Don't be shy. As a good-faith effort, I will post myself. Yes, all writers have sentence-structure problems. Good writers learn to identify their typical errors and edit them out.
Cordially,
Tom Burns
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Blog Assignment #9
By class time on Wednesday (3/5), look over your previous essays and drafts and describe your typical sentence errors. Give examples from those essays. You might even want to look to older essays from high school or reflect on what previous teachers have told you about your sentence-level problems.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My writing problems are usually comma splices and run on sentences. Sometimes I have trouble articulating what I want to say or will be too wordy with an explanation. I will repeat myself a lot and I rarely edit my papers, which is a problem since then my essays are disorganized.
ReplyDeleteMy writing problems consist of sentence structure errors, such as not using the correct idiom. I admit I do not like to take the time to edit my papers, so I then miss other errors where I meant to delete a word and didn't, then the sentence doesn't make sense. I also typically use "this is" and "that is", ect. in my sentences, weakening them.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use too many expletives, and have a bad habit of referring to people with "that." I have the occasional comma splice, but I am pretty good at catching those.
ReplyDeleteMy typical sentence errors inclue sentences with expletives such as "it is" or "this is." I also try and fit too many ideas into one sentence and then create run-on sentences. My transitions could also be improved on as well.
ReplyDeleteMy most prominent problem is overstating and exaggerating points. I also use the "there is" or "there are" approach a lot, so I guess I use a lot of passive voice. My sentences get really long too, while they might not be run-ons, they're usually too long.
ReplyDeleteI tend to use too many expletives and tend to use run on sentences in my topic sentence. I also tend to make mistakes that I miss when re-reading over my paper (forgetting to capitalize something ect)
ReplyDeleteI don't pay much attention to grammar, usage, and sentence structure when I draft. As a result, I am left with quite a lot to do during the editing stage.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm in a rush to complete a project, I usually leave some egregious error in, like an "its" for an " it's" or a really boring expletive structure (like "it's," come to think of it).
I'm often so anxious to get the ideas down that I have little time to think about the structure of the sentences. I might write a one-sentence paragraph or write a paragraph totally in fragments or even leave out punctuation and capitalizations.
The advantage is that I can combine and recombine the sentence kernels any way I want. I might try out a dozen versions of a paragraph if I have the time. The disadvantage is that the multi-stage editing process takes time, and time is in short supply around OWU.
I also edit in stages. When I have the sentences the way I want them, I do a "find and replace" for my typical errors (like "it's and "its" and "there" and "their." (Yes, it's true. Yes, their I did it again.) The process takes time, but it's (oy, another expletive) worth it. My typical drafting errors rarely make it through to my final draft.
Oh, BTW. Did I mention that I use too many parentheses? :-)
Cordially,
Tom B.
My typical mistakes when writing are trying to cram too many ideas into a single paragraph, which makes the topic sentence unclear. Also I tend to not do a great editting job after my initial draft which doesnt help the development of my ideas.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with writting is using alot of commas. I also use alot of ands and buts. The word however seems to start alot of my sentences as well. Also, another of my mistakes is just sentence structure and trying to stay on topic through out the paragraph without repeating myself.
ReplyDeleteI usually accidentally add to many commas. I have sentence that are too long and intricate, which also often have very strange structure.They often are awkward and hard to understand. I also tend to overlook typographical errors.
ReplyDelete