Download PowerPoint on some of the main ideas in English 1H.

Main Ideas
Elise Elder, Megan Kim and
Donna Kim
Period 1
Table of Contents
 Gross Errors
 Participles and Appositives
- Clauses
- Phrases
 Absolute Phrases
 Figurative Language
 MLA Format
 Basic structure of an Essay
 Basic Essay Definitions
 Citing Sources
Gross Errors
 a lot- Never one word!
 to-too-two- To shows place or direction, too
means also or enough, two is the number “2”
 its, it’s- Its is showing possession, it’s is
contraction for “it is.”
 your, you’re- Your is possessive pronoun,
you’re is contraction of “you are”.
 our, are- Our is a pronoun, are is state of
being verb.
 there, their, they’re- There is position, their
shows possession, and there is contraction
for “they are.”
Continued …..
 should of, would of, could of- These three
are never to be written. The correct form is to
use “have” in place of “of.”
 through, threw-Through is preposition, threw
is the verb, showing action.
 were, where, wear- Were is state of being
verb, where indicates position, wear is an
action verb.
 know-no-now- Know is knowledge, no is
used in answering questions, now indicates
specific time
Continued…..
 then-than- Then indicates a specific time or
particular period of time, than indicated
comparison between two things
 accept-except- Accept active verb showing
something being given or taken and except
is a preposition similar to “but”
 Affect- effect- Affect is active verb that asks
how one thing will affect another, effect is a
noun that has a special effect.
Participles and Appositives
 Clauses:
Clauses have a subject and a predicate.
Clause can be independent or
dependent/subordinate. A sentence must
have at least one independent clauses. If a
sentence has two IC, it must be joined with
semicolon, or a conjunction.
For example: IC;IC or IC and /but/or/for IC
Continued…..
 Ex.1) Before I got mad, I counted to ten until
I felt better.
“ Before I got mad ” is DC
“ I counted to ten ” is IC
“ Until I felt better ” is DC
Ex.2) I thought about it before I asked who
did it.
“ I thought about it” is IC
“ before I asked who did it ” is DC
Absolute Phrases
 Phrase is missing a verb, a subject, or
both. A participle phrase uses the -ing
or the -ed form of a verb along with the
other modifiers. The appositive is a
noun that renames another noun, along
with any modifiers.
Continued…..
Bold=Participle Phrase
Italic=Appositive Phrase
 Ex.1) While studying science at the
university, he came upon the secret of
how to create life.
 Ex.2) Victor’s monster, a strange,
hideous creature, approached him.
Continued…..
 Absolute phrase:
Absolute phrase consists of a noun and a
participle along with modifiers. Because it
has a noun and a participle (a “wannabe”
verb) it resembles the clause, appearing to
have a subject and a verb; however, it is still
a phrase. The absolute phrase can be
placed anywhere in the sentence and has no
relation to it.
Continued…..
 Examples) “His breath slowing to a shallow
rasp, Clem faced the angry guinea pig.”
“His breath slowing to a shallow rasp, Clem
faces the angry guinea pig.”
“His breath slowing to a shallow rasp, Clem
will face the angry guinea pig.”
Continued…..
Bold=appositive
Italics=participle
underline=absolute
 Ex.1) Clouds of dust flew across the south
central United States in the 1930s, a decade
of despair.
 Ex.2) Farmers there had endured years of
boom and bust, their crops failing with the
weather.
 Ex.3) When the wind, blowing mercilessly,
swept the land, it blew away the earth…
 Ex.4) Steinbeck, moved by what he saw,
decided to write “big” book about the
situation; his book, The Grapes of Wrath, is
now a classic.
Figurative Language
 Figurative Language is a tool that an
author uses to help the reader visualize
what is happening in a story or poem.
Some common types of figurative
languages are: alliteration,
onomatopoeia, metaphor, simile, and
personification.
Continued…..
 Alliteration: The repetition of usually initial
consonant sounds in two or more
neighboring words or syllables.
Example: the wild and wooly walrus waits and wanders when we’ll
walk by
 Onomatopoeia: The language peculiar to a
group of people
Example: buzz, hiss, roar, woof
Continued…..
 Metaphor: Comparing two things by
using one kind of object or using in
place of another to suggest the
likeness between them
Example: he is a pig for eating too much
 Simile: A figure of speech comparing
two unlike things that is often
introduced by like or as
Example: The sun is like a yellow ball of fire in the sky
Continued…..
 Personification: Giving something
human qualities
Example: The stuffed bear smiled as the little boy hugged him
close
Definitions from:
http://kidskonnect.com/figurativelanguage/figurativelanguagehome.html
MLA Format
 Double spaced
 No additional spaces between the header
and the title, the title and the first paragraph
or between the first paragraph
 Everything is left aligned
 12 point font and Times New Roman
 The student last name and page number
belong in the header, which is right aligned
(the header is on every page)
Continued…..
 When referring to a book, the author’s first
and last name should be mentioned;
afterwards only the last name
 The title of the book should be italicized or
underlined, followed by it’s initials, which
may be used from then on.
 The page number of the quotation comes
before punctuation
Basic Structure of an Essay

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Intro:
Hook
Thesis
Supporting Thesis
Same
Same
Thesis Restated
Leads into next paragraph
Continued…..
 Body 1 & 2 & 3
1) Summarize what is going to be written in
paragraph
2) Topic Sentence
3) Supprting T.P.
4) Same
5) Same
6) Restate T.P.
7) Leads into next paragraph
Continued…..

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Conclusion
Leads into paragraph
Rephrase Thesis
Supporting Thesis (Restated)
Same
Same
Restate Thesis
Remembering Sentence
Basic Essay Definitions
 Themes: A theme is the main idea of the
story, or the message the author is
conveying.
 Commentary: Your explanation/analysis/
interpretation/connection to the evidence to
the topic
 Hook: A sentence that draws reader’s
attention.
 Thesis: A sentence that states the main idea
of the essay and with a purpose of proving or
supporting it.
Continued…..
 Supporting Sentences: Sentence that
supports the thesis and/or the topic
sentence.
 Topic Sentence: A sentence that is restated
from one of the introduction supporting
sentence.
 Conclusion: A paragraph that ends the
essay and concludes the thesis statement.
Citing Sources
 Always site your sources. And for a
copy of the correct way to site sources
go to your school librarian or your
English teacher. :)