Transcript Document

KU 076
Help Session #8
Let’s Take a Little Look into Grammar &
Writing!
And the Agenda Is……….
 Throughout tonight’s Help  Topics covered continued:
Session, we will be
7) Homonyms/Homophones
covering the following
8) Conjunctions
topics:
9) Common Types of
1) What grammar is
Punctuation
2) Types of nouns
10) Parts of a Paper
3) Types of pronouns
11) Writing Tips to Think
4) Types of adjectives
About & Remember
5) Types of verbs
12) Wrap-Up/Questions
6) Contractions
What is Grammar???????
* According to Fowler and Aaron
(2007), grammar is defined as “how.
language works “ (p. 232).
* According to the American Heritage
Dictionary Online, grammar is
defined as:
a. The study of how words and
their component parts combine
to form sentences.
b. The study of structural
relationships in language or in a
language, sometimes including
pronunciation, meaning, and
linguistic history.
c. The system of inflections,
syntax, and word formation of a
language.
d. The system of rules implicit in a
language, viewed as a mechanism
for generating all sentences
possible in that language.
e. A normative or prescriptive set
of rules setting forth the
current standard of usage for
pedagogical or reference
purposes.
(Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/grammar).
Let’s Review Nouns, Shall We?
 There are many different types of nouns.
Examples of these include:
1) Common Nouns – Regular nouns, non
specific (ex. dog)
2) Proper Nouns – Specific Nouns (ex.
Golden Retriever)
3) Collective Nouns – Nouns that group (or
collective) related items or people
together (ex. audience)
4) Concrete Nouns – Nouns that you can
experience with your five senses.
Basic Rule to Remember
A noun is anything that is a person, place, thing, or
idea.
What is a Pronoun?
 A pronoun is a word that can
replace a noun or another pronoun.
 There are many different types of
pronouns. Examples of these
include:
1) Reflective Pronouns - The
subject performs actions to or
for itself; therefore, the action
in the sentence passes back to
the subject. Reflexive pronouns
distinguish person and number.
(ex. We tortured ourselves with
the thought of our
upcoming final.)
2) Intensive Pronouns - Point one
back to a noun or a pronoun (not
necessarily the subject) to add
emphasis to it; however, intensive
pronouns do not indicate a passing
back of action.
(ex. I prefer pizza myself.)
3) Reciprocal Pronouns - Express an
interchangeable or mutual action
or relationship. There are type
types and each can have a
possessive form.
(ex. Mark and Dave greeted each
other.
Mark and Dave greeted one
another.)
Time to Review Adjectives!!
 An adjective is any word that describes a noun.
 There are many different types of adjectives. Some examples would
include:
1) Proper Adjective - Adjectives derived from proper names are
called proper adjectives. They are easily recognizable in that they
are always capitalized.
(ex. French bread, Italian food)
2) Possessive Adjective - Possessive adjectives my, your, his, her, its,
our, and their modify nouns by showing possession or ownership.
Basically, they take ownership of the noun.
(ex. my sweater, his shirt, their party)
Let’s take a quick look at the following website:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/grammar/course/speech/1_4a.htm
Verbs, Verbs, and More Verbs!!!
 A verb is a word that shows an action.
 There are many different types of verbs. The three main types are:
1) Past Tense – A past tense verb means that the action has already
happened in the past. To change a verb to the past
tense, you add the following endings: “ed”
(ex. Yesterday, we walked to the store.)
2) Present Tense – A present tense verb is an action that a person is
currently doing.
(ex. I am going run five miles.)
3) Future Tense – A future tense verb is an action that is going to
take place in the future.
(ex. Tomorrow, I will be running in a five mile race.)
Contractions
 A contraction is a
combination of a verb
and another word such
as not or will.
 Some common
examples include:
~ can not = can’t
~ should not =
shouldn’t
~ she will = she’ll
~ they will = they’ll
??Question to Ponder??
Look at the examples,
what punctuation mark
do you see that takes
the place of the missing
letters?
Homonyms / Homophones
 Homonyms are words that sound the same but
are spelled differently and mean different.
 Some common examples include:
~ ate / eight
~ see / sea
~ ad / add
Can you think
~ air / heir
of any other
examples?
~ arc / ark
~ bare / bear
Conjunction, Junction….
What’s Your Function????
 Conjunctions are special words that connect groups
of words, phrases, or ideas together.
 Some examples include:
 and ( I like ice cream. I like cake. I like ice
cream and cake)
 but ( Barbara got an A in spelling. Sonja got a B
in spelling. Barbara got an A but Sonja got a B in
spelling.)
 or ( Juan could buy a Snickers bar. Juan could
buy a Milky Way bar. Juan could buy a Snickers
or a Milky Way bar.)
 so (Isaac fell off his bike. He skinned his knee.
Issac fell off his bike so he skinned his knee.)
Let’s Review Punctuation Shall
We…..
 Period – “.” (We went
to the store.)
 Question Mark – “?”
(What did you buy?)
 Exclamation Point – “!”
(What a beautiful
coat!)
 Comma – “,” (He
brought a baseball,
basketball, and
football to the picnic.)
 Colon – “:” (Choose
from the following
list: )
 Semi-Colon – “;” (The
dinner was delicious;
we enjoyed it.)
Let’s Take a Look at Some Helpful
Writing Tips to Remember!
Writing is a Process…Not a Product
~Writing is not a single-step process. All writing involves five basis
steps:~
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Generating ideas
Organizing ideas
Drafting
Revising
Editing and proofing
Common Types of Prewriting
 Jot lists – Like a grocery list or word association, a jot list includes key
words that come to mind about your subject. At this point, don’t worry
about spelling; just quickly write down as soon new thoughts enter your
mind. You can even go back and expand on some ideas as you create the list.
 Free-writing - Here you sit down either at a computer or with paper and
pen and simply begins writing as quickly as possible without stopping. Don’t
worry about sentences, spelling or anything grammatical at this point (we’ll
get to those later). Right now, just keep the ideas running and capture as
many of them as you can.
 Mapping – A visual tool that looks something like a spider web, mapping
allows you to make connections to ideas and to see how they relate to each
other. If you like free-writing and find yourself making connections
between ideas as you go, this is a good option.
 Tape recorders or voice to text software – This is an ideal tool if you find
that you think better out loud, expressing ideas verbally. Speak into a
recorder then transcribe your ideas or use voice to text software. Imagine
you’re exploring these ideas with your best friend and tell her everything
you can think of.
Examples of Jot Listing & Mapping
In Writing, Organization is the Key!
Two common methods of
organizing ideas:
Outlining – A method of
listing the main points you
will cover and their
subpoints (details) in the
order in which you will
present them.
Idea Mapping - A drawing
that shows the content and
organization of a piece of
writing.
I.Types of Sports
II.Team
A. Baseball
B. Football
C. Basketball
III. Individual
A.Golf
B.Tennis
C.Swimming
The Elements Needed for a Quality
Essay
 When creating an essay, your
paper needs to consist of the
following elements:
1) A Beginning, Middle, and End
Paragraphs
2) At LEAST 3 Paragraphs
3) A Thesis Statement
4) An Introduction, Body, and
Conclusion
5) Outside References
6) Correct Paper Formatting
Let’s Break These Elements Down
Step by Step
 Paragraphs
1) Need to be at LEAST 3 sentences
2) Sentence length in an essay should vary
(i.e. a mixture of Simple and Complex
sentences)
3) An essay should contain the following types of
paragraphs:
A) Beginning – Introduction
B) Middle – Body
C) End - Conclusion
Without Further Ado, Let’s Review
the Introduction!!
 The Beginning, or Introduction,
Paragraph
1) Always states the main point of the
paper.
2) Helps to set the tone, which is a
crucial element of style.
3) Gives the reader an indication of
what the topic of the essay is and
how the author intends to deal with
the topic.
4) Should include a thesis statement,
which is a statement that is the
controlling idea of the essay.
Let’s Clarify What the Body of the Paper
Needs, Shall We??
 The Middle, or Body, Paragraphs
1) Should support and relate to
the main topic of the essay.
2) Should contain its own thesis
statement.
3) Should help to clarify the
essay’s main points to the
reader.
4) Should contain transition
words/phrases to link new and
previous thoughts together.
And Finally……The Conclusion
Paragraph
 The Ending, or Conclusion,
Paragraph
1) Should be a summary and
reinforcement of the main
points of the essay.
2) Is the very last paragraph
in your essay.
3) Contains its own thesis
statement.
4) Should leave the reader with a
lasting, memorable impression of
what the paper was about.
In Formal Writing, Always
Remember…..
 Avoid texting lingo (i.e. lol,
omg, btw, da)
 Avoid slang (i.e. contractions,
abbreviations)
 Avoid emoticons :-p  
 Avoids the use of 1st person
(no I, me, my, we, you, our).
 USES GRAMMAR AND SPELL
CHECK IN MICROSOFT
WORD!!!!
Some Important Points
to Remember
 When creating your essay, remember:
1) The overall organization of your paper is referring
to how the paper is put together, which leads to
the readers ability, or inability, to understand it.
2) Even if a paper has a beginning, middle, and end, it
may still be unorganized.
3) Errors in punctuation can ruin your entire essay.
4) Proper formatting is a MUST in order to make
your paper look professional.
5) When a paper has beginning, middle, and ending
paragraphs, the FLOW of it is very important.
???Any Questions???
Thanks for coming
everyone and I
hope you learned a
little bit about
grammar, writing,
and the writing
process! 