Mastering the Mechanics of Writing Part 1: Building Blocks of Grammar

1. Mastering the Mechanics of Writing Part 1: Building Blocks of Grammar Kayla Skarbakka and Matt Smith Writing Consultants Walden University Writing Center

2. Housekeeping • Muting • Questions • Tech trouble? http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToTraining • Recording: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/415.htm

3. Agenda • Parts of speech • Punctuation • Tips/common errors • Practice

4. Why Study Mechanics? So your readers focus on your ideas!

5. Parts of Speech Nouns and Pronouns Articles Modifiers Verbs

6. Nouns • Additional resources: • When to capitalize nouns: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/489.htm • Irregular plural nouns: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Documents/GrammarandELL/plural_nouns.pdf Person, place, or thing • Proper or common • My dog is named Wendy. • I am a student at Walden University. • Singular or plural • Tip: Use plural nouns when writing in general terms: • Rather than this: A student should always try his or her best. • Try this: Studentsshould always try their best.

7. Pronouns Replace a noun The teacher gave the test to the students. She gave it to them. Additional resource: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Documents/Pronouns.pdf • Tip: Avoid the second person in scholarly writing: • Rather than this: I am going to tell you about childhood obesity. • Try this: This paper is about childhood obesity.

8. More Pronoun Tips • Avoid the general we, us, and our Rather than this: We all need to focus on patient satisfaction. Try this: Nurses all need to focus on patient satisfaction • Avoid ambiguous pronouns. Rather than this: When the customer and the manager spoke on the phone, he was angry. Try this: The customer was angry when he spoke on the phone with the manager. • Maintain noun-pronoun agreement. Wrong: A manager should always listen to their customers. Correct: Managersshould always listen to theircustomers. Wrong:The family needs to work on their anger issues. Correct: The family members need to work on their anger issues.

9. Articles The, a, and an • Give specificity and number • Indefinite articles (a, an) refer to nonspecific or general thing • Definite article (the) refers to a specific thing I am studying for a test. I am studying for the test. A counseling session provides a supportive environment. The counseling session provided a supportive environment.

10. Modifiers • Give information about another word • Adjectives: modify a noun • Cathy is the company’s first female CEO. • Adverbs: modify a verb, adjective, or other adverbs. Can be a single word or a phrase. • Cathy recently accepted the CEO position. • She is very eager to meet her staff and is meeting on Monday with all the managers. • Tip: Avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers • Rather than this: As a nurse, patients should be my main concern. • Try this: As a nurse, I should mainly be concerned about patients.

11. Verbs • Describe action or state of being • Necessary in every sentence Wrong: All the nurses at the seminar. Correct: All the nurses were at the seminar. All the nurses attended the seminar. I will write my final paper on childhood obesity. He is an elementary school principal. There were no casualties in the accident. I always begin my homework at 8 p.m.

12. Verb Tenses present • Place actions in time • Basic tenses past future x x x x x x x x

13. Helping Verbs Change the tense, voice, or mood of a sentence • Be: progressive tenses • I am writing my KAM. • Have: perfect tenses • She has worked at the school for 12 years. • Do: emphasis • Despite the student’s complaint, the teacher does grade fairly. X X X X

14. Why Does Verb Tense Matter? • I ate an entire large pizza. • I eat entire large pizzas. • I will eat an entire large pizza. • I am eating an entire large pizza. • I have eaten an entire large pizza. • I do eat entire large pizzas.

15. Verb Tips • Keep your tenses consistent Wrong: I wrote my paper after I watch the webcast. Correct: I wrote my paper after I watched the webcast. • Be careful with progressive tenses Rather than this: I am wanting to earn my degree. Try this: I want to earn my degree. • Make sure your subjects and verbs agree Wrong: The high school have three choirs. Correct: The high school has three choirs.

16. Punctuation • Periods • Commas • Semicolons • Colons • Apostrophes

17. . Periods • At the end of a complete sentence All faculty are required to attend the meeting. • After a parenthetical citation All participants were under the age of 10 (Wilson, 2003). • In certain abbreviations i.e., e.g., et al., U.S.

18. , Commas • After introductory clauses Despite the delay, I expect to complete the study on time. • On either side of a nonessential clause Mary, the newest employee, just finished training. • In a list of three or more elements He has written three books: a novel, a memoir, and a biography. • Between two independent clauses joined by a conjunction I turned the paper in late, but at least I finished it.

19. ; Semicolons • Between two independent clauses Half of the staff is out sick; however, the meeting will still go on as planned. • Between elements in a list that contains internal commas I grouped my students into teams as follows: Mary and Patrick; Kelsey, Erik, and Cara; and Ashley and Zach. • Between multiple sources in a single citation (Wilson, 2010; Peters, 2007; Ruiz, 2004)

20. : Colons • Introduce items of a list I am teaching the following classes next semester: Irish Literature, Composition II, and Creative Writing. • Elaborate on a statement My classmates and I all agree: We will need to reread chapter 3 before the test this week. • Tip: Use colons only when the list does not fit naturally into a sentence’s construction • No colon : The Jacksons’ three sons are Peter, Sean, and Mike. • Colon : The Jacksons have three sons: Peter, Sean, and Mike.

21. ’ Apostrophes • Singular possessive Erickson’s (2005) study involves… • Plural possessive The researchers’ methods were sound. • Tip: No need for apostrophes to make a noun, year, or abbreviation plural • Incorrect: Many questionable fashion trends, such as crop top’s, emerged in the 1980’s. • Correct: Many questionable fashion trends, such as crop tops, emerged in the 1980s.

22. Punctuation as Symbols Think of punctuation as symbols on a map—they have specific meanings, and they guide your readers through the territory of your ideas

23. Proofreading Tips • Read your paper slowly out loud • Have someone else read your paper out loud to you • If you know that you tend to make a particular kind of grammar or punctuation error, proofread your paper looking specifically for that error • Use Grammarly for further guidance on tricky spots

24. Practice • Activity Handout in Webinar Archive (answer key) • Quiz to test what you learned.

25. Recap • Correct grammar and punctuation allow you to communicate your ideas clearly. • Proofread your sentences slowly out loud to help you identify mechanical issues. • Know where to go for help!

26. Resources: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/ • Guides and resources • Exercises and quizzes Automated grammar checker • Webinars • Description of one-on-one tutoring • Writing courses

27. Thanks for joining us! Questions? writingsupport@waldenu.edu