Wrong or Missing Prepositions Advanced Communications

How important are prepositions?

In Plain English… Please copy the following information on a sheet of notebook paper titled, “Wrong or Missing Prepositions” A prepositions shows the relationship between a noun and other words in a sentence. Some teachers say a preposition is everywhere a cat can go: above, around, behind, beneath, in, toward, outside, over, under & with. Prepositions make our writing clearer, orienting the reader in time and space, showing relationships. Prepositions may serve as transitions between ideas as well. Leaving out a preposition or using the wrong one makes readers stumble.

With prepositions… Big Hair Style 3: The Texan Take the teasing comb and back-comb all your hair until it looks like an electrified Persian cat. To tease your hair, grab a small section and hold it up by the end. Comb downward with the teasing comb in short fast strokes until it gets tangled at the bottom. Pull the teased hair up and out to achieve maximum altitude. Liberally apply the hair spray to hold the teased hair in place. If you can still see the walls, you haven’t sprayed enough. Spray more. All these styles must be taken care of while you sleep. Some women use the beehive hairnet; others use feather pillow to sleep upon; while still others sleep upright in the La-Z-Boy. Your mileage may vary. Just be careful not to put anyone’s eye out (pp. 4-5) -Kinky Friedman, Kinky Friedman’s Guide to Texas Etiquette

Without prepositions… Take the teasing comb and back-comb all your hair. To tease your hair, grab a small section and hold it. Comb downward. Pull the teased hair. Liberally apply the hair spray. If you can still see the walls, you haven’t sprayed enough. Spray more. All these styles must be take care of while you sleep. Some women use the beehive hairnet; others use feather pillows; while still others sleep upright. Your mileage may vary. Just be careful not to put anyone’s eye out. Notice the text drops down almost 30% in size without prepositional phrases – from 130 words to 83. What are we losing without having the prepositional phrases?? (time , space, visuals) Handout prepositional phrase visual (paste into your writer’s notebook) Can anyone describe the room without using prepositions?... “Catch” me if I use a preposition…

See...Prepositions DO WORK! My neighbor said she wanted to ask me a for a small favor. Little did I know what was in store for me when I agreed to feed her cat. After my neighbor left on her trip, I walked across the street to her house. Once I got inside the house, I was overwhelmed by the stench of cat urine. I looked around the house and couldn’t believe what I saw. My eyes fell on two salad dressing containers sitting on a table beside the couch, which was completely covered with dirty laundry, except for this one worn area by the table. The volume on the TV was turned up all the way. In disbelief and despite my better judgment, I walked toward the restroom. Around the base of the tub, I saw these red velvety mushrooms coming up between the tub and tile floor. The filth was beyond anything I’d ever seen in my life. Within two minutes, the cat was fed and I was out of there. Since she returned from her trip, I have never been available to watch her cat again.

Your Turn… Open your Writer’s Notebook to the next clean page in the Writing section. Put today’s date. You will write your own descriptions of a room, any room; it can be your room, a classroom, the kitchen. Use as many prepositions as you can!