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

f_comma.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

Name: <  >
Class: <  >
Date: <  >



Comma Splice

Occasionally writers get so caught up in their work they forget to put the marks at the end of the sentence careful readers find where sentences should end because they pause automatically careless readers don't pause and they soon run out of breath... whew!



Activity 1

Put end marks in this run-on paragraph:


==================

Occasionally writers get so caught up in their work they forget to put the end marks at the end of the sentence careful readers find where sentences should end because they pause automatically careless readers don't pause and they soon run out of breath


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

==================


Another frequent sentence problem related to end marks is the comma splice. English teachers tend to put "C.S." above the commas when they see them -- and they see a lot of them! 

Here is an example of a comma splice:

A comma splice is one of the most common errors in composition, even good writers try to connect independent clauses with commas.

Did you see the problem? Talk it over with your partners. See if you can correct the comma splice by changing the punctuation in the copy below.


==================


A comma splice is one of the most common errors in composition, even good writers try to connect independent clauses with commas.


==================

 

If you replaced the comma with a period, you did the best thing. Another solution is to replace the comma with a semicolon. A semicolon is almost as strong as a period; it marks two independent clauses (sentences) which are closely related in thought.

Now correct the comma splice by using a semicolon.


==================


A comma splice is one of the most common errors in composition, even good writers try to connect independent clauses with commas.



==================


Activity 2

Proofread the following sentences, removing the comma splices and run-ons. For some sentences, no change may be necessary. Compare your answers with the suggestions which follow. If your teacher requests it, save and print your work.


1. My high school is small, there are fewer than five hundred students.


2. The teachers are old, some have been here for over twenty years.


3. It was built in the 1920s, the sandstone came from a quarry west of town.


4. Although we are the smallest school in our league, we still have competitive athletic teams.






Suggested Answers:
(Periods may be used in place of semicolons.)

1. My high school is small; there are fewer than five hundred students.

2. The teachers are old; some have been here for over twenty years.

3. It was built in the 1920s; the sandstone came from a quarry west of town.

4. Although we are the smallest school in our league, we still have competitive athletic teams.

 

==================


Please correct comma splices and run-on sentences:

5. Our football team made the playoffs the last two years, this year we only had eighteen players.
 

6. Our cross-country team was fifth in the state it had only five runners.


7. Most of our graduates do not go to college, some go to vocational schools.


8. Many of the students work after school fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, movie theaters, and discount department stores offer jobs to anyone over sixteen.




Suggested Answers:

5. Our football team made the playoffs the last two years; we only had eighteen players.
 
6. Our cross-country team was fifth in the state; it had only five runners.

7. Most of our graduates do not go to college; some go to vocational schools.

8. Many of the students work after school. Fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, movie theaters, and discount department stores offer jobs to anyone over sixteen.


==================


Please correct comma splices and run-on sentences.

9. Students need jobs to pay for trips to fast-food restaurants, movie theaters, and discount department stores to get to their jobs students need cars.


10. Because of their automobiles' expensive appetites for fuel and insurance, many students find, although they work many hours a week, they have no more money than they did before welcome to the real world



Suggested Answers:

9. Students need jobs to pay for trips to fast-food restaurants, movie theaters, and discount department stores. To get to their jobs students need cars.

10. Because of their automobiles' expensive appetites for fuel and insurance, many students find, although they work many hours a week, they have no more money than they did before. Welcome to the real world!


==================


Activity 3

Now you get to practice editing again by fixing up some "messed up" Jack London prose. Try to read each of the following three sections of a paragraph from London's "To Build a Fire," and then correct the comma splices by adding periods where you think they're needed.

==================


Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known, the dog sat facing him and waiting, the brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight, there were no signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire.



==================



Original:

Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known. The dog sat facing him and waiting. The brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight. There were no signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire.


==================


Edit this section in the same way:

As the twilight drew on, its eager yearning for the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet, it whined softly, then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man, but the man remained silent, later, the dog whined loudly, and still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death.



Original:

As the twilight drew on, its eager yearning for the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet, it whined softly, then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man. But the man remained silent. Later, the dog whined loudly, and still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death.


==================


Edit this section in the same way:

This made the animal bristle and back away, a little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky, then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food providers and fire providers.



Original Version:

This made the animal bristle and back away. A little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky. Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food providers and fire providers.


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.)

==================

end of activity
Copyright Renaissance Learning, Inc.