English 308 Practice Midterm, Fall 2014 Name

English 308 Practice Midterm, Fall 2014 Name:

General Instructions

This exam has two parts. In Part I, you will introduce errors into a text, explain the errors, and back up your explanation with a reference. Part II includes two sentences to fix and a bonus question.

Please work within this document, using MS Word. Put your name at the top of the document.

Finally, use your last name to rename the document as follows: Lastname.308practicemidterm fall14.doc. Then email the completed exam to no later than Tuesday, October 23, at 12 noon.

Please remember that this practice exam is required. Not submitting it will be equivalent to missing a quiz and getting a zero. Unexcused lateness will be penalized.

Part I: Instructions (With Example)

The text on which you will work comes from a respected source and is correct by widely accepted standards. Your job is to introduce five errors of certain kinds into it, to mark the spots with errors, to explain the errors in clear, correct, and convincing English, and to back up your explanation with a reference to an appropriate authority.

When you introduce an error, you should be thinking of how not to follow the good principles that apply to the usage in question. Without straying far from the original text, imagine how an imperfect writer might handle the same material. Your messed-up version may simply break well-established rules (such as the rule that an interrupter must have identical punctuation at each end), or it may change or weaken meaning without actually breaking any of those rules. One way or another, it must represent a bad choice that a good editor would reject.

The five “required” errors are listed below, with identifying numbers.

1. An error involving the presence or absence of at least one comma

2. An error involving the presence or absence of at least one em dash

3. An error involving the presence or absence of at least one parenthesis mark

4. An error involving the presence or absence of at least one hyphen

and

5. A misused word that a spellchecker will not recognize as incorrect

The original text will appear twice, to allow you to work in the second version while keeping the original for reference. First, introduce errors into the second. It is not necessary to plant the errors in numerical order, but you must use the numbers above to identify your errors. Please mark them with both numbers and highlighting, as in the following example.

Sample Original Text (for Reference)

Monday, October 10, is a holiday, which is to say that no group presentation is scheduled then, despite what this page so erroneously said until a short while ago. The next presentation, by groups 1 and 2, will take place on Monday, October 17. But everyone is encouraged to think now about the texts for that presentation, which focus on spelling and word-choice issues of the kind that will be important in the quiz on October 12.

Sample Copy of Original Text (to Include Numbered and Highlighted Errors)

Monday, October 10, is a holiday 1. which is to say that no group presentation is scheduled then, despite what this page so erroneously said until a short while ago. The next presentation, by groups 1 and 2. will take place on Monday, October 17. But everyone is encouraged to thank 5. now about the texts for that presentation, which focus on spelling and word 4. choice issues of the kind that will be important in the quiz on October 12.

. . . . .

Then, in numerical order, as below describe the errors and provide brief explanations of them as in the examples below. For nos. 1-4, back up your explanation with a reference to an appropriate authority. Be sure to provide the title of this source, as well as the page number(s) or URL(s) of the material that supports your explanation. In the case of The Copyeditor’s Handbook and Garner’s Modern American Usage, you may substitute CH and GMAU for the titles.

Sample Answers. [Only three kinds of errors are dealt with here.]

1. (comma-related error)

Explanation

A comma has been removed. The comma is needed to introduce the nonrestrictive relative clause that follows.

Reference to supporting authority

(CH, p. 85)

4. (hyphen-related error)

Explanation

The hyphen between “word” and “choice” has been removed. This hyphen was needed to make it clear that “word-choice” is an attributive phrasal adjective modifying “issues.”

Reference to supporting authority

(GMAU, pp. 625-628)

5. (misused word)

Explanation

“Thank” has replaced “think,” resulting in a lack of sense. People would not normally be expected to give thanks about such texts; and without the identification of someone to thank, the new sentence is especially mystifying.

Part I: Text to Work On

Original Text

Anxiety about what comes next in midlife is gripping a lot of people these days, especially if their jobs are ending or they are nearing retirement age. Wylie Schwieder mulled over his prospects as his consulting job was winding down. And when his wife of 20 years, Katie, a former corporate trainer and business writing coach, came home on Sept. 3, 2007, their wedding anniversary, he was waiting on the front porch of their Richmond, Va., house with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“I’ve decided to become a teacher,” he told his wife.

“Really,” she replied. “I was just thinking the same thing!”

Mr. Schwieder, 52, a former executive at CarMax and Capital One, became interested after a local science teacher told him about a fast-track way to become a teacher. The idea of studying intensely, then getting into the classroom quickly, appealed to the couple, who have four children. Within three weeks they had signed up with the Career Switchers program, the Virginia-based program that requires applicants to pass an Educational Testing Service exam in the subject matter they want to teach, take an online course and attend a series of meetings to learn classroom teaching skills. The program, which has helped more than 500 people earn licenses, costs $3,150 and takes about 18 months to complete.

Copy of Original Text (Work in This One)

“I’ve decided to become a teacher,” he told his wife.

“Really,” she replied. “I was just thinking the same thing!”

Part I: Explanations and References (Add Them in the Appropriate Spots)

1. (comma-related error):

Explanation

Reference to supporting authority

2. (em-dash-related error):

Explanation

Reference to supporting authority

3. (parenthesis-mark-related error):

Explanation

Reference to supporting authority

4. (hyphen-related error):

Explanation

Reference to supporting authority

5. (misused word):

Explanation

Part II

Correct the errors in sentences 1 and 2. Make a correction or corrections in the copy, highlighting the correction or using the change-tracker.

Original Sentence 1 (for Reference)

Dr. Hagerty sounded surprised at the news but not alarmed, because most of the pigs, which were at the state fair at the same time as a group of 4-H children who became ill were to be sent to the slaughterhouse shortly afterward.

Copy of Original Sentence 1 (Work in This One)

Original Sentence 2 (for Reference)

The Delgado family, meanwhile, headed off to St. Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx, where their father was interned.

Copy of Original Sentence 2 (Work in This One)

The Delgado family, meanwhile, headed off to St. Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx, where their father was interned.

Bonus Question

The original text used in part I follows AP style, which means that it does not necessarily use the “serial comma.” In it is one spot in which, by Chicago Manual standards, a serial comma belongs. Where should that comma go? (Please answer below in beautiful prose.)