SURVIVAL KIT

To enhance your chances of survival in this course, you should review the following points before you write your paper:

I. FORMAT:

Your paper should be double spaced with 1 1/4" margins on all four sides.
Please number your pages.

II. PUNCTUATION:

A. Apostrophes: Use apostrophes with nouns to form the possessive. E.g.:
The reader's emotions (not: the readers emotions)

The children's toys (not: the childrens toys nor the childrens' toys)

NOTE: The possessive of "it" is "its" (NO apostrophe). "It's" with an apostrophe ALWAYS means "it is" or "it has."
B. Quotation Marks: Follow the following arbitrary but clear rules when using quotation marks with other punctuation:
1. Periods and commas go inside the quotation marks.
Example: "That," said Jane, "is all the proof I need."

2. Colons and semicolons go outside the quotation marks. Example: The text says, "Colons and semicolons go outside the quotation marks"; this rule is simple.

3. Question marks and exclamation points go inside the quotation marks if the punctuation is part of the quotation; otherwise, they go outside. Examples:
- a. The student asked, "Is this paper due Friday?" [inside]
- b. Did Robert Frost write "Home Burial"? [outside]
4. NOTE: Parenthetical citations for quotations go OUTSIDE the quotation marks. In such cases, so too does the period ending the sentence. Example: In The Bluest Eye, Maureen Peal is described as "a high-yellow dream child" (Morrison 62). Be sure to provide the page number for ALL quotations.

5. Long Quotations (more than 4 typed lines or 100 words) should be set off from the rest of your paper (indent each line 10 spaces). Do not use quotation marks with long quotations unless the quotation marks appear in the original text. Setting the passage off from the rest of your paper tells the reader that you're quoting.
C. Comma Splices: Comma splices occur when two independent or main clauses are joined (spliced together) by only a comma. Example: The word "white" has several conflicting connotations, one is the suggestion of purity and innocence.
There are several ways to correct a comma splice; one is to replace the comma with a semicolon. Another is to make the second clause a new sentence. [Note how these two sentences illustrate the points they make.]

III. DANGLING MODIFIERS:

A dangling modifier is a group of words, often found at the beginning of a sentence, that does not refer to anything in the sentence or that seems to refer to a word to which it is not logically related. Examples:

While typing, my dog began to lick my toes. (How many dogs can type and lick toes at the same time?)
At the age of ten, my grandfather died. (Live fast, die young?)
After considering several alternatives, the word "shattered" seemed best. (The word "shattered" considered several alternatives?)

To correct the problem, be sure that the person or thing performing the action is named in or immediately after the introductory phrase (or, in desperation, teach your dog how to type!). For example:

While I was typing, my dog began to lick my toes.
When I was ten, my grandfather died.
After considering several alternatives, I decided the word "shattered" seemed best.

IV. SPELLING:

Certain words seem to be particularly troublesome. Please note the following correct spellings:

A. a lot (2 words), not alot [you wouldn't write "alittle," so don't write "alot"]
B. definite, not definate
C. precede, not preceed
D. repetition, not repitition
E. separate, not seperate
F. significance, not signifigance
G. used to, not use to
H. simile, not similie
I. foreshadow, not forshadow

Also, be sure you know the difference between

A. affect/effect
B. lose/loose
C. than/then
D. their/there/they're
E. whose/who's
F. woman [singular]/women [plural]
G. compliment/complement
H. criterion [singular]/criteria [plural]
I. cite/site/sight

V. USAGE:

A. Imply and infer are NOT interchangeable. To imply means to suggest or hint at something without specifically stating it. To infer means to draw a conclusion. Texts (and authors) imply, they do not infer; readers infer.
B. Simple and simplistic are NOT interchangeable. "Simplistic" means over-simplified.
C. Number and amount are NOT interchangeable:

Use number to answer the question how many?; e.g., my question received a large number of replies
(you'd ask "how many replies," not "how much replies")
Use amount to answer the question how much?; e.g., at dinner last night, I ate a large amount of food
(you'd ask "how much food," not "how many food")
D. Connote. The noun is connotation, but the verb is to connote, NOT to connotate.
E. Predominate/Predominant. Predominate is a verb, NOT an adjective. The adjective is predominant.

VI. TITLES:

Titles of books should be underlined or placed in italics; titles of most poems and short stories should be placed in "quotation marks."

For more information, see Prof. Paul Brians' Common Errors in English and/or Prof. Jack Lynch's Guide to Grammar and Style.

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

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