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

2. Using Commas

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Semicolon

7. 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?

8. 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

9. 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

10. Quotes

11. 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

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

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

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

15. 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

16. 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

17. “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.”

18. 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

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

20. Works Cited Page

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

22. 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

23. 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

24. Contractions

25. 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?

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

27. 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?

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

29. 3rd Person

30. 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?

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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