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The Ballad Skills and Principles
Day 1
Relative Pronouns
When referring to people, use who, whom or whose. Use who to
refer to people that are subjects, whom to refer to people that are objects and
whose to refer to people who are possessing something.When referring to
things, use which (preceded by a comma) in clauses that are not important to
the main meaning of the sentence. Never use which to refer to people because
this implies that the person is an object rather than a human being. When
referring to things, use that (not preceded by a comma) to refer to things in
clauses that are important to the main meaning of the sentence.
Relative clauses
Relative clauses give information to define or identify the noun or pronoun to
which the clause refers.
Coordinating Conjunctions
A coordinating conjunction is a word which joins together two independent clauses
(has both a subject and predicate) which are both equally important. A comma comes
before the conjunction.
The most common coordinating conjunctions are the following:
and--joins two similar ideas
but--joins two contrasting ideas
or--joins two alternative ideas
so--shows that the second idea is the result of the firstnor
nor--joins two negative alternatives
for--meaning because
yet--meaning but
Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives
Comparative Form and Superlative Form
Use -er or -est to form comparative and superlative adjectives that are onesyllable or are two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er.
Use more or most to form comparative and suprelative adjectives that are
adjectives of three or more syllables and two-syllable adjectives not ending in -y/er.
Do not double up (use both the -er/-est form with more or most for the same
adjective.)
Day 2
Use of Hyphens with Compound Modifiers
Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun: a
one-way street
However, when compound modifiers come after a noun, they are not hyphenated: The
street was one way.
The combination of an adjective and the adverb modifying it does not require
a hyphen: a sadly mistaken child
Demonstrative Adjectives with Here and There
Demonstrative adjectives are adjectives that indicate specific nouns (that, this,
these, those). Do not put the word there after a demonstrative adjective in formal
writing.
Run-on Sentence: Comma Splice
Run-on sentences happen when there are two independent clauses not
separated by any form of punctuation at all or by an incorrect form such as
a comma by itself. Comma splices are a type of run-on sentence that
happens when there are two independent clauses separated only by a
comma. The error can be corrected by adding a conjunction after the
comma, a period, a semicolon, or a colon to separate the two sentences.
Run-on Sentence: Corrected with Separate Sentences
If a run-on sentence has clauses that cannot be subordinated or
that are not highly related, split the run-on into separate
sentences.
Day 3
Titles of Poems
Unless a poem is an epic or of book length for some other reason, put its title
in quotation marks.
Myron loves Browsing's poem "My Last Duchess."
Active Voice versus Passive Voice
Active voice has the subject doing something to the object.
Passive voice has something being done to the subject by an unknown agent
or by something in the prepositional phrase by _______________. Use
active voice as much as possible. Only use passive when you have a specific
reason.
Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives
Comparative Form and Superlative Form (-er/-est)
one-syllable adjectives
two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er
Comparative Form and Superlative Form (more/most)
adjectives of three or more syllables (and two-syllable adjectives not
ending in -y/-er)
Do not double up (use both the -er/-est form with more or most)
Day 4
Commonly Confused Words: There versus Their versus They're
The word there indicates a place.
There is my favorite broken spatula.
The word their indicates that they own whatever the pronoun is modifying.
Their spatula is made of gold and rubber.
The word they're is the contraction for they are.
They're not happy with the spatula's performance.
Irregular Past Participle: Sung
Some past participles are irregular. Sung is an irregular past participle.
Tina has sang in front of the entire school. Incorrect
Tina has sung in front of the entire school. Correct
Appositive
An appositive is a word or phrase following a noun that gives the noun another
name. Commas go around appositives that do not add necessary information to
the sentence.
Dr. Benway, my personal physician, was arrested for performing
illegal operations on swamp creatures.
Commonly Misspelled Word: Prevalence
Prevalence is spelled with an a in the second syllable and an e in the third.
Day 5
End Punctuation of Sentences: Question Mark
Sentences must have some form of end punctuation--a period, a question mark or
an exclamation point.
When the sentence asks a question, use a question mark.
Where did you bury the body, Nancy?
Coordinating Conjunctions
A coordinating conjunction is a word which joins together two independent clauses
(has both a subject and predicate) that are equally important. A comma comes before
the conjunction. The most common coordinating conjunctions are the following:
and--joins two similar ideas
but--joins two contrasting ideas
or--joins two alternative ideas
so--shows that the second idea is the result of the firstnor
nor--joins two negative alternatives
for--meaning because
yet--meaning but
Subject and Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence should argree in number with the subject.
The dog eat out of that bowl so I wouldn't use it for cereal. Incorrect
The dog eats out of that bowl so I wouldn't use it for cereal. Correct
Do not let words that come between the subject and the verb influence the number
of the verb.
The dog, not the cats, eat my shoes. Incorrect
The dog, not the cats, eats my shoes. Correct