Grammar English Final Exam

Cycle 2 MLA Format: Works Cited List and In-Text Citation

A Works Cited List is similar to a bibliography, but it only includes the works that you have actually used IN the essay. It does NOT include works that may have informed you or helped you but did not appear in your writing. A Works Cited List is... ...On its own page after the conclusion. ...Alphabetized by author's last name or the first piece of information you have for the source. ...Is double-spaced. ...Has a "hanging indent" for every line except the first one. Sample Entries Books with One Author: Author's name. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Medium of publication. Fukuyama, Francis. Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2002. Print. A Piece from an Anthology: Author's Name. "Title of Story." Title of Collection. Edition. Editor's name. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication. Page range. Medium of publication. Thurber, James. "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. 5th ed. R. V. Cassill, ed. New York: WW Norton, 1995. 1488-1492. Print. In-Text Citation: When quoting a source in your essay, you must use a parenthetical (i.e. set of parentheses) with the page number (or range of pages) inside them. Punctuation for the sentence goes OUTSIDE and AFTER the parentheses: Walter Mitty's wife doesn't seem to understand her husband as when she thinks his imaginative fantasies are somehow an illness: "It's one of your days. I wish you'd let Dr. Renshaw look you over" (Thurber 1489). Note that the author's last name AND the page number is used to clarify the location of the quote.

Cycle 10 We've talked about pronouns before, but only about making sure they match their antecedents in number. It's also important to make sure pronouns are clear for the reader.

A pronoun is a word (I, he, she, it, you, etc.) that stands in for another word. It allows us to say things like, "I never thought I'd be nominated for an award like this" instead of, "Timothy never thought Timothy would be nominated for an award like award." Totally weird. Every pronoun has an antecedent, we know, but the connection between them isn't always clear. After Mike put a new stereo in his car, he sold it. If our customers don't buy all these wonderful quality sweater vests, pack them up and get them out of here. All of the executives held a meeting with the employees to say they would be getting bonuses. She dated Bill and then Chris, but I heard he was cheating. Hidden or Missing Antecedents: Sometimes it isn't that the pronoun can't be matched to one of multiple antecedents, but that there is no antecedent in the sentence: Hidden Antecedents Tony called Monique's house eight times, but she never answered. There was nothing left in the cookie jar, but we were sick of those things anyway. Missing Antecedents I've been emailing the television station for months, but they haven't bothered to respond. Bill Gates is incredibly wealthy, and he does a lot of good with it. It says here on this website that kale can cause an allergic reaction to normal people. Antecedents that refer to groups of words: I never went to the game, which wasn't very cool. Claudio tells Hero that he cannot marry her because she was unfaithful. This drives Hero to faint.

Cycle 1 Spelling and Grammar

Always check for basic spelling and grammar errors - Missing punctuation - Spelling problems

Cycle 8 Another common use of commas is to create compound sentences (two or more independent clauses) with the use of coordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions include the words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. (FANBOYS!) Only these words can function as coordinating conjunctions. An independent clause is a complete sentence (subject, verb, and usually an object). In order to link one independent clause to another, you can use a comma AND a coordinating conjunction: The snow days were really nice, but I would have preferred to work at school and learn to improve myself. (Direct quote from no one ever.) Time is money, and Netflix is making me broke. The holidays are a time of year for reflection and giving, so a lot of people donate to charity in December. To use a comma without a coordinating conjunction to separate two independent clauses is called a "comma splice" and is a kind of run-on sentence: Today is the greatest day ever, we learned about commas! Yeah! My dog speaks four languages, none of those languages is human. You can, however, use a semi-colon to separate two independent clauses. This is the second of a semi-colon's only TWO uses: I went to a Denny's once; I got shot before my "Moons Over My Hammy" arrived. Typically, the semi-colon is used only when the two independent clauses are closely linked or the writer wants to show a close, direct connection.

Cycle 15 One of the last "style" elements you're likely to see on the SAT is something called Parallel Structure. Parallel Structure, sometimes called parallelism, is using the same or similar construction in a sentence. The idea is that it reads and sounds better.

Here is an example of parallel structure: Jim loves swimming, riding his bike, writing in his journal, and hiking. Notice that each activity listed uses the same -ing structure. The same can be said for this sentence: Jim loves to swim, to ride his bike, to write in his journal, and to hike. Again, all the items use the same structure, in this case the infinitive. Mixing structures is known as faulty or flawed parallelism: Jim loves swimming, riding his bike, to write in his journal, and to hike. Faulty parallelism doesn't always stymie understanding the point or information of the sentence, but the sentence becomes clunky and inelegant.  Writers often use parallel structure to great effect. Abraham Lincoln in one of the most famous speeches in English (The Gettysburg Address) uses it multiple times: But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. [A]nd that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Here, Lincoln uses parallel structure to create rhythm and power, but he also makes his point memorable by repeating the same sounds.  Some other examples of a lack of parallelism getting in the way of good writing: Incorrect: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises before the game. Incorrect: The salesman expected that he would present his product at the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his slide presentation, and that questions would be asked by prospective buyers. Incorrect: The dictionary can be used to find these: word meanings, pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.  Some other examples of a lack of parallelism getting in the way of clarity: Incorrect: They are worried more about public opinion than for what the effect of the proposal will be. Incorrect: My grades are better than those of any other school. Incorrect: My uncle is six feet six inches tall, a baker, and hilarious. My uncle, a six-foot six-inch baker, is hilarious.

Cycle 4 Homophones: Homo (same) + phone (sounds)

Homophones are words that have the same sound as other words but have different spellings and very different meanings. - Some of the most common homophones have to do with confusing contractions with other words: Its important to remember when it's one's turn. The dog gnawed on its bone. I went they're to show them there options for what their going to buy. - Some other words just tend to trip people up: He would always go farther then anyone, but than he just stopped one day. The important thing about side affects is to know how they will effect you. - Still others tend be mistakes in how we hear things from others: Plenty of people must of known about this before it came out. must've You know I would of if I could of. could've Homonyms: Homo (same) + nym (name) Homonyms are words that are spelled the same and sound the same, but have different meanings and origins. You can long for a pretty long time. You can have just a little bit of soda or you can have a just amount of liberty. You can bear arms in your arms. A boxer can box up some boxing gloves for a boxer. Currently, your iPhone charger carries a lot of current. The biggest problem with homonyms is that they can lead to confusion if it's left unclear to the reader: Everything was set and the pitcher was ready. You wouldn't believe the size of the crane we saw. I just wanna rock!

Cycle 12 Verbals are verbs that act as nouns in a sentence. 

Infinitives, for example, use the most basic form of the verb without altering it to a subject or object (because it IS the subject or object), usually in the "to" form: Subject: To compete in the Super Bowl is all any football player hopes for. Subject: To rush to judgment is the pattern of the fool. Object: When he graduated from high school, all Evan wanted was to play music. Object: During the dissection, many of the students refused to look. NOTE: If an infinitive has an -s, -es, or -ed there's a problem. Another kind of verbal is called a Gerund. Gerunds are verbs that come in the "-ing" form and used as a noun: Subject: For as long as I can remember, painting has been my escape from the world. Subject: Running is a very demanding form of exercise and can cause joints to wear. Object: I've never seen anyone enjoy cleaning as much as my sister. Object: We went to practice, but all they had us doing was sprinting and lifting. Participles, sometimes called Participial Phrases, are when verbs are used as adjectives and modify nouns (usually the subject of the sentence): Tossing and turning in his sleep the night before, Marty was dragging all day long. When we last went down to Miami, it was to spend the whole week diving and fishing for marlin. Dangling Participles, though, are a common error when the noun that the Participial Phrase is modifying is missing: Incorrect: Hiking in the Adirondacks, the birds were singing loud and clear. Correct: Hiking in the Adirondacks, we heard the birds singing loud and clear. Incorrect: Wishing I could jump higher, all the dunk balls went right over my head. Correct: Wishing I could jump higher, I kept missing all the dunk balls that went over my head.

Cycle 13 Wordiness is a tendency to use more words than needed in writing. Redundant words are often a culprit in sentences and can be easily eliminated.

It's near impossible to get into that bar based on looks, so you had better get yourself a forged fake ID. If I have to endure one more of these icy, freezing, snowy mornings, I'm going to yell and scream until I'm blue in the face. It is very unusual to find someone who has never told a deliberate lie on purpose. Sometimes, this can be a matter of phrases or sets of words that sound fine. True fact, for example, is redundant. If it's a fact, it must be true. Free gift, twelve noon, my own eyes, very historic, and close proximity are other examples to watch out for. Another form of wordiness has to do with having too many words. These can often be found in clauses that can be cut altogether from a sentence in order to tighten it up. As you continue down the road a little farther, you will be pleased and delighted with the beautiful and gorgeous views of the scenery that you'll be seeing. Some people believe in capital punishment, while other people are against it; there are many opinions on this subject. He dropped out of school on account of the fact that it was necessary for him to help support his family. In the not too distant future, college freshmen must all become aware of the fact that there is a need for them to make contact with an academic adviser concerning the matter of a major.

Cycle 3 MLA Approach to Titles (Which Everyone Follows)

Longer works: Longer works like books, anthologies, plays, magazines, novellas (short novels), albums, television series, and movies are all noted with their titles being underlined OR italicized, NOT both. This can also include paintings or sculptures and longer musical compositions like symphonies. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes The Fault in Our Stars by John Green Orange Is the New Black Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare Shorter Works: Shorter works like poems, short stories, songs, individual television episodes, and individual articles are placed inside quotation marks. "Baby" by Justin Unbelieberble "On Turning Ten" by Billy Collins "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber On Capitalization: When capitalizing titles, capitalize every word that is NOT an article or preposition unless it is the first letter in the title. On Authors: While it's okay to refer to a character by his or her FIRST name (Prue, Walter, Lou), ALWAYS use an author's LAST name (Munro, Thurber, Moyes). Moyes creates a dilemma for her character when Lou must decide between Will and her family The fantasies Walter experiences are Thurber's way of suggesting the need to escape an ordinary life.

Cycle 7 Commas, Commas, and Commas: Items in a Series

One of the most common uses of commas is to separate items in a series. This applies to three or more points in a list: We're looking forward to vacation because all we do is watch Netflix, eat good food, and talk about nothing. We need to be sure we have everything we need for the party: balloons, snacks, plenty of drinks, good music, and scary clowns. This also applies to lists of adjectives and adverbs: Despite the occasional win, the Giants make more than their fair share of terrible, panicky, arrogant, and dimwitted plays. I love the holidays! I go through the whole season excitedly, happily, anxiously, impatiently waiting for every moment. It applies to phrases, too, that can be confusing otherwise: Every student has to carry her own weight, stay on top of her work, treat her fellow students with respect, and keep her long-term goals in sight. From now on, any student found to be late for morning meeting, skipping classes for any reason whatsoever, shirking her responsibilities to school or team, or deliberately flaunting the uniform code will be yelled at, expelled from school, and booed by the entire student body as she leaves the building. When dealing with lists that have commas within them, use semicolons to separate the larger groups of terms: The choice an artist makes can make a serious impact on the mood of a painting. The choice to use greens, yellows, and pinks; purples, reds, and oranges; or blacks, whites, and grays can greatly affect the response of the viewer. I like almost everything out there in terms of television. I'll watch shows like Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, or Friends; Law and Order, NCIS, or House; and Breaking Bad, Mad Men, or House of Cards. The summit was the political event of the year and brought together Barack Obama, President of the United States; Vladimir Putin, President of Russia; and Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. Vampire Weekend Songs for 600, Alex: The Oxford comma, sometimes called a serial comma, is the last comma in a series. It is a matter of opinion whether it is necessary or not, but it can eliminate confusion.

Cycle 9 Another function of commas is, essentially, to separate pieces of a sentence from other pieces of a sentence.

Separating direct quotations: As we know, commas are used to mark quotations in part to draw attention the fact that it is not our words being used and in part because the quotation is not grammatically essential to the sentence. Later in the play, Claudio rails against what he believes to be Hero's infidelity, "O Hero, what a Hero hadst thou been / If half thy outward graces had been placed / About thy thoughts and counsels of thy heart" (Shakespeare IV.i.105-107). When I asked my mom if I could go skydiving for my 11th birthday, she said, "Not in a million years!" A colon can be used to introduce a direct quotation. Commas can be skipped altogether if the quotation is clearly attributed in the sentence: Elizabeth sharply replies to Mr. Darcy that he "must comprehend a great deal" in his idea of the "accomplished woman" (Austen 40). Separating introductory words or phrases or subordinate clauses: Opening words or phrases are often modifying the entire sentence and so need to be separated from the rest of the sentence to keep them from being linked only to specific words. This year, I'm planning to make some serious changes in my life! Of course, no one here is suggesting that you abandon what you love, but you do need to consider your options. Obviously, people don't seem to care as much about making eye contact as they used to. Similarly, subordinate clauses that depend on the main part of the sentence to make sense are typically set off by commas. If you're too busy now, you can wait until later. Just leave it there on the table, unless that's going to bother you.  Separating parenthetical phrases: Parenthetical phrases are words that are not completely necessary in the sentence, but are there because they adjust the meaning of the sentence. Sometimes these will appear in actual parentheses, but often they will be marked by commas. We have, I suppose, come out on top despite all of our losses. He never asked, come to think of it, if he could come along; he just showed up! The uniform, it seems, doesn't have the same importance it once had. It seems the uniform doesn't have the same importance it once had.

Cycle 11 Run-on sentences are pretty common, but they are NOT, as some believe, simply long sentences. In fact, a single sentence could go on for a whole page or more as long as it follows the correct rules.

Simply put, a run-on sentence is a sentence with two or more independent clauses that are joined without the necessary conjunction words or punctuation. There are two kinds of run-on sentences. The first is called a fused sentence where two independent clauses are just mashed together: Benedick and Beatrice aren't the main romantic couple of the play Claudio and Hero are. Already the reader senses that Mrs. Bennet gets on people's nerves she also embarrasses her daughters in public. As I was heading back to class, I decided that school held no value for a true artist all the while I passed down the hallway filled with incredible paintings. The other kind of run-on sentence is called a comma splice where a comma is used inappropriately to separate two independent clauses: Time is not on our side, you must get ready to go. I could never respect a person as stubborn as you, no one could! Today, we're going to ace our chemistry finals, we're also going to flap our arms and fly to the moon. In order to make sure you don't have a run-on, when you're proofreading, notice any sentence that has two independent clauses (Subject and verbs at least). Then see if they're structured correctly. There are four ways to fix a run-on of either kind: • Use a period to break the two independent clauses up. • Use a semi-colon to separate the two clauses. • Use a comma AND a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) to join them. • Use something called a subordinating conjunction. These include words like "after," "because," "before," "while," "when," "unless," "if," and "since." Benedick and Beatrice aren't the main romantic couple of the play; Claudio and Hero are. Already the reader senses that Mrs. Bennet gets on people's nerves, but she also embarrasses her daughters in public. As I was heading back to class, I decided that school held no value for a true artist. All the while I passed down the hallway filled with incredible paintings. Since time is not on our side, you must get ready to go. I could never respect a person as stubborn as you. No one could! Before we're going to ace our chemistry finals, we're going to flap our arms and fly to the moon.

Cycle 14 The Passive Voice is a construction in English where the emphasis is not placed on the thing or person DOING the acting, but the object of that action or the action itself.

Typically, we always use active voice: I went to the store and bought a cupcake. The emphasis is on "I" and then what "I" did. Passive voice does the opposite: A cupcake was bought by me. While passive voice isn't technically wrong, it is seen as an error by many, including the SAT board. Look, I just did it again and the green squiggly line of Microsoft Word is telling me to fix it. Passive: More than two months were spent preparing for the play. Active: We spent more than two months preparing for the play. One issue people have with the passive voice is that it often lacks information as above, but it's often best to fix it even if there is plenty of information. Passive: The girl was scratched by the cat. Active: The cat scratched the girl. With passive voice, ask yourself who is doing the acting and that will help you clean up the sentence. The brakes were slammed on by her as she sped down the hill. Your car has been damaged. The trip is being considered by the administration and their decision is soon expected by the students. Extra help is being utilized by almost the entire class. Acceptable uses are few and far between, but occasionally necessary. The school was established in 1814. The Travers Stakes has been run for over 150 years.

Cycle 6 Known as Relative Pronouns, the difference between WHO, THAT, and WHICH is fairly simple. The trick is that they need to match up with their ANTECEDENTS.

WHO is used in terms of people and not things: Anyone that wants to become President of the United States needs to work hard. Known best for his assassination, Julius Caesar, was the emperor which ruled the whole Roman empire. THAT and WHICH are used for things and not people: The book THAT we're reading in class is filled with weirdos. This is an example of a RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE because it includes essential information. That means you cannot take the clause out and have the sentence make sense. The homework that I had for math nearly killed me. This is the movie that I've been waiting for all year. The book, WHICH we're reading in class, is about a king who sacrifices pride for peace. This is an example of a NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE because it does not include essential information. If you took out the clause, it would still make sense. The movie turned out to be a blockbuster, which was a surprise to the critics. The class, which I only took because it fit in my schedule, turned out to be pretty useful. USAGE NOTE #1: WHICH almost always has a comma before it; THAT almost never does. USAGE NOTE #2: Sadly, animals are not people (yet) and so get THAT or WHICH. Other Relative Pronouns like WHEN and WHERE have specific uses for time and place, respectively. These can also be used as relative adverbs. The time has come WHEN we must say goodbye to childish ways. This is the house WHERE I grew up.

Cycle 5 Subject and Verb Agreement

When writing a sentence, the subject must agree with the verb in number. That means that a singular subject gets a singular verb and a plural subject gets a plural verb. Sometimes it is obvious: Mike and I is going to the movies today. Barbara go to extra help every day. Sometimes it can be a little trickier: The meeting, including administrative officials, teaching staff, and experts in the field, were to discuss important matters facing schools today. Social media forums like Twitter is constantly evolving and draws more and more people into the world of the Internet. This agreement also must match in terms of tense: Deloris is travelling far and wide to improve her skills in pottery and had contemplated studying at the Sorbonne in Paris. Around noon the sky darkened, a breeze sprang up, and a low rumble announces the coming storm. Subject and Pronoun Agreement Pronouns are words that stand for other nouns like "he" instead of Steve or "it" instead of math. As annoying as it can be, the pronoun must match the word it refers to in number. When a person goes to college, they must be ready for a whole new world. These days, anyone can get onto the Internet and claim they're important or that their perspective is worth hearing. While the SATs may look for you to use "he or she" or "him or her," you are allowed to simply use she or her: Everyone has an opinion, but when she shares that opinion makes her wise or foolish. Grammar and I? Grammar and me? A quick note on me versus I. In a sentence, use "I" when it is the subject of the sentence and "me" when it is the object. Will.i.am and I have a Twitter feud going right now. He keeps tweeting at me, but I'm trying rise above it.