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GRAMMATICAL SENTENCE – ISSUES II:SENTENCE FRAGMENTS

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Journalistic Writing ­ MCM310
VU
LECTURE 16
GRAMMATICAL SENTENCE ­ ISSUES II
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
G4-a
Use adverbs not adjectives as subject complements
·
The arrangement worked out perfectly for everyone.
·
I was surprised to hear that Louise had done so well on the exam.
G4-b
Use adjectives not adverbs as subject complements
·
The lilacs in our backyard smell especially sweet (not sweetly) this year.
·
Sarmad looked good in her new raincoat.
G4-c
Use comparatives and superlatives with care
Comparative versus superlative
Comparative
Superlative
Positive
Soft
softer
softest
Careful
more careful
most careful
Easy
easier
easiest
Good
better
best
Bad
worse
worst
·
Which of these two brands of toothpaste is better?
·
Though Shaw and Jackson are impressive, Hobbs is the most qualified of the three candidates
running for mayor.
Form of comparatives and superlatives.
·  The Kirov was the super best ballet company we had ever seen.
·
Lolyd's luck couldn't have been worse than David's
Double comparatives or superlatives
·  Of all her family, Julia is the happiest (not most happiest) about the move.
·
That is the most vile (not vilest) most vilest joke I have ever heard.
Absolute concepts
·  That is the unique (not most unique) wedding grown I have ever seen.
·
The painting would have been priceless (not more priceless) had it been signed.
G4-d
Avoid double negatives.
·
Management is not doing anything (not nothing) to see that the trash is picked up.
·
George will never (not won't never) forget that day.
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Journalistic Writing ­ MCM310
VU
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
G5-a
Attach fragmented subordinate clause or turn them into sentences.
·
Before: Jane promises to address the problem of limited parking. If she is elected to the tenants'
council.
·
After: Jane promises to address the problem of limited parking if she is elected to the tenants'
council.
·
Before: Violence has produced a great deal of apprehension among children and parents. So that
self-preservation, in fact, has become their primary aim.
·
After: Violence has produced a great deal of apprehension among children and parents. Self-
preservation, in fact, has become their primary aim.
G5-b
Attach fragmented phrases or turn them into sentences.
·
Before: On Sunday James read the newspaper's employment sections remotest possibility.
Scrutinizing every position that held even the remotest possibility.
·
After: On Sunday James read the newspaper's employment sections remotest possibility,
scrutinizing every position that held even the remotest possibility.
·
Before: Wednesday morning Phil allowed himself half a grapefruit. The only food he had eaten in
two days.
·
After: Wednesday morning Phil allowed himself half a grapefruit, the only food he had eaten in
two days.
G5-c
Attach other fragmented word groups or turn them into sentences.
·
Before: The side effects of lithium are many Nausea, stomach cramps, muscle weakness, vomiting,
diarrhoea, confusion, and tremors.
·
After: The side effects of lithium are many: nausea, stomach cramps, muscle weakness, vomiting,
diarrhoea, confusion, and tremors.
Comma splices and fused sentences
·  Comma splice:
Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely
·
Comma splice:
Power tends to corrupt, moreover, absolute power corrupts absolutely
·
Revised:
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely
·
Revised:
Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely
·
Revised:
Power tends to corrupt; moreover, absolute power corrupt absolutely
G6-a
Consider separating the clause with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
·
Theo and Fanny had hoped to spend their final days on the farm, but they had to move to a
retirement home.
·
Many government officials privately admit that the polygraph is unreliable, yet they continue to
use it as a security measure.
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Journalistic Writing ­ MCM310
VU
G6-b  Consider separating the clause with a semicolon.
·
Nicklaus is like fine wine; he gets better with time.
·
The timber wolf looks like a large German shepherded; however, the wolf has longer legs, larger
feet, and a wider head.
G6-c
Consider making the clauses into separate sentences.
·
In one episode viewers saw two people smashed by a boat, one choked, and another shot to death,
what purpose does this violence serve?
·
Revised: In one episode viewers saw two people smashed by a boat, one choked, and another
shot to death. What purpose does this violence serve?
G6-d
Consider restructuring the sentence, perhaps by subordinating one of the clauses.
·
Lindsey is a top competitor who (not she) has been riding since the age of seven.
·
The new health plan was explained to the employees in my division, everyone agreed to give it a
try.
·
Revised: When the new health plan was explained to the employees in my division, everyone
agreed to give it a try.
Source: Hacker, Dianna. `A Writer's Reference' Boston: St. Martin's Press. 1992.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISTIC WRITING:Practical, THINGS TO KNOW
  2. QUALITIES OF GOOD WRITERS
  3. QUALITIES OF GOOD WRITERS
  4. QUALITIES OF GOOD WRITING:Achieve appropriate readability:
  5. QUALITIES OF GOOD WRITING:Be concise, Be creative, Be correct
  6. THE PROCESS OF WRITING:INVENTION, WHEN YOU START TO WRITE
  7. THE PROCESS OF WRITING II:ORGANIZING, DRAFTING, REVISING
  8. ALL ABOUT WORDS:HOW WORDS ARE FORMED?:SUFFIXES
  9. DICTIONARY-A WRITER’S LANGUAGE TOOL:KINDS OF INFORMATION
  10. PARTS OF SPEECH:Noun Gender, Noun Plurals, Countable Nouns
  11. BASIC CLAUSE PATTERNS
  12. ACTIVE AND PASSSIVE VOICE
  13. MODIFIERS AND SENTENCE TYPES:COMPOUND SENTENCES
  14. REPORTED SPEECH:Indirect Questions, Direct commands
  15. GRAMMATICAL SENTENCE – ISSUES:SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
  16. GRAMMATICAL SENTENCE – ISSUES II:SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
  17. EFFECTIVE SENTENCE:PARALLELISM, NEEDED WORDS, SHIFTS
  18. STYLE: GUIDELINE AND PITFALLS I:COLLOQUIAL VS FORMAL, CIRCUMLOCUTION
  19. STYLE: GUIDELINE AND PITFALLS II:AMBIGUITY, REDUNDANCY, EUPHEMISM:
  20. PARAGRAPH WRITING: TYPES AND TECHNIQUES:STRUCTURE
  21. PARAGRAPH WRITING: TYPES AND TECHNIQUES:Putting on Our Play
  22. ESSAY WRITING:VARIOUS STRATEGIES FOR ESSAYS, PROMPTS
  23. SIGNAL WORDS:Non word Emphasis Signals
  24. EXPOSITORY WRITING:LOGICAL FALLACIES, APPEAL TO EMOTION
  25. THE WRITING STYLES: REPORT and NARRATIVE WRITING, SHORT REPORTS
  26. THE WRITING STYLES: DESCRIPTIVE AND PERSUASIVE WRITINGS, Observation
  27. RESEARCH WRITING AND DOCUMNETING SOURCES:Handling Long Quotations
  28. Summary and Précis Writing:CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD SUMMARY
  29. Punctuation:THE PERIOD, THE COMMA, THE SEMICOLON, THE COLON
  30. MECHANICS:ABBREVIATIONS, NUMBERS, SPELLING, THE HYPHEN
  31. READING SKILLS FOR WRITERS:EDUCATED READING, STEPS
  32. PARTS OF A NEWSPAPER:Box-out, By-line, Caption, Exclusive, Feature
  33. THE LANGUAGE OF THE NEWSPAPERS II:BROADSHEET NEWSPAPER
  34. News Writing and Style I:WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A NEWSPAPER
  35. NEWS WRITING II:Accuracy, Clarity, Style, Qualities of Effective Leads
  36. EDITORIAL WRITING:WRITING AN EDITORIAL:STRUCTURING AN EDITORIAL
  37. WRITING FEATURES:GENERATING FEATURE STORY IDEAS
  38. WRITING COLUMNS:Column and a news report, Purpose, Audience
  39. WRITING ARTICLES FOR NEWSPAPERS:The Heading, The Lead
  40. WRITING ANALYSIS:purpose, scope, method, results, recommendations
  41. LETTERS TO EDITORS:Four important aspects about letters, Organizing letters
  42. BROADCAST AND WEB NEWS WRITING:WRITE CONCISELY, BROADCAST STYLE
  43. WRITING PRESS RELEASE, REVIEWS AND OBITUARIES:Summary of Content:
  44. THE ART OF INTERVIEWINGS
  45. FINAL THOUGHTS:Practical, Job-Related, Social, Stimulating, Therapeutic