The Rough Draft - Aug. 2007 - Fresno

F RESNO C ITY C OLLEGE
T HE R OUGH D RAFT
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
S EPTEMBER 12, 2007
T EACHERS OPEN THE DOOR , BUT YOU MUST ENTER BY
YOURSELF . —C HINESE P ROVERB
Avoiding
Common
Grammatical
Errors
By
Kristen Johnson
that everyone, no matter who they are, will
make at one time or another. Fragments
are often found in essays across the curriculum. A sentence fragment lacks a subject,
verb, or object. Often times a fragment is
easily recognized because the sentence
stops abruptly. In addition, the idea in
which it is trying to convey is unfinished.
To counter this, always make sure that
your sentences each have a subject, verb,
and an object in them. While this is a common grammatical error, fragments are
often easier to fix than a run on sentence.
Grammar has always been known to be a
tedious task when it comes to editing a paper. No student ever likes to hear that
there are grammatical mistakes within their
paper. Grammar is problematic for both
native and nonnative English speakers alike. Run on sentences happen when a student
However, students can learn the basics of tries to fuse two sentences into one using a
grammar and apply them to any paper by comma or no punctuation at all. The foltaking a positive approach. One of the first lowing is a perfect example: The cost of coland most important aspects of grammar lege has gone up over the years, this having
within English is the structure of a sen- proven my point that the United States budget
for education has suffered over
tence. Sentences generally
the same time period. One
have a subject, verb, and an
Grammar is
way to fix run on sentences
problematic
for
object. This basic rule is comboth native and
is to separate the individual
monly referred to as S-V-O.
nonnative
The subject is the “who” or English speakers thoughts into individual
alike. However,
sentences. We could re“what” in the sentence, the
students can
verb is what that subject is learn the basics write the above example
into two sentences as folof grammar and
doing, and the object is what
apply them to any lows: The cost of college has
is involved in the subject’s
paper...
gone up over the years. This
performance of the verb. For
proves my point that the
example, in the sentence Mary
United
States
budget
for education has suffered
kicked the ball, Mary is the subject, kicked is
over
the
same
time
period.
Once all fragments
the verb (or action) and ball is the object.
and
run-on
sentences
are
addressed, make
What does this structure of a sentence have
sure that all of your verbs are in the same
to do with English grammar? Everything.
tense (present, past, or future).
There are a few common grammar errors
Continued on Page 3…
W ORDS W ORTH OF
K NOWLEDGE
♦ ECHELON: a level of command, authority, or rank: the
top echelon of city officials. .
—noun
♦ JUXTAPOSE : to place
close together or side by
side, esp. for comparison or
contrast. . —verb
♦ RAUCOUS: harsh; strident; grating; rowdy, disorderly: raucous voices; raucous
laughter. . —adjective
I NSIDE
THIS ISSUE :
G RAMMATICAL
E RRORS
1
M EET THE T UTORS
2
C ITATION S POT
2
C OMIC
2
E VENTS C ALENDER
3
C ONRAD ’ S C ORNER
3
T UTOR B IO
4
T HE B OOK C ASE
4
T HE R OUGH D RAFT
P AGE 2
MEET YOUR FALL 2007 WRITING TUTORS!
YASHI LEE—English Major, Fresno State
KRISTEN JOHNSON—English Credential Major, Fresno State
CAMERON MAITOZA—Psychology Major, Fresno State
RYAN COE—Bachelor’s Degree in English, CSU, Stanislaus; Business Graduate Student, Fresno State
KRISTIN BAER—English Credential Major, Fresno State
CHRISTINA FULCE—Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and Africana Studies, Fresno State
DIANA HARRIGER—English Major, Fresno State
TRISTAN SHAMP—Bachelor’s Degree in History, UCLA; History Graduate Student, Fresno State
PAMALA PHOMTHIRATH—English Major, Fresno City College
CItatIon
SpotlIght
Learn to cite your sources accurately and correctly!
Work in an Anthology—MLA
Work in an Anthology—APA
Author Name. “Title of selection.” Title of the anthology.
Name of editor. Publication information. Pages on
which the selection appears.
Example:
Author Name. (Year of Publication). Title of selection. In editor’s name
(Ed.), Title of Book (Pages on which the selection appears).
Publication information.
Example:
Desai, Anita. “Scholar and Gypsy.” The Oxford Book of Travel
Luban, D. (2000). The ethics of wrongful obedience. In D. L. Rhode
Stories. Ed. Patricia Craig. Oxford: Oxford UP,
(Ed.), Ethics in practice: Lawyers’ roles, responsibilities, and
1996. 251—73.
Regulation (pp. 94—120). New York: Oxford University
Press.
From A Writer’s Reference, Sixth Edition by Diana Hacker
V OLUME 2, I SSUE 1
P AGE 3
September 2007
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
9
10
11 Soccer @
Contra Costa
College
12
13
14 Mexican
Independence Day
Celebration
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22 Football vs
Merced College
23
24
25 Vendor
Fair
26
27
28
29 Football @
Sac City College
30
...Continued from Page 1
The final grammatical error to be
discussed is verb tense agreement.
Both the subject and the verb have a
singular and plural form which distinguishes the quantity of the subject.
For example, “We was going to the
mall to meet my sister for ice cream”.
The subject “we” is plural but the
verb “was” is singular therefore this
sentence is not grammatically correct.
In this case the verb “was” also needs
to be plural as well. It should read:
“We were going to the mall to meet
my sister for ice cream.”
D’S
CONRA
R
CORNE
These three examples are just a few
to show the importance of avoiding
grammatical errors in any writing
project. Correct grammar helps to
convey a clear and concise message in
writing, not only in college, but in
life. Do not let grammar get in the
way of success.
Coming up next month:
The Ghost of Papers
Passed Returns!
Come on, if you
go to the ELC on
a regular basis,
you are sure to
improve your
GPA!
Quit pulling
my leg!
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM YOUR ELC ADJUNCT FACULTY
Humans are born to speak the way
dogs are born to bark, meaning that
speaking is a natural act. We pick up
our languages without trying and without formal instruction. But--and that is
a very important "but"--we have to be
taught to write. We have to study it
deliberately. All that adds up to recognizing that, while speaking is natural,
writing is an unnatural act. No one
was ever born to write just as no one
was ever born to fly; nevertheless, we
are able to do both now because we have
figured out how to do such things. That's
a universal truth if ever I said one. Here's
another: once we learn to do a thing-writing or flying or roller-blading--we
find out whether we like doing it. If we
do, we practice it and polish our skills.
We refine our talent and we improve our
skills; that is, we find something we like
to do and we teach ourselves ways to do
it better, with pleasure. Ask any happy
chef if that isn't so. Here's the rub: students must write on demand, not out of
interest and desire, so unless studentwriters realize that writing is a learned act,
not some natural born talent that some
have and some don't, they give up and call
themselves "not a good writer," but the
awful truth is that they have no right to say
so because they have not understood that
writing is a combination of creativity, technique, and application of standards. Spelling and punctuation have nothing to do
with writing. Willingness to keep on trying has everything to do with it.
T HE R OUGH D RAFT
EXTENDED LEARNING CENTER (ELC)
WHERE READING AND WRITING
ARE THE FOCUS!
F RESNO C ITY C OLLEGE
ELC Coordinator: Mary Arechiga
Newsletter Editor: Yashi Lee
Newsletter Layout Editor: Ryan Coe
Newsletter Layout Assistant: Diana Harriger
The Extended Learning Center assists Fresno City College
students of all abilities with any reading and writing
assignments and projects they will come across at FCC.
We strive to help students attain
success in their classes by helping
them to improve their writing and
reading skills through the
assignments they will encounter as
students. The ELC is located
upstairs in the Tutorial Center
(LI-134) towards the back.
Phone: 559-442-4600 ext. 8188
Fax: 559-265-5787
E-mail: [email protected]
VISIT
US ON THE W EB AT HTTP: / /
WWW. FRESNOCITYCOLLEGE. EDU/
ELC/INDEX.ASP
Letters to the editor and submissions will be accepted via e-mail to
[email protected]. Please keep all letters to a maximum of
500 words and include contact information.
W RITING T UTOR : K RISTIN
Kristin Baer is a junior
at CSU, Fresno who
plans to graduate from
the school in another
year with a B.A. in English. Thereafter, she
intends to complete a
credential program,
enabling her to teach English/language
arts at the high school level, a career decision greatly influenced by her previous
experience tutoring Upward Bound students. Eventually, she also plans to enter
the creative writing graduate studies program at Fresno State.
Kristin is a graduate of Central High
School (West campus) where she was
involved for four years in FFA and in the
marching band, colorguard, and drum
line as a self-proclaimed “band geek”. She
is a former member of the Fresno City
College Choir and theatre department
costume shop as well. A few of her favorite things are live theatre, cross-country
road trips, British slang, crosswords,
classic black and white films, and the
writings of Jane Austen and Franz Kafka.
The Book Case
1. Caramelo
by Sandra Cisneros
2. The Thief of Always
by Clive Barker
3. Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
4. American Brutus: John
Wilkes Booth and the
Lincoln Conspiracies
by Michael W.
Kauffman
5. Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen
Writing & Reading
Extended Learning Center