Freshman Project - Final Draft Common Writing Errors Freshman Project - Final Draft

Using Commas

1. When separating out phrases that don’t need to be there 1. When separating out phrases that don’t need to be there. My dog, Otis, is lazy. 2. When linking two independent clauses with a conjunction. He walked all the way home, and he shut the door. 3. When making a list. I love ice cream, chocolates, and cupcakes. 4.When you have more than one adjective describing a noun. He is a strong, healthy man. 5.After introductory phrases or clauses. No, you can’t have a dollar. 5 Reasons To Use A Comma

Lists- Humans are inherently evil because they are hurtful to others mean to others and kill others. Separating Phrases Out- My teacher Mrs. Willis is really awesome. Introductory Phrases- Therefore I believe in unicorns. More Than 1 Adjective The class had loud mean and disrespectful students. Practice

Lists- Humans are inherently evil because they are hurtful to others, mean to others, and kill others. Separating Phrases Out- My teacher, Mrs. Willis, is really awesome. Introductory Phrases- Therefore, I believe in unicorns. More Than 1 Adjective The class had loud, mean, and disrespectful students. Answer

Semicolon

A semicolon connects two shorter sentences that are closely related to each other. You use a semicolon to point out the relationship between two clauses (sentences). You never use semicolons with conjunctions like “and”, “or”, or “but”. What is a semicolon?

Jack stole Piggy’s glasses. He wanted to use them to start a fire. Madame Loisel borrowed a necklace because she was selfish. Jack stole Piggy’s glasses. Practice

Jack stole Piggy’s glasses; He wanted to use them to start a fire. Madame Loisel borrowed a necklace because she was selfish. Jack stole Piggy’s glasses. NO! Answer

Quotes

How to introduce a quote correctly When you introduce a quote, make sure you mention who is speaking during the quote. Always place a comma between your introduction and your quote. How to introduce a quote correctly

Example Mrs. Willis says, “Students!” Jenny stated, “All of the students” Piggy whispered, “Shhhh!” Example

Montresor cried “Hey!” Mr. Willis looked and screamed “No!” Practice

Montresor cried, “Hey!” Mr. Willis looked and screamed, “No!” Answer

A quote within a quote happens when the original text already has quotation marks, and you want to quote it in your essay. First, you need to go back and look at the original text. Quote Within A Quote

Example 1 Original Text= “Simon. He helps.” He pointed at the shelters. To format this quote in your essay, you need to turn all quote marks in the original piece from 2 to 1. “ to ‘ and ” to ’ Example 1

“Simon. He helps.” He pointed at the shelters. Original Text= “Simon. He helps.” He pointed at the shelters. ‘Simon. He helps.’ He pointed at the shelters. Then, you place regular quotation marks (“”) around the whole thing. “‘Simon. He helps.’ He pointed at the shelters.”

Example 2 You tell me, said Piggy anxiously. Is there a signal? Original Text= “You tell me,” said Piggy anxiously. “Is there a signal?” How would you format this? You tell me, said Piggy anxiously. Is there a signal? Example 2

“‘You tell me,’ said Piggy anxiously. ‘Is there a signal?’” Answer

Works Cited Page

Arrange your citations in alphabetical order by the first letter of the author’s last name: Golding, William. Poe, Edgar Allan. Alphabetical Order

Practice _____ Poe, Edgar Allan. _____Willis, Dean. _____ Aiken, Joan. In which order would these citations go? _____ Poe, Edgar Allan. _____Willis, Dean. _____ Aiken, Joan. _____Willis, Kelsey. _____Golding, William. Practice

MLA Format Works Cited- title goes at the top of a new page Left-aligned text Hanging Indent- Paragraph-Special- Hanging Indent Punctuation- check your original citation for help! MLA Format

Contractions

A contraction is an abbreviated version of a word or words. A contraction can be formed either by shortening a word or merging two words into one. They are normally formed by replacing missing letter(s) with an apostrophe. What is a contraction?

Don’t Can’t Shouldn’t He’s Didn’t Haven’t Examples

How do I fix this? Expand contractions back into the original words. Don’t = do not Can’t = can not Shouldn’t = should not How do I fix this?

He’s = Didn’t = Haven’t = They’re = We’re = I’m = Practice

3rd Person

Pronouns (take the place of a noun) are grouped into 3 categories: 1st Person- I, we 2nd Person- you 3rd Person- he, she, it, they What is 3rd Person?

In writing a formal essay, you want to AVOID 1st and 2nd Person because you don’t want to include yourself or your audience in your writing. You should only use 3rd person language in your essay. Using 3rd Person

Practice I think humans are inherently evil because they hurt others. It doesn’t matter where you were raised, you can still choose to be either good or evil. We have always wondered whether humans are inherently good or evil. Practice

I think Humans are inherently evil because they hurt others. It doesn’t matter where you humans were raised, you they can still choose to be either good or evil. We Humans have always wondered whether they humans are inherently good or evil. Possible Answers