College Composition

Findings

(Statistics, data, theories, and observations)

Observation

(informal, formal, and anecdotal)

Questions to ask when writing the essays

-Where do I begin? - Where should i look for information? -Which sources are most useful to me? - What type of sources are available? - How many sources of information am I looking for? -Do I need to view both sides of the issue?

Comma Splices

A comma instead of a period or semicolon that is used to join, or splice, two independent sentences

Secondary Resource

A document or a replication of an object to describe a past event which was not created during the time of the event.

bibliography

A document showing all the sources used to research information. List of resources and materials

Thesaurus

A listing of words with synonyms and antonyms

URL

A location or address identifying where documents can be found on the Internet; a Web address

almanac

A reference book with facts, events, places, statistics, and comparative info on people.

compound subject

A sentence containing more than one subject, person, place or thing.

Topic Sentence

A sentence that expresses the main idea of the paragraph in which it occurs.

Complex Sentence

A sentence that includes one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

Idiom

A set expression or phrase that has a figurative meaning and is not interpreted literally. Examples: Wet behind the ears, Call it a day. See eye to eye. (All expressions)

Gerund

A verb form ending in -ing that is used as a noun

Infinitive

A verb form, usually preceded by "to," that is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

Encyclopedia

A work containing information on subjects, or exhaustive of one subject. Listing of wide range of subjects with brief info.

Active/Passive Voice

Active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb. In passive voice sentences, the subject is acted upon by the verb. Example: (ACTIVE) She's taking the test. (PASSIVE) The test is being taken by her.

Case Shift and Number

Agreement in case has to do with the correct use of a noun or pronoun in a sentence.

Pronoun reference

Agreement in person. This refers to the relationship between a pronoun, subject and a verb.

APA

American Psychological Association style is most frequently used within the social sciences, in order to cite various sources

Index

An alphabetical listing of key words, phrases, or topics that includes the page numbers on which those items are found within a publication

Parenthetical Citation

An in-text citation stating the author and page number from which the direct quote was taken. It is noted with parenthesis. I.e. (Smith 19).

Tone

Attitude a writer takes toward the audience, a subject, or a character. Is the writer angry, happy, logical, or sad?

CMS

Chicago Manual of Style; Is used for all types of writings. Two main styles of CMS are Bibliography style and Author Date.

Primary Research

Collecting information directly from the world around you by: interviews, observations, and surveys.

Overview:

College compositions test your ability to identify errors in existing sentences and passages. You'll need to have a basic understanding of your sentence structure. You will not be asked to explain why. For the 1st essay the Clepboard will test you in 2 ways. It's based on Canidate's reading, Observation, and Experience. This is your average run of the mill "write me an essay about" or "defend your viewpoint on." Just remember to stay on topic and give what they are looking for.

indirect object

Comes before the direct object. Tells to whom, for whom the action of the verb is done. (Claire threw JOSEPH the ball)

Ability to Use Source Materials

In this section you will be tested on your research skills. There are reference questions also. Some of the questions are taken from a passage, while others are stand-alone. You will need to know about:

Agreement

Make sure that there's an agreement in a sentence.

MLA

Modern Language Association; Guidelines for documenting and citing sources during a research project.

Non Count Noun

Names things that cannot be counted; a noun that only has a single form

Simple modifiers

Only, Almost, Just, Nearly, and Barely.

anecdotal evidence

Personal stories about specific incidents and experiences.

Parallelism

Phrases or sentences of a similar construction/meaning placed side by side, balancing each other functions in the same way in another part of the sentence. A parallel syntactic or word structure that's repeated.

Diction

Refers to word choices. Such as: Effect/Affect Farther/Further Than/Then Who/ Which Who/Whom There/Their/They're Lie/Lay Accept/Except Capital/Capitol Principal/Principle Stationary/Stationery

plagarism

Something we all want to avoid. We want to give credit where credit is due. If we take someone else's idea, we should recognize their work as not being OURS but THEIRS.

Subject and Verb

Subject verb agreement refers to using the correct subject with the correct verb ( I run, he runs, you run, and they run). Watch out for the third person singular form.

Organization

The Way information is structured and delivered.

Agreement in Case

The correct use of a noun or pronoun in a sentence

Connotation

The figurative meaning of a word

Revision Skills

The longest section of the test. Gauges your ability to revise passages and sentences. Although most are passages in a longer text, some are just sentences.

conventions of standard English

The proper use of spelling, grammar, and words in writing.

Overview Part 2

The second essay focuses on the candidates to synthesize and cite two sources that are provided. You'll have 40 minutes to read the two sources and write your essay, so you'll need to keep an eye on the clock for this one. You need to know how to cite sources here. APA or MLA is fine, but make sure you have it down.

verb tense

This refers to inappropriate changes in time frames in a sentence without proper cues. Sometimes there are understood changes in a sentence and a tense shift is ok.

Main Points of an Essay

Title (Thesis) Introduction Body Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Conclusion

Colons

Used as an extension of what's already being said; or it can be used to list things. EXAMPLE: She was the doctor: she knew what to do in the situation. My dog has three different moods: happy, sad and angry.

Semi colons

Used to join related independent clauses (There were five major hurricanes this year; Two of them hit our city), join independent clauses joined by a conjunction (Popular books are often made into movies; however, that was wasn't), separate items in a series if commas would be too confusing.

Evidence

What a writer uses to support his or her points or thesis statement.

evidence

What writers use to support their points in the thesis statement.

Pathos (emotional appeal)

When a writer appeals to the emotions of the intended audience to excite and involve them in the argument

reference materials

Where people can go to find facts and information. Here are some examples of reference materials: Almanac Atlas Bibliography Citation Index Dictionary Directories Encyclopedia Handbook Index Thesaurus

Purpose

Why the text was written?

Modifiers

Words that describe a noun that can include adjectives, verbs and nouns themselves

Ibid

a citation refers to the source just used

Handbook

a concise reference book providing specific information about a subject or location. A lot of info on one subject

misplaced modifiers

a phrase or clause placed awkwardly in a sentence so that it appears to modify or refer to an unintended word. For example: The pretty girl FAST ran

hyphen

a punctuation mark (-) used between parts of a compound word or between the syllables of a word when the word is divided at the end of a line of text

Dictionary

a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words with information about them

Sentence Fragment Example

a sentence missing a subject or verb or complete thought Swam into the ocean. (missing subject) The white plastic chair. (missing verb) As in the lives of many. (missing both subject and predicate)

compound sentence

a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions

Thesis Statement

a statement or sentence that states the purpose of a paper or essay

slang

a type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.

Ethos

a way of persuading an audience through ethics.

Logos (logical appeal)

a way of persuading an audience through reasoning by offering them facts, statistics, and examples.

Rhetorical Analysis

an essay that breaks a work of non-fiction into parts and then explains how the parts work together to create a certain effect—whether to persuade, entertain or inform an examination of how well the components of an argument work together to persuade or move an audience

fragments

an incomplete sentence

Compound Complex Sentence

at least one dependent clause and two or more independent clauses

atlas

book of maps and types of maps. Not just geographical.

chap.

chapter

it's

contraction of it is

DOI

digital object identifier (DOI) is a unique string of letters, numbers, and symbols assigned to a published work to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet. The DOI is typically located on the first page of an electronic document near the copyright notice and on the database landing page for the document. When DOIs are available, include them in the reference information. Place the DOI at the end of the reference, and don't add a period at the end of it.

diss.

dissertation

ed.

editor or edition

eds.

editors

Directories

electronic or print sources that provide contact and other information about many different companies or individuals

Primary Resource

first hand account

citation index

lists of where and when a specific source has been cited

Run On Sentence

made up of two or more sentences that are incorrectly run together as a single sentence

Sentence

must have a subject, predicate, and a complete thought. Needs to make sense on its own.

n.d.

no date given

n.p.

no publisher

no.

number (volume, etc)

p./p.p.

page/pages

pa. t.

past tense

its

possessive form of it

qtd

quote

Parenthetical

relating to or inserted as a parenthesis a comment that interrupts the immediate subject, often to qualify or explain E.G. "I bought ice cream last night (and it was really good!)."

rpt.

reprint

Subject Verb Agreement

subject stays the same; verb must be singular or plural to match the subject

rhetorical devices

techniques writers use to enhance their arguments and communicate more effectively literary techniques used to heighten the effectiveness of expression

Denotation

the literal meaning of a word; the dictionary definition

Predicate

the part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject

et. al

to list additional authors

trans.

translator

Comma Splice

two sentences joined incorrectly with only a comma

Verb Tense

verb that tells the time of the action or being (past, present and future)

vol.

volume

writ.

writer