Transcript Academic Writing Workshop Series 2 2015_Session 3

ACADEMIC AND
THESIS WRITING
WORKSHOPS
TOWNSVILLE AND CAIRNS, 2015
SESSION 3: THE LOGIC OF WRITTEN TEXTS:
GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION
CONVENOR: DR LIZ TYNAN
JCU GRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOOL
LOGICAL STRUCTURES
Grammar and punctuation provide the logical
structure for written work…
…a structure anchored deep inside human
communication.
Applying the rules of English helps us achieve
our most elevated aims.
THE MOTORING ANALOGY
Language is a clever, intricate machine that can run
smoothly and get you where you want to go without
breaking down.
Or it can splutter and cough and sound wonky and
get you nowhere.
To run your car at its best and develop it into a
performance vehicle, you have to understand its
mechanics. Language is the same.
LIKE CARS, LIKE WRITING
To be a reader you don't need to know the
technicalities of grammar and usage.
Being a writer implies a stronger commitment to
the language - you have a responsibility to use
language as a precision instrument.
Good academic writing is grammatically correct.
POWER WRITING
Technical knowledge gives control over one’s
language that leads not just to correctness
but also:
grace (simple eloquence),
economy (concision) and
power (weight and authority) as well.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
Traditional grammar had its
beginnings in the ancient
languages that preceded
English: Greek and Latin.
This way of understanding
and analysing language is
just as relevant today.
WHAT GRAMMAR IS
Grammar describes the relationship words
have to one another in a sentence.
Sentences exist to create meaning through
these relationships.
Sentences are single units of thought as well
as being the most important and largest
element of traditional grammar.
ELEMENTS OF
GRAMMAR
Eight parts of speech:
Noun
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Preposition
Pronoun
Conjunction and
Interjection
(together with their equivalents: adjectival phrase, adverbial clause, etc.)
ELEMENTS CONTINUED
Two numbers: singular and plural
Five cases: especially subject (nominative),
object (accusative) and possessive (genitive)
ELEMENTS CONTINUED
Three persons: first, second and third
Two voices: active and passive
Up to five moods: indicative (or declarative),
subjunctive (or optative), imperative,
interrogative, infinitive
ELEMENTS CONTINUED
Fifteen verbal tenses: 5 x 3: simple, emphatic,
continuous, perfect and perfect-continuous, in
past, present and future
Four units: word, phrase, clause, sentence.
NOUNS
Sentences exist to show the interrelationship of
nouns.
Think about the dominant noun (or noun phrase)
in each sentence…
…then place it in the position of grammatical
subject (usually at the start of the sentence).
FOCUS ON THE GRAMMATICAL
SUBJECT
Sentences should begin with key words, not
strings of dead words.
Placing the subject up front can eliminate half
the comprehension problems instantly.
PRONOUNS
Pronouns, such as I, it, him,
her, their or this stand in for
nouns.
They are useful for making the
language flow more smoothly.
When you use a pronoun, the
noun to which it refers is known
as its antecedent.
FLOATING PRONOUNS
Problems arise when pronouns float around without an
obvious antecedent. The biggest problems of all
involve “It” and “This”.
Using them to start a sentence may be unwise:
The rise in the dollar has been marked by reduced
exports in the cattle industry. This has worried some
economists.
Does this say that the rise in the dollar or the reduced
exports have worried economists?
VERBS AND “TENSE”
Through the finite verb, the reader can know
whether the action is taking place in the past,
present or future.
Declarative sentences must contain a finite
verb.
SIMPLE VERBAL TENSES
Simple finite verbs may be in the past, present
or future tense. For example:
wrote [past]
writes [present]
will write [future]
COMPOUND VERBS
Verbs take different forms depending on their
function:
he had written (past perfect)
he is writing (present continuous)
he will be writing (future continuous)
CONSISTENCY OF TENSES
Changing tenses randomly through a piece of
writing is annoying for the reader and may be
confusing.
Some theses are all in the past tense, some are in
the present and some dabble in the future tense.
As a general rule, be consistent.
Steer clear of the future tense.
SVO
The classical English sentence construction is
subject-verb-object, often shortened to SVO.
The verb connects the subject of sentence to
the thing being acted upon, the object:
“Annette writes the paper.”
In this sentence, the object is “the paper”.
INFORMATION DELIVERY
SYSTEM
The logical simplicity of the SVO sentence
assists clear writing. This kind of sentence
delivers meaning to your reader.
Understanding the dynamics of this structure
will help you simplify prose and give it greater
explanatory power.
LINEAR PROGRESSION
The SVO construction fulfils the requirements of
sentences in English, to convey meaning via a
linear progression.
Most sentences are more complex than this, but
they still have this underlying structure.
FINITE VERBS
In the SVO formulation, only a finite verb is
correct.
In our SVO example, the finite verb is writes.
This verb can be changed to indicate past,
present or future tense: wrote, writes, will
write.
BEING WRONG
A common error is attempting to use the word
“being” for this purpose. This construction is
wrong:
This being the ideal environment for coral.
FIND A FINITE VERB
“Being” cannot create an SVO sentence.
Our example can only be grammatical if changed,
for example to become part of a bigger sentence:
The seawater around the reef is pristine, this
being the ideal environment for coral.
ANOTHER WAY TO FIX IT
Another way to fix this sentence would be to
change the verb to something suitable:
This is the ideal environment for coral.
EVEN BETTER
Considering the need to emphasise the
grammatical subject, avoid a floating pronoun
and provide efficient and concise information:
Coral grows best in pristine seawater.
COMPLEX AND COMPOUND
SENTENCES
A clause is a group of words containing a subject
and verb that forms part of a sentence; it is joined
with another clause or clauses.
Complex sentences: a main clause and attached
sub-ordinate clause/s.
Compound sentences: clauses of equal
grammatical status.
COMPLEX SENTENCES
…have subordinate clauses. These add information and assist
in making relationships between facts clear.
This sentence forms a hierarchy of information and shows the
reader the relative importance of each fact; the main clause
carries the most important information.
Complex sentence containing a main clause and a
subordinate clause:
“Smith and Jones Textiles in Dubbo will supply the uniforms,
though not before 30 June.”
Here the conjunction is the word “though”.
COMPOUND SENTENCES
…are sentences that contain connections between
information of equal value by joining complete sentences
using co-ordinating conjunctions, most commonly “and”,
“but” and “or”.
For example:
“Smith and Jones Textiles in Dubbo will supply the
uniforms and we expect to source VIP gifts from this
company as well.”
In this case both clauses can stand alone grammatically,
once you remove the “and”.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
ERRORS
Fused or run-on sentences occur when parts of a compound or
complex sentence are not joined properly:
“The pharmaceutical company advises that the new treatment may
be given orally or by injection occasionally it is necessary to
hospitalise the patient so that intravenous fluids can be provided.”
Correct it like this:
“The pharmaceutical company advises that the new treatment may
be given orally or by injection, although occasionally it is necessary
to hospitalise the patient so that intravenous fluids can be provided.”
OR:
“The pharmaceutical company advises the new treatment may be
given orally or by injection. Occasionally it is necessary to
hospitalise the patient so that intravenous fluids can be provided.”
COMMA SPLICES
Comma splices occur when main clauses are joined by a comma
instead of a conjunction or a semi-colon. For example:
“Chocolate is one of the most popular flavours of icecream, another
favourite is strawberry.”
This may be corrected in various ways, including:
“Chocolate is one of the most popular flavours of icecream, while
another favourite is strawberry.”
“Chocolate is one of the most popular flavours of icecream; another
favourite is strawberry.”
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
Sentence fragments are incomplete sentences –
usually subordinate clauses or phrases instead of full
sentences. For example:
“Which we recognise is not ideal.”
This would need more information to form a complete
sentence. For example:
“The new product line will go on the market after the
peak season, which we recognise is not ideal.”
LACK OF PARALLEL
STRUCTURE
Lack of parallel structure means that the grammar of a
sentence is mismatched. For example:
“Our CEO suggests three strategies for achieving a
balanced budget: reducing spending, halting recruitment and
to sell our offshore assets.”
You can see that this sentence suggests three related items.
The grammar of each must match. Therefore, the sentence
should be structured like this:
“Our CEO suggests three strategies for achieving a
balanced budget: reducing spending, halting recruitment and
selling our offshore assets.”
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
Active:
“Annette writes the paper.”
Passive:
“The paper is written by Annette.”
In passive voice, the (former) object now starts the
sentence, becoming more prominent. The former
subject (Annette) is now called the agent – “by
Annette”.
The verb is longer.
SOMETIMES PASSIVE IS
NECESSARY
Passive voice may be needed if the active subject
is unknown or not easily stated.
For example: “Walter’s father was killed in the
Second World War”, where we don’t know who or
what actually killed Walter’s father.
No “agent” because we don’t know who carried out
the action of the sentence.
PASSIVE VOICE CAN REMOVE
RESPONSIBILITY
Passive voice can distance the writer from the
reader and from responsibility for the action in the
sentence. For example:
“The hospital beds have been shut down.”
This sentence has no agent. When you add an
agent you add responsibility:
“The hospital beds have been shut down by the
Health Department.”
ALTERNATIVELY…
…rewritten in active voice:
“The Health Department shut down the hospital
beds.”
DISTORTED PASSIVE
Distorted passive occurs when the true verb is
changed to a noun.
1. Acid etching removed the rust. Active voice –
acceptable
2. The rust was removed by acid etching. Passive
voice – acceptable
3. Removal of the rust was facilitated by acid
etching. Distorted passive - unacceptable
REWRITING DISTORTED
PASSIVE
Check for a weak verb such as facilitated,
undertaken, effected etc.
Find the hidden verb earlier in the sentence (in
example it was “remove”).
Turn this hidden verb into the finite verb in the
sentence.
APOSTROPHES
To indicate contraction: “It’s [It is] a pity that
people don’t [do not] care about apostrophes.”
To show possession (in nouns, not pronouns):
“The editor’s lament” for singular; “The editors’
lament” for plural.
COMMON ERROR 1
The famous greengrocers’
apostrophe. These usages
are totally incorrect:
Apple’s, pear’s, avocado’s
IRON RULE
Simple plurals never need an apostrophe.
Look at a word and see if it is a contraction or
a possessive, then apply the apostrophe
accordingly.
If the word is neither, do not use an
apostrophe.
COMMON ERROR 2
The childrens playground
The babies bibs
The cats whiskers
These must be edited to the correct versions:
The children’s playground
The baby’s bibs/The babies’ bibs
The cat’s whiskers/The cats’ whiskers
In their original, unpunctuated, form it is not always possible
to determine singular or plural.
AUSTRALIAN STYLE
Do not use an apostrophe in, for example, the
1970s or to show the plural of acronyms such
as QCs or MPs.
A lower case “s” is sufficient.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Possessive pronouns such as its, his, hers,
ours, theirs, yours never have an apostrophe.
“The cat chased its tail”: the possessive
pronoun “its” does not require an apostrophe.
When you see the word “its” determine if it is a
contraction (use an apostrophe), or possessive
(do not use an apostrophe).
COMMAS
Commas separate ideas in a sentence and
otherwise make meaning clear.
They provide natural pauses, to regulate
rhythm in ways that assist meaning.
Good comma use is helpful for spoken scripts they assist the speaker to follow the sense of
the prose.
COMMAS AND MEANING
Commas can change the meaning of a sentence:
The politicians, who liked to talk, were appointed
to the committee.
The politicians who liked to talk were appointed to
the committee
COMMA RULE 1
To avoid ambiguity:
“When the father finished washing, the children
went to the beach.”
Without a comma here, ambiguity may arise over
joining “washing” and “the children” together.
COMMA RULE 2
Between adjectives before a noun:
A large, black van.
Use commas here only when the adjectives modify the noun
separately.
Note the rules for the order in which you place adjectives. In
general, you would place the size first before the colour, as
in our example. (You would not write “A black, large van”.)
If the modifying adjectives are working more closely
together, such as “The grand old duke of York”, a comma is
not required.
COMMA RULE 3
In a list to separate the elements:
The basic stages of writing an article are:
outlining, researching, drafting, checking and
confirming facts, redrafting and editing.
COMMA RULE 4
To distinguish parenthetical words and
phrases:
“My view, therefore, is that editors should
always be consistent.”
PARENTHETICAL WORDS
AND PHRASES
Commas must always be used in pairs in this
case.
In “My view, therefore, is that editors should
always be consistent”, to not place the second
comma after the word “therefore” would be
grammatically incorrect.
NO COMMA BETWEEN S AND V
Do not let a comma stand between a grammatical
subject and its verb:
“A grammatical subject links strongly to its verb.”
Do not write:
“A grammatical subject, links strongly to its verb.”
A FINAL THOUGHT
To write or even speak English is not a
science but an art. There are no reliable
words. Whoever writes English is involved
in a struggle that never lets up even for a
sentence. He is struggling against
vagueness, against obscurity, against the
lure of the decorative adjective, against the
encroachment of Latin and Greek, and,
above all, against the worn-out phrases and
dead metaphors with which the language is
cluttered up.
George Orwell, English author
EXERCISE: GRAMMATICAL
SUBJECTS
Identify the grammatical subject in the following
sentences:
1. Rose hurries to class.
2. He and I will operate the gear
3. The man devouring the grapes hasn’t paid for
them.
4. After holding atomic bomb tests in Australia, the
British left Maralinga contaminated.
FINITE VERBS
Identify the finite verb in each sentence and indicate
whether it is in the past, present or future tense.
1. Grammar shows the relationship between words.
2. The car stalled momentarily.
3. The company will consider this matter next week.
4. I run flat out.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
Indicate whether the following sentences are in
active or passive voice, then suggest how to rewrite
them in the opposite voice:
1. The wine impresses our friends.
2. We are driven mad by the loud music.
3. Three people were chased by a man with a stick
in a city park last night
PUNCTUATION
Correct the punctuation in these sentences:
1. If what she say’s is true, then its time to rethink
our priority’s.
2. Todays physics, was unknown even in the
1980’s.
3. The dog chased it’s owners car.
4. I have two book’s, the books covers are red.