I submitted this yesterday and Ms. Sue thought I did well (except 7,11) but I still managed to get 4 wrong - and my mind is a mess trying to figure out where I went wrong! Please help - my mid is coming!
>> represents my chosen answer.
1. Having studied small engine repair in night school, fixing the lawn mower was easy.
misplaced modifier
>>dangling modifier
faulty predication
incomplete comparison
2. When I asked for a submarine, the convenience store clerk said he didn't have kits for making model ships with a confused look.
>>misplaced modifier
dangling modifier
faulty predication
incomplete comparison
3. I always think linen napkins are nicer.
midplaced modifier
dangling modifierfa
faulty predication
>>incomplete comparison
4. The reason she is not here is because she is ill.
misplaced modifier
dangling modifier
>>faulty predication
incomplete comparison
5. The wind was howling and blowing a hundred miles an hour when suddenly there is a big crash, and a tree falls into Rocky's living room. The sentence shifts in
person
>>tense
discourse
voice and subject
6. The bulldozer clanked into the woods and the ground was disturbed. This sentence shifts in
number
mood
>>voice and subject
discourse
7. Some used car salesmen twist the truth. Be careful when you talk to them. This sentence shifts in
mood
voice and subject
>>person
number
8. If one smokes cigarettes, you run the risk of getting lung cancer.
number
mood
tense
>>person
9. Anyone who rides a bicycle every day will discover that they develop some muscles not developed by jogging. This sentence shifts in
person
>>number
mood
discourse
10. The person sat down at the counter and asked did we have any scruples. This sentence shifts in
mood
>>discourse
tense
voice and subject
11. He brought home a new car - large, fire-engine red, fast, and which he could not afford.
unclear pronoun reference
>>lack of parallelism
mixed metaphor
simile
12. He wrote a hot check. The word hot is used
>>poorly
clearly
connotatively
denotatively
13. Hot flames poured out of the grill. The word hot is used
>>poorly
clearly
connotatively
denotatively
14. Have you booted the disk? The word booted is
>>jargon
sexist language
euphemism
regional
15. When is the blessed event supposed to take place? Blessed event is
jargon
sexist language
>>euphemism
colloquial
16. The male nurse left the room. Male nurse is
jargon
>>sexist language
euphemism
colloquial
17. Mortality weighs heavily upon me like an unwilling sleep. Samuel Johnson
metaphor
>>simile
personification
hyperbole
18. He flunked the chemistry test. Flunked is
jargon
sexist language
euphemism
>>colloquial
19. But time did beckon to the flowers. Herbert
metaphor
simile
>>personification
hyperbole
20. Here the once embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world.
metaphor
simile
personification
>>hyperbole
21. Select the most effective sentence.
Baxter worried about his English exam when he thought about it.
>>Baxter felt a pang of existential anxiety when he comtemplated his English exam.
When Baxter thought of his English test, he freaked out.
Thinking about the English exam, worry came over Baxter.
22. Identify the type of organization used in the following sentence: I went to the buffet six times, and I still saved room for dessert.
subordination
>>coordination
religious
secular
23. Identify the type of organization in the following sentence: Since I was hungry again in an hour, I went to Whataburger.
secular
religious
>>subordination
coordination
24. I am ____ distraught over my horrible love life ____ commiserate with you over yours.
to, too
to, to
>>too, to
too, too
College English - Ms. Sue, Monday, September 6, 2010 at 12:34pm
They all look good, except 7 and 11.
9 actually has errors in both person and number.
10 - incorrect; I'd say voice and subject
12 - I'd say connotatively
http://www.answers.com/connotative
13 - I'd say denotatively
http://www.answers.com/denotative
21 - I'd choose the first one; the second one is stilted and awful!
All the rest seem correct to me.
1. DM
2. MM
3. IC
4. FP
5. Tense
6. V&S
7. Person
8. Person
9. #
10. Discourse
11. Lack of para
12. Conn
13. Deno
14. Jargon
15. Coll
16. Sex
17. Simile
18. Coll
19. Personif
20. hyperbole
21. baxter worried
22. coordina
23. subordin
24. too/to
25. whose/who's
Based on the information provided, it seems that you made a few errors on the quiz. Let's go through the questions you got wrong and understand the correct answers:
7. The sentence "Some used car salesmen twist the truth. Be careful when you talk to them" is an example of a shift in person. The subject "Some used car salesmen" is in the third person, but it shifts to the second person with "Be careful when you talk to them." The correct answer is "person."
11. The sentence "He brought home a new car - large, fire-engine red, fast, and which he could not afford" contains a lack of parallelism. The items in the list should be parallel in structure, but "and which he could not afford" doesn't match the structure of the previous items. The correct answer is "lack of parallelism."
24. The correct answer is "too, to." The sentence should be "I am too distraught over my horrible love life to commiserate with you over yours." "Too" is used to indicate an excessive amount of something, and "to" is used as a preposition indicating direction or purpose.
To avoid making similar errors in the future, here are some tips:
1. Pay attention to modifiers: Misplaced or dangling modifiers can lead to confusion and grammatical errors. Make sure that modifiers are placed next to the words they modify, and that they clearly refer to the intended subject.
2. Watch out for shifts: Shifts in person, tense, voice, subject, and other grammatical elements can cause confusion in sentences. Make sure that all elements in a sentence are consistent and don't change abruptly.
3. Check for parallelism: When listing items in a sentence, make sure they are all in the same grammatical structure. If the first item is a noun, the rest should be nouns as well. If the first item is a participle, the rest should be participles too.
4. Review common grammar rules: Understanding the correct usage of words like "too" and "to" can help prevent mistakes in your writing.
By carefully reviewing these concepts and practicing more examples, you can improve your understanding and accuracy in identifying and correcting grammar errors. Good luck with your midterm!