1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. b_caps.txt File Contents

b_caps.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

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Capitalization/Punctuation


So! You think capitalization and punctuation are trivialities invented by English teachers to keep you busy? Try reading the unpunctuated paragraph below. If you are working with partners, see if you agree about which parts are the most difficult to read.

on my way home from school my car died yesterday i thought at first i was out of gas but then i remembered that i had just put in gas last week i didn't want to be late for my job so i started walking home a half mile further my friend mike came by and offered me a ride i told him what had happened he took me back to my car and looked under the dash he told me a fuse was blown we went to a gas station and bought a fuse for fifty-nine cents and then we went back and put it in my car started right up fifty-nine cents a wasted hour and a mad boss is all that experience cost me


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Capitalization and punctuation should be automatic for writers, just like breathing or like stopping at the refrigerator when you first get home from school. Writers know that you have to use a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence or with a proper noun and that punctuation is needed when there is a break or pause in the sentence.

Writers also know that capitalization and punctuation used correctly do not improve writing. But used incorrectly, capitalization and punctuation can destroy good writing. As writers, you are in a no-win situation. Your teachers never say, "Good capitals!" or "Nice use of commas!" But if you don't use them correctly, you hear about it or see it on your paper in the form of red blotches!

There are too many rules to list all of them or for you to memorize all of them, but you should know where to look if you are in doubt. If you have a textbook, there will be pages of rules and examples. Use the book! Also, the handout "Basic Comma, Period, and Semicolon Rules" will be of help as you complete this activity.


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Activity 1

Let's see if you can wear the editor's hat and fix up the paragraph about the stalled car. Please insert all the necessary capital letters, commas, and periods.


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on my way home from school my car died yesterday i thought at first i was out of gas but then i remembered that i had just put in gas last week i didn't want to be late for my job so i started walking home a half mile further my friend mike came by and offered me a ride i told him what had happened he took me back to my car and looked under the dash he told me a fuse was blown we went to a gas station and bought a fuse for fifty-nine cents and then we went back and put it in my car started right up fifty-nine cents a wasted hour and a mad boss is all that experience cost me


Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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Activity 2

Now edit the following three sections of a paragraph from Jack London's "To Build a Fire," inserting capital letters and punctuation where they are needed. The punctuation you will be using will be periods, commas, and semicolons.

   
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but he was safe toes and nose and cheeks would only be touched by the frost for the fire was beginning to burn with strength he was feeding it with twigs the size of his finger in another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrist and then he could remove his wet footgear and while it dried he could rub his naked feet warm by the fire rubbing them at first of course with snow



Compare your work with Jack London's original text, which is shown below, from "To Build a Fire." Make your corrections by following the original. If you have partners, pool your brain power! You may not always agree with London's punctuation choices, but remember that creative writers are often creative about sentence rules as well!


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Original:

But he was safe. Toes and nose and cheeks would only be touched by the frost, for the fire was beginning to burn with strength. He was feeding it with twigs the size of his finger. In another minute he would be able to feed it with branches the size of his wrist, and then he could remove his wet footgear, and, while it dried, he could rub his naked feet warm by the fire, rubbing them at first, of course, with snow.


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Edit the next part of the story in the same way.

the fire was a success he was safe he remembered the advice of the old timer on sulphur creek and smiled the old timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the klondike after fifty below well here he was he had had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself those old timers were rather womanish some of them he thought all a man had to do was to keep his head and he was all right any man who was a man could travel alone



Compare your version with the original and make corrections in your text.


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Original:

The fire was a success. He was safe. He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek and smiled. The old timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below. Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself. Those old timers were rather womanish, some of them, he thought. All a man had to do was to keep his head; and he was all right. Any man who was a man could travel alone.



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Edit the next part of the story in the same way.

but it was surprising the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing and he had not thought his fingers would go lifeless in so short a time lifeless they were for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig and they seemed remote from his body and from him when he touched a twig he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it the wires were pretty well down between him and his finger ends


Here is the original. Compare and make corrections in your work.


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Original:

But it was surprising, the rapidity with which his cheeks and nose were freezing. And he had not thought his fingers would go lifeless in so short a time. Lifeless they were, for he could scarcely make them move together to grip a twig, and they seemed remote from his body and from him. When he touched a twig, he had to look and see whether or not he had hold of it; the wires were pretty well down between him and his finger ends.




Excerpts from "To Build a Fire"
by Jack London


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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