Type your answers on a separate piece of paper. If you prefer to do it in a more interactive format, you can also use the online quiz in Angel.
In addition to my grammar and punctuation guide on this webpage, here are some other excellent web grammar sources:
* Washington State University's Common Errors in English
* Capital Community College's Guide to Grammar and Writing
* Purdue University's Online Writing Lab
1. Broadcast writing is known for being more concise and conversational than print writing. I gave you a horrendous example in class, which would be impossible to use on the air. Find a long, wordy sentence from a print source (Time, Newsweek, USA Today, The Post-Standard or the New York Times) and do the following: (25 points)
a. Tell me what kind of sentence structure it is (simple, compound, complex or compound-complex) and tell me why. (4 points)
b. Clearly tell me what independent and dependent clauses you have in the sentence. (4 points)
c. Tell me what the purpose of the sentence is (declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory). (2 points)
d. Tell me why it's punctuated the way it is. (4 points)
e. Identify the parts of speech for each word in this sentence. (6 points)
f. Rewrite this long, cumbersome sentence into clearer broadcast writing. (5 points)
2. Tell me why gerunds and infinitives are particularly troublesome when trying to write complete, grammatical sentences. Give me an example of two sentences where a gerund and an infinitive are used correctly. You can make up your own sentences. You don't have to find them in a newspaper. (5 points)
3. What is the difference between a "comma splice" and a "fused sentence"? How do you fix them? (5 points)
4. Pick five of the following problems word sets (which ones you pick are entirely your choice) and clearly explain the difference between them. Write a sentence for EACH of the words you pick. (15 points)
| * affect/effect
* alright/all right * among/between * amount/number * either... or/neither...nor * if/whether * insure/ensure/assure * its/it's * less/fewer |
* lie/lay
* me/I * since/because * that/which * then/than * there/their/they're * where/were/we're * who/whom * whose/who's |