Transcript Fragments, Run-ons, and Comma Splices!

Grammar I
How do you know when
you have a fragment?
The sentence needs
something else.
1. The sentence is lacking a subject,
a verb, or both.
 TO FIX: ATTACH TO ANOTHER SENTENCE
OR ADD A SUBJECT OR VERB.
 On that morning I sat in my usual spot. On the old
wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother’s
kitchen.
 On that morning I sat in my usual spot on the old
wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother’s
kitchen.
 On that morning I sat in my usual spot. I loved
that old wooden stool in the corner of my
grandmother’s kitchen.
2. The sentence has both subject and verb
but is a dependent (or subordinate) clause
and can’t stand alone—it leaves us
expecting more.
 TO FIX: ATTACH IT TO AN INDEPENDENT
CLAUSE OR TURN IT INTO AN
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE BY GETTING RID
OF THE DEPENDENT MARKER.
 ATTACH SUBORDINATE CLAUSES OR
PHRASES OR TURN THEM INTO SENTENCES.
 Also that photojournalism is begging to
grow rapidly, and will struggle for the real
story.
 Although on the other hand I do believe
that there can be too much of a good thing.
Comma Splices and Run-ons
 These are very similar problems—they both
have two complete sentences (two
independent clauses that could stand alone)
shoved together. The comma splice shoves
them together with a comma; the run-on
shoves them together with no punctuation at
all.
TO FIX:
 USE A COMMA AND A COORDINATING
CONJUNCTION (AND, BUT, OR, NOR, FOR, SO,
YET).
 USE A SEMICOLON, OR OCCASIONALLY A DASH.
A SEMICOLON CAN BE USED ALONE, OR IT CAN
BE USED WITH A TRANSITIONAL EXPRESSION
(HOWEVER, THEREFORE).
 MAKE TWO SEPARATE SENTENCES.
 RESTRUCTURE THE SENTENCE, POSSIBLY BY
SUBORDINATING ONE OF THE CLAUSES.
 Every summer there is one mission
trip, the trip switches every year
between an international and national
trip.
 Every summer there is one mission
trip, and the trip switches every year
between an international and national
trip.
 Children know very little, especially about
religion, therefore it is the church’s mission
to help children better understand what they
are a part of.
 Since children know very little, especially
about religion, it is the church’s mission to
help children better understand what they
are a part of.
 The ice skaters photographed included
Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, they
were photographed “practicing together”
(Para. 1).
 Manipulation of photographs may also be
defined by the smallest alterations made on
photos such as cropping, although they may
also be manipulated in a way by words
which label them, labels may be deceiving
by the usage of different tenses.
 PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT
AGREEMENT
 The pronoun doesn’t agree with the
noun it modifies.
Pronoun-antecedent agreement (P-A):
 This was not the only time the New York
Newsday had to take responsibility for their
actions, but one of the main incidents.
 These computer devises analyze images
beyond it’s literal meanings regardless of
what motions they appear to be.
 PRONOUN REFERENCE
 Make sure your readers can tell
exactly what noun your pronoun
refers to.
Pronoun Reference
 With the use of computers, it makes it easier for
photos to be deceitful, but according to
Stephens manipulating a photo is not used to be
deceiving.
 In the article “Expanding the Language of
Photographs,” originally published in Media
Studies Journal, 1997, Mitchell Stephens talks
about the way journalists alter photographs so
that they could suit their magazines or their own
personal opinions.
 QUOTATIONS
 Make sure you incorporate quotes
into your own sentences and use
citations correctly.
 Make sure you get the quote right!
Quotations
 “Journalists well have unprecedented
ability to shape the meanings their
photograph, not just their sentences, can
communicate” (Expanding the Language of
Photographs by Mitchell Stephens
Paragraph 12).
 POSSESSIVES
 Possessives indicate ownership—
something belongs to the
possessive noun.
 The only other time you’ll use
apostrophes is with contractions
(I’m, it’s, they’re).
Possessives
 Besides for use as evidence, photos are
taken to remember ones past.
 However, “in the first century and a half of
their existence” (para. 7), photo’s could not
really speculate or depict the future, the
way many journalists can do with their
words.
Transitions
 Transitions link your ideas together so
that your writing flows smoothly and
readers can follow your logic. Use
transitions to let your audience know
you’re adding more ideas in the same
direction; use them to show that
you’re shifting directions or
contrasting ideas.
Transitions
 Photographs are often altered before they are
printed. Stephens refers to a photographer using
different lenses, screens and filters to make the
exact shot that they wish to print. Dean of
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism,
Stephen D. Isaacs says “a composite photograph
is not the truth” (paragraph 3). Stephens makes a
strict point that manipulated photos must be
clearly identified as being false to keep viewers
from thinking they are true.
Transitions
 Over the course of many years the media has seen
several major magazines portray an event on their
covers that never occurred. In the article, Stephen D.
Isaacs states that, “a composite photograph is not the
truth.”
 Dean David M. Rubin of Syracuse university argued
that “New York Newsday has taken leave of its ethical
moorings” (Para. 3). Manipulation of photographs
may also be defined by the smallest alterations made
on photos such as cropping, and transformations of
colors.
 PASSIVE VERBS AND WEAK
CONSTRUCTIONS
 In humanities writing, try to use
strong, active verbs as much as
possible. Using active verbs will make
your sentences clearer and more
concise, and it will force you to be
more specific in your writing.
Passive Verbs and Weak Constructions
 In Newsday, on Feb. 16, 1994, an article was
published in which the image provided was one
that the event never occurred.
 In the article, it was said…
 It was common to computer enhance images, but
only as a joke or to make the image fit on the
page.