Parallelism, Quotations, Fragments and Run-Ons

15. A SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought. It may locate something in time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but it's still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause: In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice. This sentence accomplishes a great deal in terms of placing the reader in time and place, but there is no subject, no verb. Sentence Fragments

16. It describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship: Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat. This is a verbal phrase that wants to modify something, the real subject of the sentence (about to come up), probably the she who was working so hard. It may have most of the makings of a sentence but still be missing an important part of a verb string: Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza's laboratory last semester. Remember that an -ing verb form without an auxiliary form to accompany it can never be a verb.

17. It may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by itself: Even though he had the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker. This sentence fragment has a subject, he , and two verbs, had and was , but it cannot stand by itself because of the dependent word (subordinating conjunction) even though . We need an independent clause to follow up this dependent clause : . . . the more powerful speaker, he lost the case because he didn't understand the jury. Stylistic Fragments There are occasions when a sentence fragment can be stylistically effective, exactly what you want and no more. Harrison Ford has said he would be more than willing to take on another Indiana Jones project. In a New York minute .

18. Quiz : Sentence Fragments Coach Dietz exemplified this behavior by walking off the field in the middle of a game. Leaving her team at a time when we needed her. I need to find a new roommate. Because the one I have now isn't working out too well.

19. Run-on Sentences A RUN-ON SENTENCE (sometimes called a "fused sentence") has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two parts have been smooshed together instead of being properly connected. It is important to realize that the length of a sentence really has nothing to do with whether a sentence is a run-on or not; being a run-on is a structural flaw that can plague even a very short sentence: The sun is high, put on some sunblock. An extremely long sentence, on the other hand, might be a "run-off-at-the-mouth" sentence, but it can be otherwise sound, structurally. Click here to see a 239-word sentence that is a perfectly fine sentence (structurally)

21. Quiz: Run-on Sentences Some students think that they can study for an important exam by “cramming” all night they are probably wrong. I once saw a lion it was cool.

22. Italics and Underlining Italics and underlining are generally used interchangeably. When you write, you can choose to either italicize or underline, but make sure you are consistent in which you use throughout the essay. When handwriting an essay like the GED Essay, obviously, you’ll have to use underlining. Italicize the titles of magazines, books, newspapers, academic journals, films, television shows, long poems, plays, operas, musical albums, works of art, websites. Examples: I read a really interesting article in Newsweek while I was waiting at the doctor’s office. My cousin is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for two different classes. I have every album from Dave Matthews Band, except for Crash .

23. Quiz: Italics Dark Side of the Rainbow is my favorite work by Pink Floyd. imdb.com is a great reference tool that I use to learn about a movie before I pay to see it.

24. Works Cited “ 1.4: Italics and Underlining.” owl.english.purdue.edu. Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. “ Sentence Fragments.” grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar. CCC Guide to Grammar and Writing, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010 “ Run-on Sentences, Comma Splices.” grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar. CCC Guide to Grammar and Writing, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010 “ Parallel Structure.” owl.english.purdue.edu. Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. “ How to Use Quotation Marks.” owl.english.purdue.edu. Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010. “ Quiz on Using Quotation Marks” grammar.ccc.commnet.edu. Guide to Grammar, n.d. Web. 8 June 2010.