Week 9

Bell Ringer  What makes good friendships and why do you consider this a healthy relationship?

DOL  Having been thrown in the air, the dog caught the stick. (1 error)  The girl walked the dog around the corner in a short skirt. (1 error)

Grammar: Misplaced Modifiers  A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it modifies / describes.  Because of the separation, sentences with this error often sound awkward, ridiculous, or confusing. Furthermore, they can be downright illogical.

An example…. On her way home, Jan found a gold man’s watch.

How do you fix it?  Misplaced modifiers can usually be corrected by moving the modifier to a more sensible place in the sentence, generally next to the word it modifies.  On her way home, Jan found a man’s gold watch.

What is wrong with these examples?  The child ate a cold dish of cereal.  The torn student’s book lay on the desk.  We had ate the lunch we bought slowly.  The word that is modifying (explaining something) needs to be by the word it is explaining

Dangling modifiers  A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that is not clearly and logically related to the word or words it modifies (i.e. is placed next to).  Unlike a misplaced modifier, a dangling modifier cannot be corrected by simply moving it to a different place in a sentence.  In most cases, the dangling modifier appears at the beginning of the sentence, although it can also come at the end.

What is wrong here?  Looking towards the west, a cloud was forming.  Who was looking towards the west??  You need to add a subject here for this to make sense  You can add the subject in the first half of the sentence or the second

Fix these please  Getting up early, the house seemed unusually quiet to me.  After finishing the ice arena, it will be opened to the public.  While talking, the fire alarm sounded.

Sample College Application  Now, lets work to fill out a sample college application so you are ready to start filling them out!

Exit Slip…  Please complete the wk on misplaced/dangling modifiers  It is due at the end of the period

Bell Ringer  How do you think you can make the best usage out of the college and career lab?

DOL  Ray who we all know and love, will not be attending this week’s meeting. (3 errors)  Too whom did you speak about the opening job? (2 errors)

Relative Pronouns  The relative pronouns in English are who, whom, whose, which, and that  Use who, whom, and whose to refer to people.  Use that and which to refer to things.

How do you choose the correct form?  Who versus whom  Use who when you are referring to the subject of a clause/sentence.  Use whom when you are referring to the object of a clause/sentence.  The subject of the sentence is the person doing something, and the object of the sentence is having something done to them.  If I step on your face, then I am the subject and your face is the object.

Still confused?  Like whom, the pronoun him ends with m. When you're trying to decide whether to use who or whom, ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he or him.  Example: Who stepped on my face?  Answer: He did.  He does not end in m so you would not use whom.

That versus Which  The lawn mower that is broken is in the garage. (Tells which one.)  The lawn mower, which is broken, is in the garage. (Adds a fact about the only mower in question.)  Their rule is to use which in cases where you’re adding extra information that does not need to be there to make the sentence understandable. Example 2 could stand without the which clause, but it adds something that would be nice to know before you go fetch the mower.

 Their rule is to use which in cases where you’re adding extra information that does not need to be there to make the sentence understandable.  Example 2 could stand without the which clause, but it adds something that would be nice to know before you go fetch the mower.

Now you try!  (Who, Whom) did Mom invite to Marcela’s birthday party?  Susan is the chef (who, whom) will create an exquisite menu for our ten-year reunion.  The Evian water, (that/which) I drank last night, contained sodium.  The prison (which/that) is located in San Francisco Bay was a depressing place to work.

Letter of introduction…  Why do you think you need a cover letter (letter of introduction)?  Where or when would you use one?

Letter  To whom it may concern: (or a name if you have one….make sure you use a colon after salutation  I am applying for the position of _______ and believe that my experiences and skills make me an ideal candidate for the job.  Please find enclosed a copy of my resume for your review.

Continued….  I would like to call a few specific things to your attention.  List a skill that would help you in this position  I will call you to establish a time for us to review my resume and discuss the assets (strengths) I can bring to (the computer will place company name here).

Closing  Keep the closing simple.  Choose one of the following: Sincerely, Yours truly, Respectfully yours, or create your own closing.  Include a comma.  Type your name.  Remember to attach your resume with the

Exit Slip…  You are applying to Suzanne Smith and applying for the friendship counseling position at ABC hospital.  Please write a cover letter based on the requirements we discussed.