SENTENCE LEVEL REVISIONWeek Thirteen

Lesson Objectives

• Discuss the following:• Conjunctions (Coordination and Subordination)• Comma Splices and Fused Sentences• Sentence Fragments• Modifier Placement

Coordinate Conjunctions

Connect elements of equal importance.

Conjunctive:• And

Disjunctive• But• Or• Nor• Yet

Subjunctive Conjunctions

Connects elements of differing importance.After Even if Save Until

Although Even though Since When

As Except Than Whenever

As if For That Where

As though If Though Wherever

Because Lest Till Whether

Before Provided Unless While

How to Choose the Right Conjunction?

Questions to ask:• Are the elements of equal importance?

• Are they bringing the elements together, or creating opposition?

• Do the elements need each other to make sense?• Place? Where, Wherever• Time? After, Before, Since, Until, When, Whenever, While• Manner? As, As if• Reason? As, Because, In order that, Since, So, That,• Possibility/Conditionality? Although, If, Even if, Provided, Though,

Unless• Comparison? As, Than

Quiz: More Practice

• Revise the following sentences into complex sentences:

1. Sam loves to cook. He loves to eat more.

2. Jane went to the movies. I went, too.

3. They will stay. They will go.

4. The impetus for some critics is to dismiss Harte as unreliable. It is important to remember that Bret Harte is not an isolated case of aggrandizement.

5. You’ve been gone. I can breathe for the first time.

Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

The difference? Punctuation• Many motorists are unaware of the dangers of texting while driving, lawmakers have taken the matter into their own hands.• How would you revise these sentences?

• The number of vaccine manufacturers has plummeted the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits.

Sentence Fragments

Causes:• Fragment is missing a subject or verb.

• Long stretches of white beaches and shady palm trees. Give tourists the impression of an island paradise.

• Fragment is a dependent clause.• The number of vaccine manufacturers has plummeted.

Since the industry has been hit with a flood of lawsuits.• As soon as the seventy-five-year-old walked onstage.

The audience burst into applause.

Modifier Placement

• The coach awarded a medal to the most valuable player made of solid brass.• What is “made of solid brass?” The play or the medal?

“Misplaced modifiers cause confusion because they are not close enough to the words they modify or because they seem to modify more than one thing” (St. Martins 38a).• Disruptive• Dangling

Disruptive Modifier

“Disruptive modifiers interrupt the connections between parts of a sentence, making it hard for readers to follow the progress of the thought” (St. Martin’s 38b).

• The director encouraged us to loudly and enthusiastically applaud after each scene.• Splitting the infinitive

• Strong economic times have, statistics tell us, led to increases in the college dropout rate.• Misplaced subject

• Statistics tell us that strong economic times have led to increases in the college dropout rate.

Dangling Modifier

“Dangling modifiers seem to modify something that is implied but not actually present in the sentence” (St. Martin’s 38c).• Often have to add a subject the modifier clearly refers to.• Trying to attract younger viewers, news is blended with

comedy on late-night talk shows.• The issue: What is “trying to attract younger views” modifying?

News or late-night talk shows?

• Original Revision: Trying to attract younger viewers, late-night talk shows blend news with comedy.

• Late-night talk shows blend news with comedy to attract younger viewers.

Quiz: More Practice

Revise the following sentences:6. The development of the Overland was, as Harte feared,

almost “short-lived.”

7. Chosen for their looks, the journalistic credentials of newscasters may be weak.

8. When the levee breaks. I’ll have no place to stay.

9. This creates an authorial position for Harte Nissen delineates Harte’s authority as being positioned in the documentary rather than the imaginary.

10. Highlighting local events, important international news stories may get overlooked.

Homework

Saturday

• Turn in Brief Assignment 9

Tuesday

• Read the student introductions in First-Year Writing:• Laura McGiness (281-2)• Joy Van Marion (322-3)• James R. King (361-2)• Megan Sheehan (397-8)• Arianne Folkema (427-8)• Curt Gritters (467-8)• Cathryn Ghena (502)• Cherilyn Dudley (534-5)