Unit 4: Using Sentence-Level Skills to Proofread and Polish a Piece of Writing
Sentences are the basic building blocks for just about everything we write. For our sentences to come together to effectively express a message, they must be properly constructed, error-free, and use the best possible language to make the job of the reader easy. This unit will walk you through common errors and practice activities so that you can avoid and correct these in your writing.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 11 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- describe how sentence skills fit into the writing process;
- identify the structure of a complete sentence;
- identify and correct fragments;
- identify and correct run-ons;
- apply correct punctuation for an effective sentence;
- evaluate a sentence for correct word use;
- evaluate a sentence for consistency (parallelism, tense, and point of view); and
- use diction to avoid awkward wording and create effective sentences.
4.1: Sentence Skills
Read about two key points to keep in mind before you learn more about sentence-level skills.
Read this to learn about what a sentence needs to be complete: a subject, a verb, and complete thought.
Get some practice identifying the parts of a sentence. After you have finished, check your answers against the answer key.
4.2: Fragments
Now that you understand what a sentence needs to be complete, we can discuss how to avoid and fix incomplete sentences (called "fragments"). Read the following sections to learn about this common writing error.
Now that you know what fragments are and how to find them, this text will teach you how to correct them once you find them.
Get some practice finding and fixing fragments in these two activities. After you are finished, compare your answers to the answer keys.
4.3: Run-Ons
Another type of error that must be avoided when you are constructing sentences is writing run-on sentences. Read this section to learn more about this error and how to identify it.
Now that you know how to identify a run-on sentence, read this section to learn how to correct this error when you find it.
Once you have learned how to fix a run-on once you find it, get some practice correcting run-on sentences by doing the following activities. When you are done, compare your answers to the answer key.
Read more about subordination and coordination and how they can not only fix run-ons but also help you show relationships between ideas, write smoother sentences, and vary the lengths and types of sentences you write. Then, practice using these techniques to improve a piece of writing in the activity. Compare your responses to the answer key after you have finished.
4.4: Punctuation
There are many rules governing punctuation, but using appropriate punctuation is about more than just following rules just for the sake of it. Rather, the rules for using punctuation act as a shared set of expectations between writers and readers. As a reader, you look to punctuation for signals about the author's intent. You will want to use punctuation appropriately to express your ideas as clearly as possible. In this way, punctuation is a tool that helps you inform, persuade, or entertain your audience. Watch this video for more information on different types of punctuation and the importance of correct spelling.
Punctuation is an important part of sentence skills. The comma has the widest variety of uses and is the most heavily used form of punctuation. Thus far, you have learned about basic sentence structure and how to avoid fragments and run-ons, and in particular, you learned one use of commas (to connect clauses). Read this section and do the included practice to learn about and get some practice with the many other uses of commas. When you finish, check your answers against the answer key.
Read this section to learn more about other common forms of punctuation and how to properly use them.
Read this section to learn about apostrophes, another important and multi-purpose punctuation. What you read here will connect to ideas you'll read about in the next section about confused words.
4.5: Correct Word Use
In addition to ensuring that your sentence structure and use of punctuation are correct and that you aren't writing fragments or run-ons, you also need to consider the specific words you use. The English language has a lot of words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. It also has many words with very similar meanings that are easily mixed up. Read about these types of words and see a full glossary of their meanings and usage. Make sure to do the practice activity at the end.
4.6: Consistency
According to the dictionary, "consistency" means "conformity in the application of something". This meaning aligns perfectly with how we will think of it in terms of writing. For our purposes, the "something" will be our use of language. Specifically, we will talk about consistency in three ways that it applies to writing: parallel sentence construction, verb tense, and point of view (pronouns). Consistency is important in good writing because it helps to make the job of the reader easy. To better understand these ideas, read about parallelism in the following section, and get some practice by doing the activity. When you are done, compare your answers to the answer key.
Read about a third consistency issue and get some practice by doing the activity. Compare your responses to the answer key.
Another consistency issue is regarding tense consistency. Read the following section and get some practice by doing the activity. When you are done, compare your responses to the answer key.
4.7: Diction
The final sentence skill we will talk about is diction, which means "word choice" or "use of words". As we work to be stronger writers, the words we use and how we put them together will be important in making the job of readers easy. We will discuss diction in terms of some word choices and word formations that should be avoided because they get in the way of good diction. Read this section and do the associated practice to learn about this type of diction error and get some practice fixing sentences with it.
Read and do the associated practice for wordiness to learn about this type of diction error and get some practice fixing sentences with it.
Read and do the associated practice for repetition to learn about two different types of repetition and get some practice fixing these types of errors.
Read this section to learn about three types of non-active wording that should be avoided to have quality and impactful diction and get some practice correcting sentences with these types of issues.
After learning about these types of diction problems and how to fix them, get some further practice revising sentences with more than one diction problem by doing this practice activity. When you are done, compare your answers to the answer key.
Unit 4 Assessment
- Receive a grade
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.