Transcript Slide 1

Ben Jonson Principles and Explanations
Quotation Marks around PhrasesDay 1
When you want to call attention to specific words or phrases, place quotation
marks around the word or phrase.
The children called the unfortunate boy "Freaky Zeke."
Compound Modifiers
When an adverb modifies an adjective, do not hypenate them.
Restrictive Appositive
An appositive is a word or phrase following a noun that gives the noun another
name. Appositives that give information that is essential to the meaning of the
sentence are called restrictive and are not set off from the rest of the sentence.
The writer Herman Melville wrote many novels.
(The appositive is essential information because there are many writers,
and this renaming specifies the writer referred to in the sentence.)
Day 2
Use of Hyphens with Compound Modifiers
Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun. It
was a one-way street.
However, when compound modifiers come after a noun, they are not hyphenated: The
street was one way.
The combination of an adjective and the adverb modifying it does not require
a hyphen. He is a sadly mistaken child
Use of a Dash
Dashes are used for two main functions:
to emphasize a point or to set off a comment
to set off an appositive phrase that already uses commas
On a computer, dashes are created by hitting the hyphen key twice.
When writing by hand, use two hyphens.
Punctuation of a Direct Quotation
Direct quotations are another person's exact words--either spoken or in
print--incorporated into your own writing. Use a set of quotation marks to
enclose each direct quotation included in your writing. Put a comma
between the tag line (such as he said or she said) and the quote. Use a
capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of a whole sentence.
Do not use a capital letter with the first word of a direct quotation of part
of a sentence. If the quotation is interrupted and then continues in your
sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.
Day 3
Non-restrictive Phrases and Clauses
This means that the phrase or clause does not add important information to the
sentence. The sentence would retain its main meaning if the clause or phrase
were removed. Put commas before (and after if they interrupt a sentence) nonrestrictive clauses.
Choppy Sentences
In order to make it more pleasant to read, sentence variety--variations in
length and sentence type--adds ease of reading and interest to a piece of
writing. A series of short, simple sentences should be combined to add variety
and make writing more concise.
Antecedent
The antecedent is the noun to which a pronoun refers. The pronoun should be
in the same person and number as its antecedent.
Day 4
Like versus As
Like is used as a preposition. It never introduces a clause (a unit that has both
a subject and a verb).
As is used to introduce a clause.
Principle versus Principal
Principle means a rule or standard. It is never used as an adjective.
Principal means the most important ____________ or the head of a school. It
may be used as an adjective.
Capitalization of Titles
Main words of all titles are capitalized. Capitalize the first word, the last
word, the first word after a colon indicating a subtitle, the word after a
hyphen in a compound word.
Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), prepostions (before, of, between,
under,through, etcetera), conjunctions (and but for, etcetera), the to in an
infinitive (to run, to eat).
Day 5
Commonly Confused Words: There versus Their versus They're
The word there indicates a place.
The word their indicates that they own whatever the pronoun is modifying.
The word they're is the contraction for they are.
Wordy Sentence
Since writing is meant to communicate, sentences should do so in a clear
way. Adding unnecessary words can confuse the audience. Eliminate all
words that do not add new meaning. For example, because of the fact that
gives the same information as simply writing because; thus, eliminate of
the fact that.
Run-on Sentence: Comma Splice
Run-on sentences happen when there are two independent clauses not separated by
any form of punctuation at all or by an incorrect form such as a comma by itself.
Comma splices are a type of run-on sentence that happens when there are two
independent clauses separated only by a comma. The error can be corrected by
adding a conjunction after the comma, a period, a semicolon, or a colon to separate
the two sentences.