reading
  and grammar skills. The problem with this section
  of the test is English teachers. English teachers
  are not the best test writers. In grammar and
  reading, there is often more than one right
  answer. Sometimes the answer choices given are
  very different from your own opinions. So even if
  you are great at grammar, this test can still be
  difficult. The good news is there are some short
  cuts you can use to outsmart the test makers and
  improve your score.
• Hint One Be Familiar with the Test
• If you are familiar with the types of questions
  on the test, you won't waste time trying to
  figure out what the question is asking you to do.
  Instead you can go straight for the right answer.
  Try taking some practice tests before the real
  EOC. This way you can learn how the test is
  set-up. Over spring break take home one the EOC
  practice test books. You can get one from your
  English teacher. There is nothing worse than the
  feeling of looking at a test and having no idea
  what the test is asking of you. Don't be that
  person. Take some practice tests.

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Hint Two Avoiding Mass Confusion The test
makers thought it would be a good idea to number
all the sentences on the essays. This can cause
big time confusion because it is easy to mix up
the number of the sentence with the number of the
question. Try highlighting the sentence that the
question asks about. That way you won't waste
time looking for the sentence over and over
again. Remember you can mark all over the test
booklet to help you find the answers. Hint
Three An Essay You Don't Have to Read Because
this section is a grammar test and not a reading
comprehension test, there is no reason to read
the whole essay. You must simply read the
sentences and paragraphs that the questions refer
to. Some students, however, find it easier to
read the whole essay first to scan for mistakes.
If you like to read the essay before the
questions, use a highlighter to mark any mistakes
you find as you read. Try some practice tests to
decide which style you like best. Hint Four
Why Can't They Just Say What They Mean? One of
the problems students experience on the EOC is
that they don't understand the question. Even
great English students, sometimes have problems
figuring out what a question means. Here are some
key words that will help you figure out how to
answer the questions correctly. Be sure to circle
these words when you see them in a
question. No matter what you are told, you can
write on your test.
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Key WordsFragment Question Which sentence is
a fragment? A fragment is an incomplete
sentence. It is a missing a subject, verb, or
complete thought. Often fragments start with
words like when or if. The test wants you to find
a incomplete sentence. All of the other answer
choices will be complete sentences. You can spot
the answer by crossing out all of the complete
sentences first. Written Correctly How could
this sentence be written correctly? This
question wants you to find a complete sentence.
All of the other choices will be sentence
fragments. Simply eliminate all of the sentence
fragments first, and you will be left with the
correct answer. Sentence fragments and "written
correctly' questions are usually right next to
each other on the test and ask about the same
sentences. Sometimes if you look closely the test
will even give away an answer in the
question.Run-onWhich sentence is a run-on?
This question wants you to find two sentences
smashed together as one. Often a comma joins
these sentences together. Remember a comma is not
strong enough to join to complete sentences
together. In this question all of the other
answer choices will be complete sentences. To
find the right answer look for
a sentence that has two subjects and two verbs
and is missing a coordinating
conjunction.
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Combine How could sentences one and two best be
combined to enhance conciseness and variety?
These questions are hard. They want you to
choose a compound sentence that does not change
the meaning of the original sentences. Some of
the answer choices will be run-on sentences or
fragments and are easy to eliminate. Other answer
choices will complete sentences, but they change
the meaning of the sentences and must eliminate.
You have to choose a correct sentence that keeps
the meaning of the sentence the same. YUCK!
Enhance and Conciseness How could sentences
one and two best be combined to enhance
conciseness and variety? Enhance is a fancy way
of saying to make better. Conciseness means to
make shorter and easier to read. You will see
these to words in sentence combining questions.
Sentence VarityHow could sentences one and
two best be combined to enhance conciseness and
variety? Variety means to come up with different
types of sentences. Often the correct answer
might start with a subordinating conjunction
(when, although, even though) or a
prepositional phrase (to, at, during) .
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• Improve Organization
• Which of the following improves the organization
  of the third paragraph?
• In this question the test wants you to rearrange
  sentences so that the paragraph will be easier to
  read. Be sure to read the whole paragraph through
  a couple of times before you may your decision.
  You might also want to highlight the sentences
  that are possible answer choices. Often the right
  answer will include moving a sentence to the end
  of the paragraph because it sums up the main
  ideas in the paragraph and makes a good
  conclusion.
• Main idea
• Which sentence best describes the main idea of
  this essay?
• The main idea of a paragraph or chapter is what
  the whole selection is about. It is the most
  important idea in the paragraph, chapter, or
  essay. In this question you have to choose the
  sentence that describes the whole essay not just
  a part of it. The rest of the answer choices will
  be
• supporting details that only tell about
  part of the essay.

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FOUR WAYS TO COMBINE SENTENCES a. Use a
period The girl liked the boy. The boy did not
like the girl. B. Use a semicolon (S1 s2.)
The girl liked the boy the boy did not like
the girl. C. Use a comma and a conjunction (S1,
cc s2.) The girl liked the boy, but the boy
did not like the girl. D. Use a semicolon, a
transition word, and a comma (S1 t, s2.)
The girl liked the boy however, the boy did
not like the girl. COMMA RULES a. Between two
adjectives of equal rank The hot, sandy beach
is beautiful. B. Between three or more parallel
items in a series I like hiking, running, and
bowling. Jennifer ate cereal, grapefruit, and
bacon. I went to the mall, played with my
dog, and ran six miles. C. After introductory
phrases In the middle of the night, I got up
to get some water. Under the large oak tree,
we ate grapes and crackers. When I am late for
school, my first period teacher gets angry. If
you wont leave me alone, I will go to the
principal. As you can see, our football team
is the best. Although I really like Italian
food, Chinese is my favorite.
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d. To introduce quotes or to end quotes and
continue a thought John said, Come here for a
second. You are so funny, Amy laughed. e.
To set off nouns of direct address (in other
words, to set off names when someone is talking
to someone else and using his or her name)
Tim, could you come here? Just listen,
Maggie, and you will understand what I am
talking about. I really want you to come back
home, Ted. f. To set off nonessential
information (extra information that is not
needed to make the sentence a complete thought)
The interstate, which was built in 1953, makes
it easier to get to work. Morganton,
located twenty miles from here, is overpopulated.
The math teacher, I believe, is the best we
have. This class, in my opinion, is very
boring. g. To set off appositives (when
something is renamed) Kim, a girl in my
class, yelled at the teacher. Mrs. Jones, my
third grade teacher, was really nice.
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h. Between two sentences joined with a
conjunction (FANBOYS for, and, nor, but, or,
yet, so) I like to play basketball, and I
like to play football. Jennifer runs track,
but she doesnt play volleyball. I
can go with you, or I can stay at Johns house.
I will study, for I want to go to
college. She does not like carrots, so she
picked them out of her salad. i. Between a
city and a state. I live in Asheville, North
Carolina. I work in Marion, North
Carolina.3.CAPITALIZATION a. Capitalize
proper nouns b. Capitalize all languages,
continents, countries, cities, and
nationalities American, British, German,
New York, Russian, South America, Marion,
Georgia, Vietnamese, etc. 4 WATCH FOR SPELLING
ERRORS
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5. PARALLELISM a. The same grammatical
forms/structures must be used to balance
related ideas in a sentence I like to run, to
play, and to sing. I enjoy going to the
mountains, traveling to the beach, and flying
to the Bahamas. My parents promised to buy me
a video camera and to let me use it on a
field trip. 6. REMEMBER THE CORRECT FORM OF
PRONOUNS a. These are not words Hisself,
Theirself, Theirselves, Themselfs b. These are
the correct words Himself and Themselves 7.
Lets is NOT a word (you must use an apostrophe
before the s!) a. Lets let us Lets go
to the mall. Lets eat at McDonalds. 8.
PUNCTUATING TITLES a. Underline anything that
can stand alone Novels Plays Epics
CD Movies
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b. Use quotations marks for anything that is
shorter or is a part of something larger
Short Stories Poems Songs Television
Programs c. Some of the selections we read in
English I are To Kill a Mockingbird, The
Scarlet Ibis, The Odyssey, Casey at the
Bat, and Romeo and Juliet. d. My favorite song
is Crash Into Me, and my favorite album is
Purple Rain. 9. VERB TENSE IN A PASSAGE a.
Remember that most selections are written in
present tense. If the verb in question is in
past tense, quickly scan other verbs in the
selection to see what tense they are in . . .
Nine times out of ten, the passage will be
written in present tense. 10. WRITE OUT
NUMBERS a. Always write out numbers 1 10
I have one cat and two dogs. My family owns
three cars.
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b. Write out numbers 10 99 if there is a
choice a. Always write out any number that
begins a sentence (even if it is larger than
100) Four hundred men marched through Berlin.
One million dollars is the prize money. 11.
INTERRUPTING WORDS a. Some words can function
as both transition words and interrupters
These transition words come between two
complete sentences. They are preceded by a
semicolon and followed by a comma. 1. I
like lasagna however, spaghetti is my
favorite food. 2. Jenna is pretty
moreover, she is homecoming queen. 3. I
run cross country furthermore, I run track.
These interrupters simply interrupt the normal
flow of the sentence and do not join two
sentences. Commas surround them. 1. Sheila,
however, is too loud. 2. I ran to the store,
but John, however, walked. 3. However, the
mall closes at nine.
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12. DOUBLE NEGATIVES a. Do not use two negative
words in one sentence Not, no, none, nothing,
never, hardly, barely, scarcely couldnt,
shouldnt, wouldnt, wont, cant, couldnt,
dont, doesnt, wasnt, isnt, werent, arent
13. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT a. Singular
subjects require singular verbs (singular verbs
end in s) Ms. Ward wants her students to
do well on the EOC. B. Plural subjects require
plural verbs (plural verbs do not end in s)
The students want to do well on the EOC. C.
Make sure you identify the true subject / your
subject will not come after the preposition
of One of the girls wants to go to the
dance. Many of the students want to go to the
dance. 14. ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE a. Use
active voice in writing b. Active Voice
subject comes before the verb Ms. Ward
teaches her students English. C. Passive Voice
verb comes before the subject The students
are taught English by Ms. Ward.
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d. To find the subject, identify the verb and
ask who or what is completing the action of
the verb / make sure the sentence is active by
determining if the subject appears before the
verb in the sentence / if not, re-write the
sentence by moving the subject in front of the
verb and making the verb agree with the new
subject 15. POSSESSIVE NOUNS a. Be sure
apostrophes in possessive nouns are used
correctly b. Rules for making nouns possessive
Singular add s (cats tail) Plural that
ends in s add after the s (cats tails)
Plural that doesnt end in s add s
(childrens books) c. Remember not to put
apostrophes in possessive pronouns His, hers,
yours, ours, theirs, its 16. INCORRECT USAGE
a. Would of, should of, could of INCORRECT!
Would have, should have, could have17.
FRAGMENTS a. Group of words that does not
express a complete thought b. Make sure the
sentence has a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete thought
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18. RUN-ONS a. Two or more sentences joined
incorrectly No punctuation or conjunctions
No comma before coordinating conjunction
Several sentences joined with conjunctions
Two sentences joined with only a comma 19.
COMMA SPLICE a. Incorrectly joining two
sentences with only a comma b. Must put a
conjunction after the comma I was sick on
Monday, I stayed home from school. (comma
splice) I was sick on Monday, so I stayed home
from school. (correct) 20. Your possessive
pronoun (means belonging to you) Youre
contraction of you are a. Your mother wants
you to call her. b. Youre going to do well on
this test, right?
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21. Their possessive pronoun (means belonging
to them) There referring to a place or
point Theyre contraction of they are
a. Their mother wants them to come home. b.
The tree over there is the one we want to climb.
c. Theyre coming to the movies with us
tonight. 22. Its possessive pronoun (means
belonging to it) Its contraction of it
is a. Its a crying shame you failed that
test. b. I have a dog. Its mother was a boxer,
and its father was a golden lab.