English Grammar For Writing

by Honegger, Mark

• ISBN13: 9780618251896
• ISBN10: 0618251898
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-16
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

With many students arriving at college-level composition courses lacking a thorough grounding in grammar, English Grammar for Writing aims to support both instructors and students in addressing this gap. This text focuses on high-frequency grammar and style issues such as punctuation, passives, and parallelism. The text simplifies the technical complexity of grammar by focusing on how to teach writing and the conventions of good writing. It is based on the theory that once students know basic grammar rules and functions, they will then have the confidence and the framework to view language coherently and systematically. When that framework is in place, students can apply their grammatical knowledge to the writing assignment they encounter in their classroom. "Speech versus Writing" (Chapter 1) discusses how the distinction between speech and written text goes right to the heart of the connection between grammar and writing. This chapter demonstrates how punctuation and the other conventions of writing replace the resources that speech or visual images inherently possess, such as verbal intonation and clearly visible signs. "Structuring Information in Writing" (Chapter 11) presents advice on skillfully using intonation and structuring information--material that is not included in most grammar textbooks--as well as guidance on using punctuation, passive voice, and variations in word order to convey intent most effectively. This chapter can also offer students insight into writing problems that may be hard to diagnose. "Written Standards and the Oral Varieties of English" (Chapter 13) focuses on linguistic diversity by featuring sections on the grammatical systems of Black English and Appalachian English, Standard English, and Dialects, and the use of descriptive versus prescriptive language. Visual elements such as sophisticated cartoons show students the humorous aspects of language and help illustrate the power of language.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
1 Speech vs. Writing	1	(18)
The Most Important Technology	1	(3)
Writing vs. Pictures	4	(2)
Writing vs. Speech	6	(1)
Sender's Efficiency vs. Recipient's Understanding	7	(4)
The Differences between Speaking and Writing	11	(5)
Why Writing Is Harder than Speaking	16	(3)
2 The Major Parts of Speech	19	(19)
What's a Part of Speech?	20	(2)
Content Words	22	(1)
Tests for Identification	22	(11)
Nouns	23	(2)
Adjective	25	(2)
Nouns vs. Adjectives	27	(1)
Verbs	28	(2)
Adverbs	30	(1)
Proper Nouns and Pronouns	31	(2)
Difficult Cases	33	(5)
Application to Writing	35	(3)
3 The Minor Parts of Speech	38	(12)
Some Selected Closed Classes	39	(11)
Determiners	40	(3)
Prepositions	43	(1)
Qualifiers	44	(1)
Coordinate Conjunctions	44	(1)
Subordinate Conjunctions	45	(1)
Modals	46	(1)
Infinitive Marker	47	(3)
Application to Writing	48	(2)
4 Phrases: The Art of Chunking	50	(13)
What Are Phrases?	50	(5)
Substitution by Pro-Forms	52	(2)
Movement	54	(1)
Stand Alone	55	(1)
Classifying Phrases	55	(3)
Heads	58	(2)
Clauses	60	(3)
5 More on Phrases	63	(15)
Sentence Diagrams	63	(2)
Counting Phrases	65	(1)
Diagramming Infinitive Verb Phrases and Possessive Noun Phrases	65	(2)
Diagramming Present Participle Verb Phrases	67	(2)
Diagramming Modal Phrases	69	(1)
Diagramming Subordinate Clauses	70	(1)
The Challenges of Phrase Boundaries	70	(8)
Application to Writing	75	(3)
6 Grammatical Roles: Distinguishing Identical Elements	78	(18)
Verb-Phrase Patterns	79	(4)
Intransitive Verb Phrases	80	(1)
Transitive Verb Phrases	80	(1)
Subject-Complement Verb Phrases	81	(1)
Ditransitive Verb Phrases	81	(1)
Object-Complement Verb Phrases	82	(1)
Identification Rules for Grammatical Roles	83	(13)
Distinguishing Direct Objects from Subject Complements	84	(4)
Distinguishing Ditransitive Verbs from Object-Complement Verbs	88	(11)
Application to Writing	95	(1)
7 Adverbials and Other Elements in the Clause	96	(12)
The Other Elements: Examples of Grammatical Necessity	96	(3)
Adverbials	99	(9)
Application to Writing	104	(4)
8 Passive? Tense? What's on That Verb?	108	(25)
Tense	108	(2)
More than Temporal Information	110	(1)
Tense-Aspect Forms	110	(2)
How to Tell Them Apart	112	(6)
Tense in Writing	117	(1)
Passives	118	(3)
Changing Voice	121	(2)
The Interaction of Tense with Voice	123	(8)
Application to Writing	129	(2)
Postscript	131	(2)
9 Putting Words Together: Coordination, Subordination, and Parallelism	133	(29)
Coordination	133	(3)
Punctuation for Coordination	136	(4)
Subordination	140	(1)
Punctuation for Subordinate Clauses	141	(4)
Parallelism	145	(4)
Conceptual Parallelism	149	(1)
What's the Problem with Parallelism Errors?	150	(1)
A Note on Punctuation in Parallel Structures	151	(3)
Application to Writing	152	(2)
A Note on Some Marks of Punctuation	154	(8)
The Semicolon	154	(1)
The Colon	155	(2)
The Dash	157	(1)
Parentheses	158	(4)
10 The System of Modifiers	162	(30)
Adverbials	162	(10)
Prepositional Phrases	163	(1)
Adverb Phrases	163	(1)
Time Phrases	164	(1)
Subordinate Clauses and Dangling Clauses	164	(4)
Clauses of Comparison	168	(4)
Adjectivals	172	(11)
Adjective Phrases	172	(3)
Hyphens: Punctuation Mirrors Structure	175	(2)
Relative Clauses	177	(1)
Punctuation of Relative Clauses	178	(3)
Reduced Relative Clauses	181	(1)
Other Postnominal Adjectivals	182	(1)
Absolute Phrases	183	(3)
The Structure of Sentences with Modifiers	186	(3)
The Placement of Modifiers	189	(3)
11 Structuring Information in Writing	192	(16)
Intonation	192	(3)
New and Old Information	195	(2)
Vague Errors	197	(1)
Reordering the Sentence	198	(7)
Inversion	199	(1)
Passives	200	(1)
It-Clefts	201	(1)
Wh-Clefts	201	(2)
There-Sentences	203	(1)
Other Variations in Word Order	204	(1)
Placement of Modifiers	205	(1)
Word Choice and Intonation	206	(2)
12 Word Choices	208	(15)
The Dictionary vs. the Lexicon	208	(5)
Commonly Confused Words	213	(1)
English Spelling	214	(1)
Subject-Verb Agreement	215	(5)
Difficulties in Subject-Verb Agreement	216	(4)
Respect in Language	220	(1)
Gender-Neutral Language	221	(2)
13 The Written Standard and the Oral Varieties of English	223	(14)
Linguistic Diversity	223	(1)
The System of Black English	224	(6)
Verb Forms	225	(2)
Been and Done and Be	227	(1)
Double Negatives	228	(2)
The System of Appalachian English	230	(3)
The a-Prefix	230	(1)
Irregular Verbs	231	(2)
Standard English and Dialects	233	(1)
Descriptive vs. Prescriptive	234	(3)
Appendix-The Grammatical Analysis of Literature	237	(40)
Metrical Analysis	237	(1)
Grammatical Analysis of Poetry	238	(11)
Parallelism	242	(2)
Nonstandard Structures	244	(3)
Line Breaks	247	(2)
Grammatical Analysis of Prose	249	(28)
Selected Answers to Exercises 253 Glossary	277	(8)
Index	285