Professor Parks ACDV 68 and English 60 Page | 322

Writing Express:

ACDV 68 and English 60

Professor Parks

Fall 2012

Table of contents

Introductory activities/info...... page 4

Sentences...... page 8

Verbs and tense...... page 29

Adjectives...... page 72

Sentence types...... page 79

Punctuation...... page 101

Apostrophes...... page 117

Helpful information...... page 125

Peer editing...... page 163

Readings...... page 219

Writing assignments ...... page 234

Grades sheet for ICEs...... page 292

Journal information

The particulars

Your journal is due once a week, as noted on your assignment sheet. I will return it the next class day. Each week you will write four entries of at least seventy-five words each. Number and date each entry, for example “June 30 # 5.” Use a separate page for each entry, and write on one side of the page. Entries must be kept together in order in a 100-sheet spiral-bound notebook used only for this class. I only accept journals on the assigned day.

The topics

For two entries each week, you may write about anything: thoughts, feelings, opinions. Explore your dreams. Write about where you are going, where you have been, or where you’d like to go. Make it colorful. It is a treasury of your ideas.

Other possibilities include school, sports, religion, children, items in the local or national news, computers, exercise, art, sleep, moving, friends, food, animals career, business, music, fears, vacations, hobbies, pets, family, plants, environment, crime, love, work....The list is endless.

You can earn two points per entry if it is the right length and on time. You earn one point per entry if it is too short or one week late. I will not grade your feelings or opinions. I will make comments if you’d like.

For two entries per week, you will write on an assigned topic. It may be from Uno or Upfront. You must argue a point or give your opinion on the assigned topic. Back up your argument as well as you can. Provide support or evidence for your position.

You can earn three points per entry if you state an opinion and back it up. If it’s late, you earn 1 1/2 points. If you don’t back up your argument, you earn 2 points.

So weekly journals are worth a total of ten points.

I am the only one who will read your journal.

Let me know how you want me to respond.

Student Questionnaire

name ______

(kindly, attach a picture of you)

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. When did you finish high school? What high school did you attend?

2. Why did you choose to attend B.C.?

3. What is your career goal?

4. How will writing help you achieve your goals?

5. What are your strengths as a writer?

6. What are your strengths as a student?

7. What newspapers or magazines do you read on a regular basis?

8. What do you write about in your spare time?

Fill in your school (specific classes) and work schedule.

name ______

address ______

phone ______

email ______

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

______

8AM

______

9 AM

______

10AM
______

11 AM

______

12 Noon ______

1 PM ______

2 PM

______

3 PM

______

4 PM

______

5 PM

______

6 PM

______

7 PM

Fill in the blanks about students in the class

Classmates......

...... who have hobbies .....who play an instrument or sing

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

...... who have read a good book ...who were not born in Bakersfield

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

....who have pets ...... who like sports

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

....who have favorite foods .... who have had embarrassing moments

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

Quick Write - Write for 3 to 5 minutes on your impressions of this class (you can include your thoughts on the instructor, coursework, books, and classmates).

A sentence

is defined as having

1.

2.

and being 3.

examples:

1. Jesse sat down.

2. Rafael bought it.

3. Sallie reads the newspaper.

4. He calls me every day.

5. Billy went to the play.

test to see if a group of words is a complete thought

examples:

1. If you give me directions to your office.

2. My favorite hobbies.

3. The best things about living in Bakersfield.

4. He plays the drums.

5. When I heard the news.

6. Devyn went to the tutoring center.

complete thought -

incomplete thought -

Exercise 1: complete thought: sentences and fragments

Put an “s” for sentence next to the group of words that are a complete thought. Use the test: “I like the idea that...” Make those that are not sentences (fragments) complete. You may need to add a subject or verb or both to make it complete.

1. Down the hall.

2. My sister and I jogged by the river.

3. Things I do in my spare time.

4. She looked into the box.

5. Especially in the summer.

6. The alarm rang at 6 A.M.

7. Looking forward to going.

8. She plays checkers in the cafeteria.

9. While sitting in my car.

10. I take pictures on vacation.

Identifying subjects and verbs

Prepositional phrase

it starts with a

it ends with a

1. down the street

2. in the park

3. by the stream

What do prepositional phrases have to do with sentences?

PREPOSITIONS

about down regarding

above during since

across except through

after for throughout

against from to

along in toward

amid inside under

among into underneath

around like until

at near up

atop of upon

before off with

behind on within

below onto without

beneath out

beside outside

between over

beyond past

but (meaning except)

by concerning

Exercise 2: Prepositional phrases

Cross out the prepositional phrase in the following sentences.

1. Suzanne read during recess.

2. The caps to my pens always disappear within a day or two.

3. Lou froze six pounds of salmon steaks.

4. Mr. Smith leaned against the wall.

5. Some children raced up the hill and to the park.

6. Mary left without her books.

7. Mrs. Hernandez stepped onto the bus.

8. The picture hangs over the small window.

9. Natalie read all of the article for homework.

Subjects

Compound subjects

Verbs

Compound verbs

Identifying the infinitive.

An infinitive starts with _____ and ends with a verb.

An infinitive does not function as the verb in the sentence.

examples:

1. I like to sing.

2. She wanted to walk around the block.

3. The wind began to blow.

4. I love to skate to my friend’s house.

How does an infinitive differ from a prepositional phrase?

How are an infinitive and a prepositional phrase similar?

Cross out the prepositional phrase(s). Underline the subject once and the verb twice. Put the infinitive in parenthesis.

Exercise 3:

1. I want to be alone in my room.

2. He refuses to diet and to exercise.

3. Everyone wanted to go to the concert.

4. Joyce ran down the road to see her friends.

Sentence patterns

sv pattern

ssv pattern

svv pattern

create sentences using the following:

subjects - children, Carrie, people, students, birds, cats, John, Sam, Tim, I

verbs - yell, eat, fly, dance, study, laugh, fall, sing, cry, read, drive, run, shop,

Exercise 4: Identifying subjects and verbs

Cross out the prepositional phrase. Put the infinitive in parenthesis. Underline the subject(s) once and the verb(s) twice.

1. Rose removed the cat hair from her black pants with masking tape.

2. Connie and Sam like to keep their blue bucket under the sink.

3. The small child fell off the jungle gym and landed in the sand.

4. I found the jam in the cabinet beside the cereal.

5. During the blizzard, the children stayed in the house and played games to entertain themselves.

6. After dinner, my mom and sister went to a baby shower down the street.

7. My children always race each other to the bathroom in the morning to see who is faster.

8. On Wednesday, Lucy vacuums the carpet and changes the sheets.

9. Stacks of magazines sat on the table.

Run-ons

A run-on is two or more independent clauses. One way to correct run-ons is to separate the sentences with a period. A comma is not strong enough. Comma splice and fused sentence are the two types.

Exercise 5: Run-ons

Correct each run-on by putting a period at the end of the first complete thought and a capital letter at the beginning of the second complete thought.

Some of the run-ons may be three complete thoughts.

1. I got to the sale too late no sweatshirts were left.

2. He came home tired and hungry he ate and took a nap.

3. The beach was once beautiful, now soda cans and discarded

candy wrappers are everywhere.

4. The private school down the street just closed down it ran out of

money.

5. The car needed to be vacuumed the kids emptied the sand from

their shoes.

6. It rained a lot last winter, we turned the sprinklers off.

7. Our son misbehaved at school he went to the principal’s office.

8. Mindy uses the cartoon section of the newspaper as wrapping

paper it saves money and the environment all her friends like it.

9. Ted bought a cell phone the instructions were impossible to

understand he asked a friend for help.

Exercise 6: Fragments and run-ons.

Identify which of the below are sentences, fragments, or run-ons. Fix the fragments by adding words. Fix the run-ons by adding a period.

______1. On the way to the hospital.

______2. She got the paper and took it in the house.

______3. Darlene ran a red light, luckily she didn’t hit anyone.

______4. The waiting room was full she had a long wait.

______5. Henry was glad that he had brought a book.

______6. Cats are cute. Especially long-haired ones.

______7. I was unhappy about the school's dirty bathrooms I found others who we also unhappy we complained. Things changed.

______8. At finals time, many students are in the library studying for tests, writing term papers, and reading their text books, so if you want a desk or a computer, get there early.

______9. Get up.

______10. To run down the street.

Verbs: Helping Verbs

Sentences:

we already know that

1.

2.

3.

a way to test if a group of words is a sentence:

VERBS

Sometimes the verb is more than one word.

23 helping verbs

examples:

1. He has been taken to the hospital.

2. She must have gone around the block.

3. We will go down the path to find the recycling center.

4. I might run down the street.

5. We were cooking dinner together at my friend’s house.

In questions, sometimes the helping verb and main verb are separated.

examples:

1. Did Mario push the button?

2. Has John left?

3. Will you go to the market?

words sometimes mistaken for a helping verb

Exercise 7:

Cross out the prepositional phrase(s). Underline the subject one and verb phrase twice. Write the helping verb in the first column and the main verb in the second column.

helping main

verb verb

1. Christine has gone to the movies. ______

2. The plate was broken in two places. ______

3. The bus will not arrive soon. ______

4. This tour might require an hour. ______

5. The truck was stolen during the night. ______

6. Bill had never seen Lake Pye. ______

7. Did one of the boys swim

across the pool? ______

8. They will not buy new things. ______

HV MV

9. He should have studied longer

for the final exam. ______

10. Rosa has been soaking

in the bathtub for an hour. ______

11. He could have been killed

by that falling rock. ______

12. The protesters have

been picketing for four days. ______

13. Their mother should have

worn sunscreen during the party. ______

14. My pizza might be delivered soon. ______

15. Will you take me to school? ______

16. I could not read the bottom

row of the eye chart. ______

Finding the subject and verb in commands.

Commands tell someone to do something. They give instructions. An example of a command is “Sit down.” In commands there is no verb ending, such as “ing” or “ed” or “s.” Commands are also called imperative sentences. The subject of an imperative sentence is understood.

examples:

1. Open this gift from Aunt Marty.

2. Take this with you.

3. Put the puppy inside the carrying case.

Cross out the prepositional phrase(s). Underline the verb twice and add the understood subject.

Exercise 8

1. Sit behind me to be safe.

2. Brush your teeth before bedtime.

3. Please read this newsletter concerning vitamins.

4. Put the picture atop the china closet.

5. Walk toward the back of the bus and sit by me.

6. Send this to your uncle Bob in the morning.

7. Follow that car and drive over the bridge to find the house.

8. Please don’t jump over those fallen logs behind the shed.

9. After dinner, put the dishes in the dishwasher.

10. The cats follow me around the house.

Exercise 9: Cross out the prepositional phrase. Underline the subject once and the verb/verb phrase twice. Put parenthesis around any infinitives.

1. A bird is sitting on our sidewalk.

2. Take this to the train station with you.

3. Many large hotels have been built along the beach.