ndicate whether a sentence is a run-on or correct. If the sentence is a run-on, correct it using your knowledge of coordination and subordination.
1. My mother is very politically conservative; she’s written in King George III for president in the last two elections.
2. Mary Lou decided not to eat the alphabet soup the letters spelled out “botulism.”
3. A dried gourd containing seeds probably functioned as the first baby rattle ancient Egyptian wall paintings show babies with such gourds clutched in their fingers.
4. Opportunists who come to the south after the Civil War were often called “carpetbaggers,” they carried their belongings in cheaply produced travel bags made of Belgian carpet.
5. A friend of mine offers a good definition of nasty theater critics on opening night, according to him, they’re the people who can’t wait to stone the fire cast.
6. When English scientist James Smithson died in 1829, he willed his entire fortune to the United States to establish a foundation for knowledge that’s how the Smithsonian Institution was started.
Where are your answers?
Only #1 is correct. All the others are run-ons.
Read each one aloud (or ask someone else to read each one aloud to you) until the first sentence clearly ends. That should indicate to you where you need to make a division and/or revision.
correcdted
1. My mother is very politically conservative, but she’s written in King George III for president in the last two elections.
2. Mary Lou decided not to eat the alphabet soup, because the letters spelled out “botulism.”
3. A dried gourd containing seeds probably functioned as the first baby rattle, and ancient Egyptian wall paintings show babies with such gourds clutched in their fingers.
4. Opportunists who come to the south after the Civil War were often called “carpetbaggers,” so they carried their belongings in cheaply produced travel bags made of Belgian carpet.
5. A friend of mine offers a good definition of nasty theater critics on opening night, but according to him they’re the people who can’t wait to stone the fire cast.
All have been corrected, but I'd choose more appropriate conjunctions for 1, 4, and 5.
I'd also remove the comma in 2.
Are these better
1. My mother is very politically conservative, for she’s written in King George III for president in the last two elections.
2. Mary Lou decided not to eat the alphabet soup because the letters spelled out “botulism.”
3. A dried gourd containing seeds probably functioned as the first baby rattle, and ancient Egyptian wall paintings show babies with such gourds clutched in their fingers.
4. Opportunists who come to the south after the Civil War were often called “carpetbaggers,” because they carried their belongings in cheaply produced travel bags made of Belgian carpet.
5. A friend of mine offers a good definition of nasty theater critics on opening night, and according to him they’re the people who can’t wait to stone the fire cast.
Yes, much better.
I'd remove the comma in #4, though. When you use "because" or any subordinating conjunctions in the middle of a sentence, you don't need a comma in front of it.
1. The given sentence is correct and not a run-on.
2. The given sentence is a run-on. To correct it using coordination, you can write: "Mary Lou decided not to eat the alphabet soup, but the letters spelled out 'botulism'." Alternatively, you can correct it using subordination: "Mary Lou decided not to eat the alphabet soup because the letters spelled out 'botulism'."
3. The given sentence is a run-on. To correct it using coordination, you can write: "A dried gourd containing seeds probably functioned as the first baby rattle, and ancient Egyptian wall paintings show babies with such gourds clutched in their fingers." Alternatively, you can correct it using subordination: "Since ancient Egyptian wall paintings show babies with such gourds clutched in their fingers, a dried gourd containing seeds probably functioned as the first baby rattle."
4. The given sentence is a run-on. To correct it using coordination, you can write: "Opportunists who come to the south after the Civil War were often called 'carpetbaggers,' and they carried their belongings in cheaply produced travel bags made of Belgian carpet." Alternatively, you can correct it using subordination: "Opportunists who come to the south after the Civil War, often called 'carpetbaggers,' carried their belongings in cheaply produced travel bags made of Belgian carpet."
5. The given sentence is a run-on. To correct it using coordination, you can write: "A friend of mine offers a good definition of nasty theater critics on opening night: according to him, they're the people who can't wait to stone the fire cast." Alternatively, you can correct it using subordination: "According to a friend of mine, nasty theater critics on opening night are the people who can't wait to stone the fire cast."
6. The given sentence is a run-on. To correct it using coordination, you can write: "When English scientist James Smithson died in 1829, he willed his entire fortune to the United States to establish a foundation for knowledge, and that's how the Smithsonian Institution was started." Alternatively, you can correct it using subordination: "When English scientist James Smithson died in 1829, he willed his entire fortune to the United States to establish a foundation for knowledge, which is how the Smithsonian Institution was started."