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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Reflection - Common Mistakes in Writing - June 20

Visit this URL: http://my.ilstu.edu/~jhkahn/writing.html to review some common mistakes of English grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. Did you find this resource to be useful? Why or why not? In addition, discuss your thoughts on today's class activities.

63 comments:

  1. This "common mistakes of English grammar, mechanics, and punctuation" is really helpful to avoid having same mistakes for me. Actually, I learned many things on this lists when I took EN085, but I did not know how to use hyphen at all. Hyphen has to be when using two words to act as one adjective. It helps me to understand, and I will be able to use hyphen when I write essays.

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    1. I agree the list was very helpful for me and now I will avoid making these common mistakes in my essays. I also tend to leave out the hyphen in some words. This list helped me learn when and not to use one.

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    2. Yes, the resource shows what's right from wrong when writing academic papers. Thank you Sukhee.

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    3. I'm glad this was helpful for you as well, Sukhee. Since I am now aware of these mistakes, I am sure not to create them in future essays. It also refreshed my mind with what I already know too.

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    4. I did not know how to use hyphens in my sentences, too. I was never really taught how and when to use hyphens in sentences. Luckily, after reading the list, I now know how to use hyphens correctly in sentences.

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    5. I agree about the hyphens. They are tricky.

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    6. Emphasis on the usage of "hyphens" indeed. I too did not know that we could, or should, be able to "use a hyphen when using two words to act as one adjective (unless the first word ends in -ly)." As in the example provided, "The college-student sample was smarter than the high-school sample." This was a real eye-opener. And not only that, it also simplified my understanding of the proper usage of adjectives.

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    7. Same here, I didn't know anything about hyphens. I didn't know how to use them before, but now I understand their usage.

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    8. Hyphens are tricky to spot for me.

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    9. I agree, this linked helped me a lot.

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  2. I found this resource to be very useful because I do tend to make these common mistakes. This list was very useful and I won't make these mistakes in future essays. A mistake I always make in my writing is combing singular and plural forms of words in the same sentence. My essays will have less grammar, mechanics, and punctuation errors now because of this list. In today's lesson I read about basic paragraphs. A paragraph should have a topic sentence and supporting sentences to back up that topic.

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    1. I agree with Jonah. This resource was exceptionally useful. I am certain my papers will not have the same mistakes it commonly has anymore.

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    2. I too make these same mistakes. Even when I reread my essay I still don't notice them, but when someone else reads it they notice it.

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    3. I make common mistakes all the time.

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    4. I agree with lauren's comment.

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  3. The article was resourceful in someways. I just wish it had more examples for the fragmented sentences because I sometimes tend to forget them and write them in essays anyways. Other than that, it was help helpful. For example, the effect and affect confusion, I didn't know the difference before. From now on, I will make sure I use them correctly

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    1. Ignore the mistake in my comment. It's suppose to be "it was helpful".

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    2. I tend to write fragment sentences as well. The example of a fragment sentence and how to correct it in the list was very helpful for me. In future essays I will make sure not to write fragment sentences.

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    3. As long as you have 1. Subject (the author in the sentence) 2. Predicate (the verb or action) 3. complete thought in your sentence you are fine.

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    4. Yes, sometimes it is forgetful the rules of applied English literature.

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    5. Ah yes.. The notorious "affect" and "effect." I get them confused every now and then. But I like how they are differentiated and simplified in the resource link. Thus being that "effect" is typically a noun, meaning some consequence or result. "Affect" is typically a verb, meaning to bring about an effect. (But note that "affect" also can be a noun meaning emotional expression, and "effect" can be used as a verb to mean to cause something to come into being.) This explanation cleared up most of my confusion between the proper usage of "effect" and "affect."

      Much needed and deeply appreciated.

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    6. yea, I hoped there were more examples too.

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    7. 1. Subject (the author in the sentence) 2. Predicate (the verb or action) 3. complete thought in your sentence are really all you need to focus on.

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    8. I agree. I will be looking back on this link as I write papers.

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  4. Oh gosh, that was exceedingly helpful. I was always confused about how to address multiple people in general and that list just cleared it up for me. Another thing is the commas! I love commas. It's my favorite punctuation if anything. I knew that if you're writing a sentence that were combined by a conjunction, you would use a comma before the conjunction. However, when I asked my teacher last year to confirm if my usage of commas in sentences like those were correct, she told me it wasn't or she wasn't sure and told me to look it up online. Class today was chill! We discussed paragraphs and their contribution or significance to essays.

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    1. The list was very helpful for me too. I learned a lot for it and this will help my writing. I was also confused in how to address multiple people and when to or not to use commas but this list cleared things up for me.

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    2. I agree with your statement. I always confuse if I should use he, she, or they when I writing an essay. And I do like to use commas a lot in my writing. I think from now on I need to take out those unnecessary commas from my writing.

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    3. Yes, the resource is very useful and helpful for me as well. It helps me better my writing.

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    4. Hi Nicole, we have the same problem with commas. I'm glad the resource was helpful for you as well. It really cleared things up in some areas of my writing.

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    5. I agree that the list is incredibly helpful. Prior to reading the list, I knew about the singular and plural forms only slightly. I am glad that I gained a further understanding of the singular and plural forms, so I can become a better writer.

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    6. I thought you were talking about our professor when I first saw your comment, Ziggy haha. I was astonished.

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  5. I still have a problem in singular and plural, fragment. Every time when I write an essay I need to double check if I have that two problem on my writing.

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    1. I have the same problem in writing fragment sentences. When I go back and edit my work I have a hard time debating if a sentence I wrote is a fragment sentence or not. I always need a peer review to check if my sentence is fragmented or not.

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    2. I have problems with fragment sentences, as well. I also have problems with run-on sentences, because I almost never know when to stop a sentence. Moreover, sometimes when I fix a run-on sentence, it turns into a fragmented sentence instead.

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    3. Yes, I have the same issue sometimes. I love to just keep writing and not end a sentence.

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    4. I'm astonished by how many of my classmates have the same problem as I do with fragments.

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    5. Sometimes when I double check I don't notice the mistake, but usually when I have someones read it they find the mistake.

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  6. This resource has been extremely beneficial and refreshing. A common mistake a have is placing commas in unnecessary places within my sentence. Other than that, I would love to share this resource with others who also need the help. Today's class activities included describing the types of paragraphs and its importance within an essay, my bed and Netflix...so it was quite relaxing.

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    1. Word. It helps me write sentences better and correctly.

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    2. I make mistakes when I use commas, too. Sometimes I feel as if a sentence needs a comma, when it actually does not. Other times, I do not place a comma when I need to place one.

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    4. I think most people struggle with the placement of comma's when they are writing. I know I struggle with it all the time. What helps me though, is considering the tone in which I am writing in. I think that often we tend to write as if we were actually speaking to someone. And often enough, when speaking, one rarely thinks about punctuation's. So when I pause to think about the tone in which I am writing in, it allows me to visualized each word, each sentence, and how they connect. Thus allowing me to understand when and where, a break is needed between two words or sentences. In realizing these "breaks" between words and sentences, I am them better able to determine where my comma's should go.

      Just a thought..

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    5. I like how you spent your time in today's class. I did the exact same thing.

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  7. The resource is very useful for people like me who commonly make some mistakes in the English grammar. It helps me avoid writing sentence the wrong way and shows be how to write it in a better way.

    I did not go to class today, so I did not know what were the activities.

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    1. We had class on moodle. Don't forget to go onto moodle and post on topic 2.

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  8. The information on the common mistakes of writing was very useful. I did not know exactly what the common mistakes of writing were, and how to address them. For example, prior to reading the information on the webpage, I did not know how to fix sexist wording, because I had not been taught how to do so. Additionally, I did not know that I could use hyphens when using adjectives with two words, and I had always assumed that I never needed a hyphen. Moreover, I found that the webpage was a great refresher for things that I did know previously, such as the information on commas and apostrophes.

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    1. I agree with you. I only discovered using hyphens when using adjectives with two words when I read this resource. It was definitely a great refresher.

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    2. I liked how there were lots of examples to clearly explain the mistakes.

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  9. Having been out of the classroom setting for a while, I found the resources' provided through the link to be of paramount importance. A few were simple reminders of proper grammar and punctuation's. But most were vital lesson's to clear and concise composition. The top 3 that were most useful to me are as follows.

    - Avoid using sexist wording, such as "he" or "his" when you are trying to refer to both boys and girls or to both women and men.

    - Use a comma when separating main clauses.

    - Use a hyphen when using two words to act as one adjective (unless the first word ends in -ly).

    These are 3 writing critique's that I often struggle with, or simply forget about completely, when writing. Overall, today's reflection on common mistakes in writing was a tremendous help, a much needed reflection indeed. I am actually printing a copy of the illustration as a quick reference guide for future compositions.

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    1. I was going to do the same thing but ran out of ink and will have to print it tomorrow.

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    2. That's a great idea, i shall print myself one copy.

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    3. I just wrote every grammar stuff on the list instead of printing because it is more memorable.

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  10. This is a very useful tool. I often have spelling or grammar problems with my writing. After being out of school for so long, it is nice to have some refreshers on these.

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    1. I agree with you Heather, such refresher's are much appreciated. Like you, I too have been out of school for a while now. So refresher's such as those provided in the resource link, helps immensely in getting me back on track.

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  11. Reviewing the most common errors in English writing was a good thing to do. This allows you to reflect the basics. Before writing any paper I thing everyone should review and reflect the basics so they can avoid the common errors in your writing. Also I do make a lot of these common errors so for now on I'm might go to this site before I write a paper for now on.

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  12. Although I'm aware of most of the errors on the provided resource, I see mistakes like these being made not only on English papers but online and on social networks too. Reviewing articles like this definitely helps refresh my memory. I enjoyed having class like this online, even though I completely forgot about this the whole day and it's 2 minutes until midnight.

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    1. I love that we do online class instead of offline class on Friday.

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  14. This is a very helpful link. I'm always making those common errors. I think I'm too use to writing and type whatever outside of school that is shows up when I'm writing something for school. I will be mindful when I'm writing and look back on this link.






















































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    1. I think we all make those common errors. It pretty much sucks. But I am glad that it is there to help us.

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  15. It is very helpful especially to me, because I can repeat what I say on paper without even noticing it. It helps you catch your run-on sentences. It also helps you catch where you need to add punctuation's. I know I have that problem of not adding punctuation's where they need to be.

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  16. I can not seem to comment under sukhee. I will respond here. I agree that hyphens are very tricky. I think it is tricky because there are other punctuation's to fit its purpose like the colon, semicolon, and comma. I hope I get to the understanding of it's uses.

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