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Glossary of Writing Terms The Writing Process Analysis – the process of breaking down something’s structure or elements into smaller parts in order to understand their nature, how they relate to one another, or their function Claim – a statement that can be argued Concise – describes a text that uses as few words as possible to effectively make a point Editing – an ongoing process which focuses on structure, clarity, style, transitions, word choice, sentence structure, use of language, etc. Euphemism – a word or phrase that substitutes for language the speaker or writer feels is too blunt or somehow offensive He died. → He passed away. Evidence – the support for an argument’s claim Paraphrasing – restating a text or passage using another form or other words while retaining the main idea of the original source; writers must cite paraphrased information. Parallelism – the idea that structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses should be similar in order to improve clarity and readability. For example, items in a list should be in parallel grammatical form. We enjoy swimming, biking, and books. → We enjoy swimming, biking, and reading. Point of View – the perspective from which a text is written First Person (I or we) – I should learn how to write well. Second Person (you) – You should learn how to write well. Third Person (he, she, it, or they) – College students should learn how to write well. Proofreading – the very last step which generally involves only minor changes in spelling, punctuation, and grammar Revising – an ongoing process which focuses on the larger issues, such as content, argument, purpose, audience, and organization Rhetorical Strategies – persuasive strategies used in arguments to defend claims and refute conflicting arguments. Aristotle gave the following categories of appeals used in argument: Ethos – credibility, moral character, and goodwill of the writer, speaker, or arguing party Pathos – appeal to emotions or values of the audience Logos – appeal to reason or logic of the topic/argument with facts and/or evidence Thesis – the central or controlling idea of a text. The thesis statement does two things: announce the topic and state what is significant about the topic. 1 Writing Terms – MCTC Writing Center 2012 Glossary of Writing Terms Conventions Active vs. Passive Voice – In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject carries out the action of the verb. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed. The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the verb "to be" with the past participle of the main verb. The meaning of a sentence is generally clearer in the active voice. subject verb Active – The executive committee approved the new policy. subject verb Passive – The new policy was approved. Adjective – a word that modifies, identifies, quantifies, or describes a noun Adverb – a word that modifies, describes, limits, or qualifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb and answers the questions what?, when?, where?, why?, how?, to what extent?, or under what circumstances? Clause – a group of related words containing a subject and a verb. Independent clauses can stand alone as separate sentences, and dependent/subordinate clauses can’t. dependent independent While Joe made dinner, I loaded the dishwasher. Comma Splice – a type of run-on that occurs when two independent clauses (clauses that can stand alone as sentences) are connected by only a comma The sun is high, put on some sunblock. Contraction – a shortened version of a word or words that uses an apostrophe to show where a letter or letters have been left out (e.g. isn't, don’t, can’t, o'clock, 'twas) Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS – for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) –connect two independent clauses or two sentence elements. When they connect two independent clauses, a comma comes before the conjunction. Two independent clauses: MCTC is a great school, but the parking is expensive. Two sentence elements: Faculty and staff at MCTC are dedicated to student success. FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) – the conjunction words that can be used to combine two independent clauses when preceded with a comma Joe made dinner, and I loaded the dishwasher. Fragment – a group of words that cannot stand alone because they do not contain even one independent clause I love Minneapolis! A great place to live, work, and raise a family. 2 Writing Terms – MCTC Writing Center 2012 Glossary of Writing Terms Minneapolis has a variety of ethnic restaurants. For example, Himalayan, Indian, Chinese, Ethiopian, Italian, French, Mexican, Columbian, and German. Infinitive – the root of a verb plus the word to. When a word (often an adverb) or phrase sneaks between the to of the infinitive and the root of the verb it is called a split infinitive (e.g. to boldly go). There is no consensus as to whether or not split infinitives are acceptable in writing. Object – A direct object receives the action of the verb and answers Who? or What?; an indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed. indirect object direct object MCTC offers students a great education. Parts of Speech (verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections) – the categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences Prepositions – describes a relationship between other words in a sentence. It is considered improper to end a sentence with a preposition. about, above, across, after, against, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, out, outside, over, since, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, without, according to, because of, by way of, in addition to, in front of, in place of, in regard to, in spite of, instead of, on account of, out of Prepositional Phrase – a preposition, a noun or a pronoun that serves as the object of the preposition, and, more often than not, an adjective or two that modifies the object in the garden, under the bed, beside the table, with me, from Canada Pronoun – a pronoun is a substitute for a noun (person, place, thing, feeling, or quality). The antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which a pronoun refers, understood by the context. table of personal pronouns 1st person singular Subjective Objective Possessive Independent Reflexive Possessive myself I me my mine 2nd person singular you you your yours yourself (In older English) thou 3rd person singular: masculine he thee thy thine thyself him his his himself 3rd person singular: feminine she 3rd person singular: neuter it her her hers herself it its its itself 1st person plural we us our ours ourselves 2nd person plural you you your yours yourselves 3rd person plural they them their theirs themselves impersonal one one ones -- oneself 3 Writing Terms – MCTC Writing Center 2012 Glossary of Writing Terms Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement – the idea that pronouns should agree with their antecedents in person (1st, 2nd, or 3rd), number (singular or plural), and gender Pronoun Consistency – the idea that the use of pronouns should be consistent throughout a text. For example, a writer shouldn’t use the first person plural we and then shift to the second person singular you. Punctuation – standardized marks used to organize writing into clauses, phrases, and sentences in order to clarify meaning comma , apostrophe ’ question mark ? parentheses () semicolon ; quotation marks “” exclamation point ! brackets [] colon : period . dash – ellipsis ... Run-on/Fused Sentence – a sentence with two independent clauses that have no punctuation or connecting word between them. Three easy ways to fix a run-on are: (1) Make two separate sentences; (2) Connect the two clauses with a comma and a FANBOYS; (3) Use a semicolon. Subordinating Conjunction – comes at the beginning of a subordinate/dependent clause and establishes the relationship between the dependent clause and the rest of the sentence and turns the clause into something that depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning. after, although, as, as if, as long as, as though, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, in order that, now that, once, rather than, since, so that, than, that, though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, while Once you understand multiplication, you can start learning division. You can go to the party as long as you get all your homework done. Verb – the part of speech that carries the action or indicates the state of being Verb Tense – shows the time of the verb’s action or being. Verb Tense Consistency – the idea that consistent verb tense improves readability and reduces confusion Capital Community College Foundation. "Index." Guide to Grammar and Writing. Capital Community College Foundation, 2004. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. Lunsford, Andrea A., Paul Kei Matsuda, Christine M. Tardy, and Lisa Ede. The St. Martin's Handbook. 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print. 4 Writing Terms – MCTC Writing Center 2012