Let's Eat Fifi

Copyright © 2015 by Sharon Watson. All right reserved.
No part of this download may be

copied, reproduced, shared, or in any way transmitted or transmuted without the written
permission of the author, except for personal use.
Cover Photo © Vera Kuttelvaserova / dollarphotoclub.com
Cover design © 2015 by Sharon Watson
Student with pencil photo credit: © Skillkost / dollarphotoclub.com
Cupcake image credit: © cupcakes, (c) mitrs3 / Fotolia.com
Some of these tutorials were formerly published on WritingWithSharonWatson.com.
The proofreading, active/passive, and word order lessons, along with others, are taken from The Power
in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School.
Cheerleading letter to the editor, Kokomo Tribune, August 2002.
Enjoy these other courses from Writing with Sharon Watson:

Jump In, middle school writing curriculum published by Apologia and featured
in Cathy Duffy’s 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.
“Jump In . . . has revolutionized the way we learn writing,

literally one skill at a time.” –Heather, a mom
The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School
“The dread is dead, and my son is loving this course!”

–Kathy D., homeschoolbuzz.com
Writing Fiction [in High School]
“This course was one of the most entertaining and useful classes I took all year,
if not one of my favorites from my entire high school career.”
–Phillip, a senior
Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide
“Right away, my daughter commented on how easy to read and friendly the format
was. She liked that Ms. Watson seemed to be speaking directly to her, in a casual tone,
yet it was very instructional from the very first page. I'm delighted by all the literature
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Linsey K. http://www.lillepunkin.com/2015/08/review-of-illuminating-literature-when.html
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Table of Contents
Hello! ............................................................................................................................................................. 1
Proofreading Marks ...................................................................................................................................... 2
Lesson 1: What Are These Marks of Which You Speak? ........................................................................... 2
Lesson 2: Try Them Again ......................................................................................................................... 7
Commas ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
Lesson 3: Commas and Compound Sentences ......................................................................................... 9
Lesson 4: “So” and “So That” .................................................................................................................. 13
Lesson 5: Correlative Conjunctions......................................................................................................... 15
Lesson 6: Comma Splices ........................................................................................................................ 18
Lesson 7: Commas with Dates and Places .............................................................................................. 20
Lesson 8: Hey, Dude, Use Commas ......................................................................................................... 23
Random Punctuation .................................................................................................................................. 25
Lesson 9: End Punctuation with Quotation Marks ................................................................................. 25
Lesson 10: Punctuation in Quotations or Dialog .................................................................................... 28
Lesson 11: ! and ? with End Quotation Marks ........................................................................................ 32
Active Voice................................................................................................................................................. 34
Lesson 12: Active Versus Passive ............................................................................................................ 34
Word Order ................................................................................................................................................. 36
Lesson 13: Only Tarzan Said That He Loved Jane ................................................................................... 36
Use Strong, Precise Verbs ........................................................................................................................... 41
Lesson 14: Help! My Verb Is Drowning!.................................................................................................. 41
Lesson 15: A Man Came into the Room Quickly ..................................................................................... 44
When to Use “I” or “Me” ............................................................................................................................ 45
Lesson 16: The Moon Shone High for You and I ..................................................................................... 45
Subject/Verb Agreement ............................................................................................................................ 48
Lesson 17: And/Or .................................................................................................................................. 48
Lesson 18: The Main Source of Complaints ............................................................................................ 50
Lesson 19: Indefinite Pronouns............................................................................................................... 52
Word Usage................................................................................................................................................. 54
Lesson 20: It’s/Its Confusing ................................................................................................................... 54
Lesson 21: Where Did You Learn That At? .............................................................................................. 57
Titles ............................................................................................................................................................ 61
Lesson 22: Italics or Quotation Marks in Titles ....................................................................................... 61
Lesson 23: Capitalize on Your Essay Titles .............................................................................................. 64
Answers ....................................................................................................................................................... 66
Let’s eat Fifi. |1
Hello!
Grammar is the math of writing.
There are rules. There’s some of “if this, then that.” It’s logical and orderly.
Creative punctuation is frowned upon and can be very confusing. Just take a good
look at the title of this e-Book!
Some of us insert commas where we pause to take a breath. Others simply sprinkle
punctuation on our pages like pepper.
In these twenty-three lessons, you’ll learn much more than commas and punctuation.
You’ll study a little about the active voice, italics, capitals, word order, and much more.
Enough of introductions! It’s time to move on to the real stuff!
Ready?
Let’s go . . .
Copyright © 2015 by Sharon Watson. All right reserved. No sharing, transmitting, or copying allowed
without the written consent of the author, except for personal use. WritingWithSharonWatson.com
Proofreading Marks
Lesson 1: What Are These Marks of Which You Speak?

What’s a lesson on proofreading marks doing in an e-Book tutorial on grammar? Keep
reading, and all will be made clear.
Do you waste endless time erasing whole sentences? Do you become discouraged
when you look at your rough drafts filled with arrows, illegible notes in the margins,
and ugly lines of scratched-out writing?
I’ve watched students in my writing classes destroy whole sentences and rewrite
them. They draw lines through words. They burn up their papers and crumble their
erasers just to change something.
This is totally unnecessary.
There’s an easier—and quicker—way to proofread your paper that doesn’t require a
lot of rewriting. Use proofreading marks.
Proofreading marks are fairly universal and can be tremendously helpful when you
are editing your work. After you complete your rough draft, print off the essay or short
story. Reading the rough draft from a piece of paper catches many more mistakes
than simply reading the essay from a computer screen. Then apply the proofreading
marks to help you make the changes you need.
The chart on the next page contains common proofreading marks used by all
professional writers.
Here’s what’s going to happen. You’ll look at the proofreading marks, see how they
are used in a few paragraphs, and then try it yourself.
Okay? Here we go.
The following image shows how to use the proofreading marks in an essay.
Notice that the paragraphs in the commune essay are double-spaced. ALL of your
rough drafts and final drafts should be double-spaced, even the ones you hand in to
your teacher. This helps you make corrections. Also, professors and editors expect
double-spaces in any submissions.
No more single-spaced papers.
This is how to make your paper double-spaced in Microsoft Word. On the Home tab,
find the box marked Paragraph:
Next, click on the lines with the up and down arrows to get a pull-down menu. The
menu will give you choices: 1.0, 1.15, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, and so on. Choose 2.0 and begin
typing.
If your paper is already single-spaced, highlight the paragraphs, click on the up and
down arrows, and select 2.0 from the menu. Your paragraphs should automatically
change to double-space.
If you are beginning a new file, type your title (centered) and then click on the up
and down arrows. Then select 2.0 from the menu. The rest of your paper will be double-
spaced.
Exercise 1.1
Look at the paragraphs about the communes and answer the following questions. Use a
colorful pen to make your marks easier to locate.
1. Find one instance where something was deleted. Now make the proofreading mark to
delete this: x
2. Find one place where something was converted to a capital letter by a proofreading
mark. Now use the proofreading mark to make the name of this park capital:
banff national park.
3. Find where the word form is changed to the word from. See how the up-and-down
movement switches or transposes the two middle letters? Now use that same mark to
transpose the end punctuation in the following sentence. The period should be inside
the end quotation mark:
Gabriel said, “You really should wear pink to the game” .
4. Find one place where something is added with a V, which is called a caret. Now add the
word “his” where needed to the following sentence:
Nothing in remarks convinced me to wear pink to the game.
Exercise 1.2
Here are two paragraphs about John Newton that really need your help. Use a colorful pen and
the proofreading marks to make corrections. Correct, add, and delete as necessary.
Note: You do not put quotation marks around the title of your own essay.
V
Incidentally, the caret can be the V right-side-up or inverted. It depends on how much
space you have and what you are inserting. For instance, commas always use an inverted caret.
“The Amazing John Newton”
You may know John Newton as the man who wrote Amazing Grace, but do you know
how he came to wrote the famous Hymn?
Or do you know what kind of a man John Newton was? No he was not a highly religious
man. He was a sailor and he was an excellent sailor. Did you know that there was a time in
his his life when he would’ve been ashamed to be scene with a bible? We’ll start our story,
when John was twenty three. It was around 1750 in england. It was at that time when John
was made captain of a slave ship. He make many voyages to africa and made a profitable
living. He did his job well. He stood with whip in hand, forcing Africans into submission.
Yes, this was the same man who wrote that he was amazed at how God could “save a
wretch like me”.
Lesson 2: Try Them Again

Proofreading. What a pain.
You finish your essay and think you’re through with it, but, no. Now you have to
proofread it.
It turns out that writing and proofreading are two separate skills. In fact, they use
two different parts of your brain and should be done at different times.
To take this a step further, when I proofread, I print off the article and edit it at the
kitchen table, far from where I wrote it. That’s where I am right now as I proofread this
e-Book. This helps me separate the writing process from the work of editing, and I catch
more mistakes that way. So will you.
Write your essay. Let it rest a day or two. Then come back to it with a new
perspective on what you wrote. It’s much easier to find your mistakes that way.
To practice proofreading, it’s also much easier to find someone else’s mistakes than
your own. With that in mind, you’ll read a letter to the editor written by a high school
student who also happens to be a cheerleader.
Before you read this letter, understand that any number of teens could have written
this poorly the first time around, before a good proofreading session. I’m not hatin’ on
cheerleaders here.
Also, before you read this letter, keep in mind that you cannot proofread everything
the first time through. Ask yourself these questions when you read any of your own
essays:
 Did I actually write what the teacher said to write? Did I follow all the
directions?
 Does each paragraph in the essay’s body have a topic sentence?
 Does each paragraph support its topic sentence?
 Does each topic sentence back up the main idea (thesis statement) as stated
in the introductory paragraph?
 Can I state anything more clearly or concisely?
 Do I leave the reader with some food for thought in my conclusion?
 Do I like the order of my points in the body? Do they flow well from one to
the next? Do I need any transitions to guide my readers along?
 What can I change about my spelling?
 What can I change about the punctuation?
 Do I prefer Coke® over Pepsi®?
Exercise 2
Below is a letter to the editor. Read it completely through one time to get an idea of what this
teen is trying to convey to her audience. Then get out a colorful pen and proofread the letter.
Use correct proofreading marks. Help this gal express her message more clearly.
There are many correct ways to fix this letter. The way you edit it may be different from the
way a friend edits it. Edit for clarity, conciseness, punctuation, word usage, and so on.
I am writing today cause of the comments that have been in the paper so far about us. As
a cheerleader we are taking risk to being put out in the public to look like bad people. All of
are squads at Hightower work hard to do there sport and we try to do them well. Uniforms
and the way we dress are important because we are the leaders of are school. We are also
representing are school officials and teachers. As a cheerleader I want to take a stand and say
that Hightower cheerleaders work hard.
They’re good girls just trying to do something they love to do. The community needs to
see us as athletes instead of the girls on the sidelines because we do more than that. Give us
some credit for the good things we do and not the bad. We try to please everyone, and if we
can’t at least we tried. Let the cheerleaders of 2015-2016 show you that we are the leaders of
the community.
Just for fun, here’s my editing from page 1. Compare it to what is written on page 1 now.
Commas
Lesson 3: Commas and Compound Sentences

Commas are beastly things, and it’s easy to make mistakes. This tutorial will help you
make fewer comma mistakes when you are dealing with compound sentences.
A compound sentence is made of two independent clauses. An independent clause has
a subject and a verb (or subject and predicate) and can stand alone as a complete
sentence. Comma mistakes in compound sentences are rampant.
The infographic on the next page shows you what compound sentences are, what
coordinating conjunctions are, and where the comma goes in a sentence of this sort. It
also explains the exceptions. Before we go any further, here are some important terms
and examples.
An independent clause, one that can stand alone as a sentence:
Jesse hates to do homework.
A dependent clause, one that cannot stand alone (This one is missing a subject):
Which is not good.
A compound verb—often mistaken for a compound sentence:
Olivia bakes cupcakes and takes them to youth group every week.
You cannot make a complete sentence out of the second half of the sentence: “takes
them to youth group every week.” Therefore, it is not two independent clauses joined
together to make a compound sentence. It is a sentence with a coordinating conjunction
(and) that joins two verbs (bakes and takes).
A compound sentence with a coordinating conjunction (and, in this case):
Olivia bakes cupcakes, and she takes them to youth group every week.
A sentence with a subordinating conjunction (in this case, because)—which does not get a
comma:
Olivia bakes cupcakes because she takes them to youth group every week.
Let’s eat Fifi. | 10
For a full-size PDF of the

infographic, click here.
You’ve just learned what a compound sentence is. You’ve also seen that if you link a
compound sentence with a coordinating conjunction, you need a comma before the
conjunction.
You’ve also seen the so that exception at the bottom of the infographic, which you’ll
learn more about in lesson 4.
What I feel compelled to tell you about now is not an exception but a clarification.
An imperative sentence is one that commands and that often uses a silent You as the
subject. They often begin with a verb, like this:
Clean your room and wash the dog.
This looks suspiciously like a compound sentence. Clean your room is an independent
clause, and so is wash the dog. You can make two separate sentences from them and
connect them with the coordinating conjunction and. So why don’t you need a comma
before the word and?
If a parent were to say that sentence to you, you would know that the subject is a
silent You. And you would know what to do: clean and wash. If we were to insert the
silent You, it would look something like this:
Hey, you, clean your room and wash the dog.
Now you can see that the subject is you and the two verbs are clean and wash. Are you
getting the hint that this is not a compound sentence at all?
It is a compound verb: clean and wash.
You already know that compound verbs do not need a comma before the word and.
Now you know that this type of sentence is an imperative one and uses a compound
verb. Therefore, no comma is needed.
Watch for one of these types of sentences in the exercise.
Exercise 3
In numbers 1-7, write the coordinating conjunctions you learned from the infographic.
In numbers 8-20, read each sentence carefully and find the conjunction. If it is a true compound
sentence with a coordinating conjunction, place the comma correctly. If it is not a compound
sentence, leave the comma out.
Use carets to insert commas where needed. Each correct answer below is worth 5 points.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. I love to play the tuba and will enter the Oompah Contest next week.
9. Seymour fed the dogs but he forgot to tell his mom.
10. Doctors study ethics for they make many life-and-death decisions every day.
11. Jason doesn’t know if he will write a letter of complaint to the NFL about the godaddy.com
commercials or simply e-mail a short note.
12. He fixed a peanut butter sandwich for me so I wouldn’t faint during my comma quiz.
13. The costume designer shopped all day yet did not find the right material for Anna’s and
Elsa’s dresses.
14. Jeremy loves to read The Three Musketeers but he refuses to watch the movies.
15. Johnny Depp bought a private island for his family in 2004 because he wanted them to have
a safe haven.
16. I quit gardening for I couldn’t stand the worms and fat grubs.
17. I quit gardening because I couldn’t stand the worms and fat grubs.
18. The soles on my new sneakers are flapping so I bought a new pair.
19. Write your essay this week and hand it in by Friday.
20. Castaway uses no music while the main character Chuck Noland is deserted on the island
and I didn’t even notice!
Lesson 4: “So” and “So That”

You’ll notice in lesson 3’s infographic that there is an exception to the coordinating
conjunctions. It’s the words so that:
Jason looked in the mirror so he could enjoy the view.
Yes, it looks as though so is a coordinating conjunction joining two independent

clauses. After all, these two are complete sentences:
Jason looked in the mirror. He could enjoy the view.
You will remember that independent clauses can stand as complete sentences.
However, there is a silent that after the word so:
Jason looked in the mirror so {that} he could enjoy the view.
Anytime you have a silent so that, you do not have a true coordinating conjunction in
the word so. It is actually a subordinating conjunction, and it does not get a comma
before the word so.
So, when two independent clauses seem to be linked with the word so, try to wedge
in a silent that. If you can, you do not need a comma.
Exercise 4
Read each sentence carefully. Determine if you should keep the comma or delete it based on
your new knowledge of so and so that. Use the caret to insert any commas. Use the delete
proofreading sign to take out any commas that are incorrect.
One sentence is correct. Mark it with a “C.”
Each sentence you edit or mark correctly is worth 10 points.
1. Keep yourself healthy this winter season, so that you may give of yourself to others.
2. My dog disobeyed, so I will have to watch that video by Caesar Milan again.
3. I could not understand my cousin from Germany so I had to hire an interpreter.
4. Jen watched TV all night, so she wouldn’t have to do her homework.
5. Selma sat on the very edge of the chair. She had to, so her feet would reach the floor.
6. Liz traveled in November, so she could audition for an orchestra.
7. Lindsey enjoys playing guitar, so other teens can worship God.
8. “Apples, schmapples,” said Anna. “I only pick them, so I can earn enough money to
attend college.”
9. The choreography enchanted Marianne so she practiced it to perfection.
10. The Phantom of the Opera spun an invisible web around a young woman, so he might
own her.
Lesson 5: Correlative Conjunctions

I have a pet peeve, grammatically speaking, and I’m sure you’re dying to know what it
is. Well, I have many, but let’s stick with one today. So, without further ado . . .
If you use the words not only . . . but also, you do not need a comma before the word
but. Not only . . . but also is a special set of words called a correlative (co REL ative)
conjunction. Examples abound:
Not only do I despise Fluffy but I also cannot stand Fifi.
Not only are there too many books in the world but there are also too many
textbooks floating around.
He not only gives me the creeps but he gives me the heebie-jeebies as well.
The Great and Terrible Oz not only grilled Dorothy about the silver shoes but demanded
that she do something for him.
In that last example, the also is silent. (And, yes, they are ruby slippers in the movie
but silver shoes in the book.)
Correlative conjunctions come in pairs. They are related. They are relatives, like these:
Not only . . . but also

Either . . . or
Neither . . . nor
Both . . . and
Whether . . . or
And the big news is that no comma is needed before the conjunction:
Either you get a job or you go to school.
Exercise 5
Below you’ll find a few sentences on coordinating conjunctions from lesson 3, so that versus so
from lesson 4, and correlative conjunctions from this lesson.
Correct them by placing a comma where needed or deleting an unnecessary comma. Use your
proofreading marks. If the sentence is correct as it stands, mark it with a C.
Seven of the sentences are correct, if that helps. Each sentence you edit or mark correctly is
worth 5 points.
1. Not only did Landon send her flowers at work but he sent her candy as well.
2. Either you drive this car across the bridge, or I’m going to slam my foot on the
accelerator and force us across.
3. We value your opinion, and truly appreciate your business.
4. Neither the faucet worked, nor did the water fountain.
5. Alex wrote a note to himself, and put it on his dashboard; otherwise, he would forget to
pick up his mother.
6. Not only did the hurricane displace thousands of people but it also shut down hundreds
of businesses.
7. Roberto did the written assignment, and handed it in two days before it was due.
8. You may either send me an email, or you may call me.
9. Bianca’s health has improved since she began doing daily exercises.
10. Bianca’s health has improved because she began doing daily exercises.
11. Bianca’s health has improved for she began doing daily exercises.
12. Not only did Liz sneak in late, but she also lied about it to her mother the next morning.
13. Bees have helped humans for years, and live everywhere on earth but the North and
South Poles.
14. The picture clearly showed your feet but your head was cut off.
15. I can only hope that you will not only sneeze into a tissue, but you will throw it away,
too.
16. My mother lost her favorite earrings so I will buy her another pair for her birthday.
17. My mother hid her favorite earrings so I would buy her a new pair.
18. Don’t forget to rake the leaves, and clean the garage.
19. I did my homework on Thursday so I could proofread it today.
20. I’m going to wash my Colts hat so I can wear it for the big game Sunday.
Lesson 6: Comma Splices

You want to avoid poison ivy, tsunamis, and comma splices, and you’re in luck because
I can help you with that last one.
A comma splice occurs when you mash up two sentences or independent clauses
with a comma but leave out the conjunction.
Here’s an example of a comma splice:
There is a skunk in the aisles, I am sure that is against store policy.
The words on the left side of the comma make a complete sentence/independent clause.
The words to the right of the comma do as well. This should be treated as a compound
sentence.
You can fix it either of these ways:
Add a semicolon There is a skunk in the aisles; I am sure that is against store policy.
Add a coordinating conjunction There is a skunk in the aisles, and I am sure that is against
store policy.
Or you can get the skunk out of the store.
Here’s the skinny on comma splices:
 Do not put together two complete sentences (independent clauses) with only a
comma.
 To link two complete sentences (independent clauses), use a coordinating
conjunction like and or use another type of conjunction like because. If you use a
coordinating conjunction, insert a comma before it.
 If the second sentence (independent clause) begins with any of the following words,
use a semicolon before that word instead of a comma to connect them:
nevertheless, furthermore, moreover, consequently, therefore, in fact, however, and
then. All of those words need a comma after them in the second independent
clause. Exception: then.
Correct example They told me not to go into the basement; nevertheless, I ignored their
advice and crept down the rickety steps into the moldy darkness below me.
Short sentences in parallel construction do not need conjunctions, like this:
“I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar
“We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.”
–II Corinthians 7:2
Exercise 6
The following sentences are all comma splices. Fix them by inserting a conjunction or a
semicolon as needed.
If you add nevertheless, furthermore, moreover, consequently, therefore, in fact, or however,

insert a comma after it. Each sentence you edit correctly is worth 12.5 points.
1. First impressions can be misleading, hasty judgments deserve more scrutiny.
2. The Depression in the 1930s caused much unhappiness in some families, others it brought
closer together.
3. Horror movies are not good for children to watch, in fact they have an adverse effect even
on adults.
4. The painting was not valuable, the museum offered only five thousand dollars for it.
5. Many mystery writers have been helpful to the police in real crime cases, Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle is one prominent example.
6. I saw the cutest puppy at the animal shelter, I brought him home.
7. New York was our capital at one time, George Washington was sworn in as president there.
8. Dad refused to eat the mushrooms, he was afraid they were poisonous.
Lesson 7: Commas with Dates and Places

On the off chance that you’ve been wondering where to put the commas in dates and
addresses, I’ve included this lesson. So, where do they go?
In dates, you need a comma between . . .
Day and date Friday, September 13

Date and year September 13, 2016
Elements in a sentence Friday, September 13, 2016, is an important date.
No comma is needed between . . .

Put a comma here if
you’ve written the
Month and date September 13 is not really a Friday. date and the year.
Month and year September 2016 contains five Fridays.
In addresses, you need a comma between . . .
Street address and city 123 Klickitat Street, Portland

City and state or province Portland, Oregon
Toronto, Ontario
Elements in a sentence The residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
has been 10 Downing Street, London, England, since 1732. Commas surround the state or country
if you’ve also written the town.
I visited Hannibal, Missouri, and saw the famous island in the middle of the
Mississippi River Mark Twain used in Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn.
The address of the Very Large Array is Old Highway 60, Magdalena, New Mexico
87825.
No comma is needed between the state and the ZIP Code in an address.
Exercise 7
Insert commas as needed. Use your proofreading marks. (You know, those carets.) Three
sentences are correct as stands. Mark them with a “C.” Each sentence is worth 10 points.
1. James Marshall found gold in a river at Sutter’s Mill on January 24 1848 in California.
2. Few caught the fever, however, until President James Polk stated in his inaugural address in
December 1848 that there was an “abundance of gold.”
3. Poe’s short story “The Gold-Bug” takes place on Sullivan’s Island South Carolina and is not
about the Gold Rush. It’s about a man being bitten by what he thinks is a gold-colored bug.
4. In fact, it was published in June 1843 and predates the Gold Rush.
5. Jack London was born January 12 1876 and wrote of the Klondike Gold Rush in his popular
book The Call of the Wild.
6. On July 12 1897 Jack London sailed from San Francisco California to try to find gold in the
Klondike.
7. He lived in Dawson City Yukon Canada for almost a year as he searched for gold. There he
developed scurvy and lost some of his front teeth to the disease.
8. The Call of the Wild was first published in August 1903.
9. On another topic entirely because I ran out of the gold one, the Titanic departed
Southampton England Wednesday April 10 1912 on its unsuccessful voyage to New York City
New York.
10. On yet another topic, the Smiths moved into their new home at 24 Wistful Vista Hollywood
California on August 21 1987 and moved out in December of 1999.
Lesson 8: Hey, Dude, Use Commas

The title of this e-Book reflects a common problem, that of not using commas when
addressing people or animals.
When addressing someone or something in writing, set them off with commas, like
this:
At the beginning of a sentence Karla, I love your new haircut!

In the middle of a sentence I wish I could say the same for yours, Riley, but I can’t.
At the end of a sentence I can’t believe you just said that, you monster!
You probably have little occasion to write emails or letters, but just in case . . .
Writing an informal email to a friend or co-worker? Then it’s okay to skip the comma
after the Hi and put it after the person’s name, like this:
Hi Amy,
But when writing a more formal email to someone, use any of these:
Formal business letter (uses a colon) Dear Leo:

Personal (uses a comma) Dear Leo,
Informal business (sets off the name with a comma) Hello, Ian,
So, if you don’t want to consume your sweet little doggie, then set off the name of
your dearest with a comma, like this:
Let’s eat, Fifi.
Exercise 8
Use the proofreading caret to insert commas where needed. Each sentence is worth 10 points.
1. Henry I am very interested in electricity and galvanism.
2. You mean Doctor Frankenstein the belief that organisms can be reanimated after
death?
3. Yes my friend that is exactly what I mean.
4. But where will you find dead people to reanimate Victor?
5. I have a plan dear Henry but you probably won’t like it.
6. Will it land you in prison bold sir if you continue with your plan?
7. Most likely. On the other hand, if it is never found out, I will have obtained eternal glory
for myself esteemed colleague.
8. I will keep your secret dear Victor. I do wish, though, that the gratification of your
wishes may not be a serpent to sting you.
9. Thank you Henry. Now it is getting late. I must visit the dissecting room, the
slaughterhouse, and, oh yes, the graveyard.
10. Dearest Victor I believe any man you reanimate will be filled with gratitude toward you
for this second chance at life.
Note: Part of sentence 8 is taken directly from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Random Punctuation
Lesson 9: End Punctuation with Quotation Marks

This lesson answers such thorny questions as this one: “Does the period go before or after
the last quotation mark?” And if that doesn’t create some excitement, I don’t know
what will.
Read the infographic below. There are only two rules (can you believe it?), and they
are easy (again, is it to be believed?).
This lesson does not cover quotation marks in dialog. Tarzan will hit that in lesson
10. To get a full-page copy of this infographic, click here.
As you’ll notice by the infographic, these two rules are for American English
conventions. The British English system handles punctuation with end quotation marks
differently. Observant readers most likely have noticed the difference between the
American and the British ways of handling punctuation and perhaps have been
confused about this huge and dire issue. But no more.
Exercise 9
Use your new powers of punctuation to correct these sentences. Only one sentence is correct
as it stands.
Use correct proofreading marks. This one will come in handy (as in “switch these around” or
“transpose”): The first one is done for you. Each sentence is worth 12.5 points.
1. Roxanne promised, “I’ll go to the party with you ” . However, she sent her sister instead.
In other words, the period goes inside the end quotation marks, like this: “I’ll go to the party
with you.” However, she sent her sister instead.
2. You must admit one thing about deliveries marked “rush order;” they eventually arrive.
3. Someone stole her books, her magazines, and her file labeled “How to do a triple Lutz”.
4. The first story Mark Twain ever wrote, “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”, was an
instant success.
5. I just read Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fog;” I’ve never thought before of fog as a stealthy cat.
6. Uncle Art looked up and snapped, “It’s time you learned to be accurate”; then he went
back to checking the columns of figures.
7. I answered, “That’s very good of you”, but I didn’t mean it.
8. I had to look up these words from the poem “The Bells:” tintinnabulation, euphony, and
expostulation.
Lesson 10: Punctuation in Quotations or Dialog

One thing editors look for in a new writer is proficiency in grammar and punctuation.
Granted, it’s not a huge thing; it’s more important to know how to write a fantastic
article or a great story. But grammar is an indicator of how well the writer knows the
language and its conventions, and it is something that editors take into account when
determining which writers to publish. Professors, also, look more favorably upon an
essay that uses correct grammar and punctuation.
A tiff between Tarzan and Jane in this fun tutorial will guide you through the
punctuation-in-dialog jungle. The rules are the same whether you are using them in
dialog or for quotations in essays and reports.
Yes, dialog can also be spelled dialogue.
Take special note of where the commas, periods, and quotation marks appear in the
sentences on the next page.
For a PDF version of the graphic, click here.
Exercise 10
The following sentences are real dialog from the original Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice
Burroughs. However, they are missing some punctuation and quotation marks. Fill them in
correctly according to what you just learned from the infographic. Use proofreading marks.
The first one is done for you. Note the circle around the added period. Using it helps you spot
your lonely addition at the end. Each correct answer is worth 7 points.
1. “Close and bolt the door, Alice, ”cried Clayton. “I can finish this fellow with my axe . ” V
2. “Back, Alice shouted Clayton “for God’s sake, go back
3. “Come back to me she whispered. “I shall wait for you—always
4. “Mercy, Mr. Philander interrupted the girl. I never can remember so many
questions
5. Jane asked Where is the forest man who went to rescue you? Why did he not
return?
6. “What are you Tarzan? he asked aloud An ape or a man?
7. “Then you knew your mother, Tarzan asked D’Arnot.
8. “Yes. She was a great, fine ape, larger than I replied Tarzan and weighing twice as
much
9. “Oh, I beg your pardon! she exclaimed, pausing on the threshold. I thought you
were alone, papa
10. “What shall I call you she asked What is your name
11. “I was Tarzan of the Apes when you first knew me he said.
12. “Tarzan of the Apes! she cried And that was your note I answered when I left?
13. “This is not an African jungle she said You are no longer a savage beast. You are
a gentleman, and gentlemen do not kill in cold blood
14. “I am still a wild beast at heart he said, in a low voice, as though to himself.
15. “Jane Porter said the man, at length if you were free, would you marry me
Lesson 11: ! and ? with End Quotation Marks

This is the last lesson on punctuation. I promise. You’re probably as sick of them as I
am.
Read the following infographic and complete the exercise. Then we’ll move on! For a
PDF file of the graphic, click here.
Exercise 11
Using the facts in the infographic, determine where the question marks and exclamation points
should go in the following sentences. I’ve moved the end quotation marks over so you have a
little room to work.
The first one is done for you; the question mark is part of the short story’s title, so you don’t
need a second question mark at the end of your sentence. Each sentence is worth 17 points.
1. Have you ever read Frank Stockton’s short story “The Lady or the Tiger ? ”
2. Did you know that during the Civil War, the government censored the song “Lorena ”
3. I was mugged yesterday. I couldn’t believe it, but the guy really shouted, “Your money or
your life ”
4. Is it true that Psalm 42:5 is the source of the song “Why So Downcast ”
5. Instead of “you’re welcome,” do you use the phrase “no problem ”
6. Who exclaimed the famous words, “Give me liberty or give me death ”
Active Voice
Lesson 12: Active Versus Passive

When your teacher throws a shoe at you, you can record the event in one of two
sentences:
The shoe was thrown at me by my teacher.
or
My teacher threw a shoe at me.
The first sentence is passive. The eraser, which looks like the subject, is not doing the
throwing. In other words, the subject is not performing the verb. Many passive
constructions use a form of the verb to be (was in that first example), they are too wordy,
and they are hard to understand.
The second sentence is active. The teacher is doing the throwing. The subject (teacher)
is performing the verb (threw). The meaning is much clearer, and the sentence is shorter.
This can make your writing stronger.
Many grammar books will tell you to prefer the active voice, and this tutorial is no
different. Prefer the active voice.
There is one exception to this rule: If the noun receiving the action is more important,
then use the passive construction. For example, “Charles Darnay was accused of
treason” is a passive construction but is acceptable here because Charles Darnay, who is
being accused, is more important than the person accusing him.
Exercise 12
Below are sentences that contain active and passive constructions. Put an “A” next to the active
ones and a “P” next to the passive ones. Then rewrite the passive ones and make them active.
Note: Put a star next to the sentence that is correct as passive.
Each sentence is worth 15 points.
1. He was heard by someone from the RCA record label during the concert.
2. Sir James Barrie wrote Peter Pan, the story about a boy who never grows up.
3. The astronaut Vladimir Shostakovich was struck in the foot by a meteor while repairing
the space station.
4. An escape was planned by the pandas in the zoo.
5. The crowbar was dropped by the intruder when he heard the police sirens.
6. Begin shoveling snow at the start of a snowstorm and you will regret it!
7. An injury was sustained in the head by the soccer goalie.
Word Order
Lesson 13: Only Tarzan Said That He Loved Jane

Can you believe that the order of the words in your sentences and paragraphs really
matters?
Place modifiers as close as possible to the words they are modifying. Modifiers are
words or phrases that adjust the meanings of nouns and verbs. Adjectives and
adverbial phrases, for example, should sit next to the words they are modifying. If not,
you get a sentence like this:
Angie sewed the material her aunt gave her with great pride.
Is Angie proud of her job, or is her aunt proud of the gift she gave her niece?
Probably the sentence was supposed to look like this:
With great pride, Angie sewed the material her aunt gave her.
Be careful where you place the word only. It can trip you up if you do not pay
attention to where you put it in your sentence. Here’s the sentence we’re going to play
with:
Tarzan said that he loved Jane.
That’s pretty straightforward. But try adding an only to it in different places and watch
what happens. Below is the same sentence with extra room added. Insert only before
each word and after Jane and notice how it changes the meaning. The first two are done
for you:
Tarzan said that he loved Jane .
Only Tarzan said that he loved Jane. {Poor, lonely Jane.}
Tarzan only said that he loved Jane. {Sure, he said it, but does he mean it?}
Just is another troublesome word to watch out for. So many ways to go wrong!
Being unaware of word order can lead to other problems, too. The following are
humorous examples of misplaced modifiers, that is, modifiers that should be closer to
the actual words they are modifying:
I packed lunch for my friends in the picnic basket.
Brooke Sanderson, our soloist, warned her pianist with a raised eyebrow.
Were the friends in the picnic basket? Does the eyebrow belong to Brooke or the
pianist? And here’s one I can’t resist. It comes from a real radio ad for a medical clinic:
Are you tired of waiting in the emergency room for an injury?
Think about it. It will come to you.
This last one is too good to pass up. It comes from a friend of mine who was writing
about chores the moms had to do at a graduation:
We had to fix the cookies and punch ourselves.
I think her graduation was a little more exciting than mine!
These mistakes can be fixed easily with a little attention to detail.
Word order is also related to where in the sentence you stash the important stuff.
Have you ever seen the following paragraph?
The Paomnnehal Pweor of the Hmuan Mnid
Aoccdrnig to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the

ltteers in a wrod are. The olny iprmoeatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the
rghit pclae. The rset can be a ttoal mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is
bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Do you understand what that is saying? According to the research, you can.
In the same way that the human mind reads the beginnings and ends of each word, it
also pays attention to the beginnings and ends of sentences. The middles get muddled.
You know from your own experience that you don’t pay as much attention to the
middles of sentences; you skim those. So why would you put the really important
information in the middle of a sentence? Consider the following misquotation:
It is time for all good men to now come to the aid of their country.
It lacks punch because the important word—now—is buried in the middle of the
sentence. Here it is as it should be:
Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.
Ah, now we understand that the decision about aiding the country needs to be snappy.
(Snappy is at the end of my sentence to emphasize the time factor.)
When talking about word order, well-written sentences come in two varieties: loose
and periodic. A loose sentence structure means that the important stuff is at the
beginning of the sentence:
Tuesday morning, your report is due.
A periodic sentence structure means that the important stuff is at the end (near the
period) of your sentence:
Your report is due on my desk Tuesday morning.
Either way, you have emphasized Tuesday morning by placing it at the beginning or
the end of your sentence.
What is the “important stuff”? Most likely, because you wrote the sentence, you will
know what is important. You know what you want to emphasize or convey to your
audience. So if the crux of the sentence is buried in the middle, move it.
Watch out for these kinds of sentence structures because they almost always bury the
important words (bold added for emphasis):
There was a dramatic change in the country after the earthquake.
It was only after he ate all the donuts that he showed any remorse.
Take a moment to underline the important information in those two sentences.
If you underlined dramatic change and only after he ate all the donuts, you are correct.
Below are the sentences again, with the emphasis in more effective places.
A dramatic change occurred in the country after the earthquake. (loose)
After the country endured the earthquake, it experienced a dramatic change. (periodic)
Only after he ate all the donuts did he show any remorse. (loose)
He showed no remorse until after he ate all the donuts (periodic)
Avoid There is, There was, It is, and It was constructions.
When you are writing your first draft, forget about all this editing stuff. Really. Don’t
worry about sentence lengths and structures, modifiers close to the words they modify,
and loose and periodic sentence structures. Simply let your writing flow as you create
your work.
Later, in the revising process, you will catch and fix these things. Writing while
paying attention to this stuff is impossible! To repeat: Writing while editing is
impossible! Write. Then fix.
Exercise 13
The first five sentences below are taken from real students’ papers. The last two are from a
park sign and an informational pamphlet in Florida. Determine the important information in
each sentence.
Rewrite each sentence by moving the important stuff to the beginning or end of each sentence
to create either a loose or a periodic sentence.
Be creative. There are a number of ways these sentences can be fixed. Oops! I mean: These
sentences can be fixed in a number of effective ways. Each sentence is worth 14.3 points.
1. Nicole, at the age of seventeen, found herself unmarried and pregnant.
2. The tensions were considerable that led up to the Civil War.
3. Norma McCorvey (called Jane Roe to conceal her identity) was an unmarried carnival
worker who was denied an abortion in Texas in 1969.
4. A nation lying deep in the Middle East called Iraq is the seat for many conflicts
throughout recent history.
5. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes because of Hurricane Katrina alone,
and it will happen again if they move back.
6. Dog waste should be picked up.
7. Evacuation of all properties should be made prior to flooding of either the north or
south causeways leaving New Smyrna Beach.
Use Strong, Precise Verbs
Lesson 14: Help! My Verb Is Drowning!

Many writers of all ages make a common mistake. They mistreat their verbs. In fact,
they treat them so badly they turn them into nouns, which can sometimes make the
sentence unintelligible and boring. Specific verbs can make a sentence seem vital.
Here’s an example of an active verb (organize) being pummeled into a boring noun:
The organization of the picnic is Rudy’s job.
Who is organizing this picnic? Rudy. But it doesn’t seem as if he’s really doing anything.
Here’s another try:
Organizing the picnic is Rudy’s job.
That’s a little better. At least it sounds as though something is happening. Organizing,

in that sentence, is a gerund. A gerund is a word that uses an "--ing" ending but is no
longer a verb; it is acting as a noun (in this case, the subject of the
sentence). Grammar neophytes may mistake it for a verb, but it isn’t
one, and Rudy—who is supposed to be organizing the event—is still
separated from organizing. Again:
It is Rudy’s job to organize the picnic.
We’re getting there. We’ve moved to an infinitive (to + a verb: to

organize). But we can do better:
Rudy will organize the picnic.
Can you hear Rudy sighing with relief? We finally got it right. Rudy,
the subject, is finally doing the verb (will organize).
You will notice two positive things when you change a noun into a verb: You
generally use fewer words, and you change the sentence from passive to active. (See
lesson 12.) This makes your writing easier to understand.
Lawyers and businesses often utilize a kind of writing that disembowels excellent
verbs, leaving them as panting, pathetic, powerless nouns, but you don’t have to. Avoid
this kind of unintelligible writing. Make yours come alive.
Exercise 14
Below are some nouns. Write the verb form of the word next to each noun. The first ones are
done for you.
Then fix the following sentences; locate the subject and use an action verb. The first one is
done for you. Each correct answer is worth 5 points.
examination—examine preparedness—prepare
prediction- acknowledgment-
hibernation- confirmation-
decision- circulation-
appearance- realization-
communication- discernment-
advancements- acquisition-
1. It is the prediction of this committee that the float will be a failure. Fixed: The
committee predicts that the float will be a failure.
2. The implementation of the fundraiser is still awaiting authorization from the principal.
3. The realization that I would finally own a parrot was exciting.
4. Defenestration is prohibited.
5. The establishment of the carnival committee will be enhanced by the creation of
guidelines.
6. The success of the cross-country bicycle race depends entirely upon the utilization of a
safety team.
7. In a healthy person, the circulation of the blood is uninhibited by clots, plaque, or bad
cholesterol.
8. Our low price includes the replacing of the pads and the machining of the rotors.
9. Through careful observation and experimentation, Harvey clearly demonstrated the
circulation of the blood in 1628. (from Biology for Christian Schools, published by BJU)
Are those sentences hard to understand? That’s what happens when writers change
strong verbs into nouns. If you have to read a sentence four times before you
understand it, someone wrote it incorrectly.
Keep using those great verbs. Make them strong. Make them move the sentence
along. Your writing will be more concise and easier to understand.
For more fun breathing life into boring sentences, click here.
Lesson 15: A Man Came into the Room Quickly

Okay, so you’ve been taught in school to use adverbs; you know, those “—ly” words.
I’m here to tell you to use them sparingly.
You could write
A man came into the room quickly.
and that might be true, but your writing will be cleaner and have more punch if you use
strong, precise verbs instead of propping up your weak verbs with adverbs.
How about using these active verbs instead?
A man strode into the room.
A man charged into the room.
Both give the idea of entering quickly, but they are more precise and give readers a
better view of the man and how he entered the room.
Exercise 15
Now you try it. Make a list of at least five strong, precise, active verbs for each blank below.
The short man _____________________ into the room.
The fat man ________________________into the room.
The little boy ____________________________ into the room.
A young woman ___________________________ into the room.
When to Use “I” or “Me”
Lesson 16: The Moon Shone High for You and I

Song lyrics are notorious for misusing I and me. Here’s what I mean:
I gaze into the starry sky

And dream each night of you and I.
This corny yet grammatical travesty happens so often that it barely scratches our ears
any more.
You already know when to use I and me in sentences:
I went to the movie and spilled my drink all over me.
The problem occurs when you are not alone, when you spill your drink on yourself
and your friend. Do you use I? Do you use me?
Here's an example of the problem and how NOT to do it:
Emily and me went to the movie, and I spilled my drink all over her and I.
Whoa! With that sentence, we are not enjoying the movie or the grammar!
Rule of thumb: When trying to figure out whether to use I or me with the word and,
cross out the extra person.
If you would use I alone, use I with the extra person. If you would use me alone, use
me with the extra person. If I went to the movie, then Emily and I went to the movie, like
this:
Emily and I went to the movie, and I spilled my drink all over her and me.
Emily and I went to the movie, and I spilled my drink all over her and me.
[I went to the movie and spilled all over me.]
Of course, you could just write, "We went to the movie, and I spilled my drink all
over us," but then we wouldn't be having this little discussion, now would we.
Incidentally, notice that Emily comes before I. You always put the other person first.
Please, please, I’m begging you, don’t say, “Me and Emily went to the movie,” or “I and
Emily loved it.”
So, back to those terrible song lyrics, here goes . . .
I gaze into the starry sky

And dream each night of you and (I, me).
Take out the extra person. You wouldn’t say, “And dream each night of I.” You
would say, “And dream each night of me.” It becomes . . .
And dream each night of you and me.
. . . which, of course, does not rhyme with sky, which was the origin of our problem.
Exercise 16
Correct the following sentences. Only one of them is correct as it stands. Mark it with a “C.”
1. Me and Molly took pictures of each other in Hawthorne Park yesterday.
2. I and my neighbor’s dog Ruff love to play Frisbee together.
3. Jessica is a tremendous painter. When she and me get together, we’re even better.
4. My brother and I have to clean our bedroom this weekend.
5. Some have described the Bible as God’s love letter to you and I.
6. Emil and me are going to watch all the Star Wars movies tomorrow—in French!
7. Joaquin says he won’t come to our party until he gets an invitation from you and I.
8. We make a great team, you and me!
9. How many miles do you think Jamie and me will run before we collapse?
10. Email your senior pictures to Val and I before Friday.
Subject/Verb Agreement
Lesson 17: And/Or

Compound subjects can be a little tricky. When do you use a singular verb? When do
you use a plural one?
The sentence below contains a compound subject. Because the subjects are connected
with the word and, it is considered plural. You'll use a plural verb:
Nikki and Emily own that car. They share it between them.
You can substitute they for Nikki and Emily. The subject is plural.
However, subjects connected with the words or and nor are treated a little
differently. To determine if the verb should be singular or plural, look at the subject to
the right of the word or or nor. If the subject is singular, then the verb and pronoun will
be singular, like this:
The twins or Emily takes her dog to the vet today.
If the subject to the right of the word or or nor is plural, then the verb and pronoun
will be plural, like this:
Emily or the twins take their dog to the vet today.
To sum up:
 Compound subject with the word and = plural verb and plural pronoun
 Subjects linked with the word or or nor = Look at the noun after the word
or or nor. If that noun is singular, then your verb and pronoun are singular.
If the noun is plural, then your verb and pronoun are plural.
Singular Plural
Bob or Larry sings his silly song. Bob and Larry sing their silly song.
Marla or Karla takes her test tomorrow. Marla and Karla take their test tomorrow.
Either the crows or John makes more noise. Either John or the crows make more noise.
Neither the guys nor Starla plans well. Neither Starla nor the guys plan well.
Exercise 17
Determine if the verb or pronoun should be singular or plural. Then circle or underline the
correct verb or pronoun in the parentheses. Each set of correctly marked parentheses is worth
7.7 points.
1. Jane and Sue waited for (her, their) mother.
2. Did Luke or David bring (his, their) joke book?
3. Either Bill or the twins usually (sit, sits) there.
4. Either Ricky or Lucy (makes, make) me laugh every time.
5. Neither you nor the foggy drizzle (depresses, depress) me today.
6. Did Julie or Sarah forget (her, their) homework?
7. Aubrey and Stephanie (graduates, graduate) this year.
8. Either Tanya or Liz (brush, brushes) (her, their) hair fifty times each night.
9. Have you given either the dogs or Jonathon (his, their) supper?
10. The girls and Brian (loves, love) black flames on silver cars.
11. Neither the phones nor the washer (is, are) working.
12. The pine trees and the beach (gives, give) this area a sense of serenity.
Lesson 18: The Main Source of Complaints

In lesson 17, you learned the complexities of the words or and nor and their effect on the
verb. In this lesson, you’ll learn about something that should not affect the verb.
Here it is: Words between the subject and the verb (intervening phrases or clauses)
do not affect the number of a verb. Here’s the sentence in question:
The main source of complaints (is, are) the new updates.
And here’s the problem: The main source is singular, but complaints is plural. So, is the
verb singular or plural?
And here’s what you do to figure out this conundrum: Cross out phrases or clauses
between the subject and the verb, like this . . .
The main source of complaints (is, are) the new updates.
Now it’s a snap to see that the verb should be is because you can zero in on the real
subject (the main source). Now, both subject and verb are singular:
The main source . . . is . . .
Most of the time, the intervening words are really prepositional phrases. If you are
solid with prepositions, your job will be much easier.
Exercise 18
Now you try it. Cross out the prepositional phrases and other intervening phrases in these
sentences and then circle the correct verb. Correct answers are worth 5 points each.
1. A common sight on city buses (is, are) shopping bags in the aisles.
2. Fashions are dictated to us by ads, commercials, and stores, the ignorance of
which (bring, brings) swift disapproval.
3. Not one of the seniors (is, are) decided about future plans.
4. Everyone in the stands (eat, eats) a hot dog to support the team.
5. Neither of these answers (is, are) correct.
6. Both of the cars (need, needs) a tune-up.
7. Only one of the members (is, are) at the meeting.
8. Many of our shelter pet animals (goes, go) to loving homes.
9. The cost of new cars (are, is) high.
10. One of my friends (have, has) the flu.
11. Every one of the reports (is, are) due today.
12. Several of the games (were, was) cancelled.
13. The sight of the rollercoasters (is, are) exhilarating.
14. Not one of the delicate glass swans (have, has) been broken.
15. The last of the assignments (is, are) complete.
16. Nobody, not even my best friends, (realizes, realize) the troubles I have with
grammar.
17. Each of the runners (have, has) a bottle of water.
18. My headaches over that irritating rooster’s crowing (is, are) many.
19. However, the enjoyment of my country songs (make, makes) up for the rooster
problem.
20. The course, as well as the tests, (is, are) confusing.
Lesson 19: Indefinite Pronouns

What you’ll learn in this lesson is what gives grammar a bad name. You think you’ve
learned the rule, then—bam!—along comes an exception. Stick with me. I think we can
get through this together.
In the last lesson, you learned that the intervening phrases or clauses (most of them
were prepositional phrases) do not affect the verb. You learned to cross out the phrases
and look for the true subject so you could figure out if the verb should be singular or
plural.
I’m here to tell you that some subjects are not like that. You can’t tell by looking at
them whether they are singular or plural. You have to take into account the words
between the subject and the verb. Take heart. We’re talking about only a few special
words here.
Those words are all, any, more, most, some, none, and such. They get different treatment
when they are the subjects of a sentence, at least when you are trying to figure out if the
verb should be singular or plural. These words are called indefinite pronouns.
When an indefinite pronoun is the subject of a sentence, the verb will be determined
by the intervening phrase or clause. This tactic is the opposite of what you learned in
lesson 18. So, instead of crossing out the intervening prepositional phrases, pay
attention to them when they follow indefinite pronouns, like this:
Some of the money is counterfeit. [Money is thought of as one unit.]
Some of the tickets are too expensive. [The tickets are separate units.]
Most of the country is experiencing a drought. [one part of a country]
Most of the countries want to sign the agreement. [a number of separate countries]
All of my food tastes a little off today. [Food is singular, thought of as one unit.]
All of my meals taste a little funny to me. [Meals is plural, something that can be
counted.]
None of the exotic spice is too hot. [Spice is singular]
None of the hot foods are too hot for me. [Foods is plural.]
None of the emperor penguins was ill. [meaning not one]
None of the emperor penguins were ill. [meaning not any]
Some grammar books consider the word none always to be singular. You may want
to adopt that strategy as well.
Exercise 19
Now that you know how tricky indefinite pronouns can be, circle the correct verb in the
parentheses. Each correct answer is worth 10 points.
1. All of the emergency workers (agrees, agree) that trying to find the real accident victim on
the zombie movie sound stage was almost impossible.
2. Some of the candy bars in my stash (has, have) mysteriously disappeared.
3. Most of the money (is, are) yours.
4. Some of the “unretouched” photos (appears, appear) to have been enhanced.
5. Because of the tornado, all of the students (was, were) crouched down in the halls.
6. None of those who ate Kaylee’s blue-ribbon pie (was, were) admitting it. [None in this case
means not one.]
7. Most of the snowmen (is, are) melted.
8. All of life (is, are) not roses.
9. Only some of the trees (was, were) burned in the fire.
10. All of the salt (clump, clumps) together in this humidity.
Word Usage
Lesson 20: It’s/Its Confusing

It's easy to mix up certain words that sound the same when you write the first draft of
your assignment, especially when its due date is fast approaching!
So, let's talk about it's and its.

It's = it is. It's a contraction for it is.
Its—without the apostrophe—is a possessive pronoun.
But don't possessives get apostrophes? "The dog's bone" and "the parrot's scream"
both show how nouns that possess something use apostrophes. The bone belongs to the
dog; the scream belongs to the parrot.
Here’s the crazy thing: Pronouns do not use apostrophes when they are possessive.
Examples: hers, yours, ours, theirs, whose, and its.
The only time it's is correct is when you can take it apart and say, "It is." If you can't
take it apart in your sentence and say, "It is," (and have it make sense) then do not use
an apostrophe.
Examine the infographic on the next page and then complete exercise 19. For a PDF
of the graphic, click here.
Exercise 20
Circle the correct words in each sentence. Each correct answer is worth 7 points.
1. ( It’s Its ) not a secret.
2. ( It’s Its ) easy to fall off this cliff because ( it’s its ) trail runs too close to the edge.
3. ( You’re Your ) not really going to eat that, are you?
4. ( You’re Your ) stomach will revolt if you ride the Tilt-O-Wheel after eating three chili
dogs.
5. ( You’re Your ) experience at the theme park will be better if ( you’re your ) not sick on
the rides.
6. They really want to eat ( they’re their there ) chili dogs anyway.
7. The Lambert Stone Crushers’ Chess Club has ( they’re their there ) meet tomorrow;
(they’re their there ) going to walk all over the Humbolt Honeybees.
8. ( They’re Their There ) is every reason to believe ( they’re their there )

going to win ( they’re their there ) trophy back.
9. ( Who’s Whose ) dog has been chewing my shoes?
10. ( Who’s Whose ) the clown in the purple polka-dot suit?
Lesson 21: Where Did You Learn That At?

This lesson is filled with some of the oddities and complexities of using our English
words. You’ll even find one mistake many screenwriters make. How many times have I
spoken the correct word to the TV when I hear the wrong one?
Keep reading. It’s in here.
Where at
Let’s begin with where at.
Using the word at after the word where is incorrect. First, it’s redundant. Next, it’s
unnecessary. Finally, it makes you sound uneducated.
Avoid this: Great jeans. Where did you get them at?
Use this: Great jeans. Where did you get them?
Avoid this: I want to go to Tanya's party. Where's it at?
Use this: I want to go to Tanya's party. Where is it?
I used to think where at was a Midwest problem, but I’ve heard it in California,
Oregon, Florida, New York, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and, well, everywhere.
Hung/Hanged
If you’re hanging an object such as a picture, use hung:
Before I opened my detective agency, I hung my diploma on the wall.
If you’re hanging a person, use hanged:
I found out what happened to my ancestor. He was hanged at dawn for cattle thieving.
Between/Among
Use between when you are writing about only two people or things, like this:
Divide this popcorn between the Push-Me-Pull-You and the Great White Snail.
Use among when you are writing about three or more people or things, like this:
There was no great respect shown among Curly, Larry, and Moe.
Nauseous/nauseated
This is the mistake so many screenwriters make:
That makes me feel nauseous.
No! If something is nauseous, it makes you feel sick to the stomach. It is gross, awful,
fetid, and able to make you queasy, like this:
I followed the nauseous scent and found a dead squirrel near the path.
Use nauseated when you want to describe how you or others feel:
I felt nauseated after I saw how close to the cliff my car had landed.
OR
Because of the troubled seas, the ship’s nurse was busy with many nauseated
passengers.
English is a living language and morphs with use. Alas, if enough writers misuse
nauseous, the mistake will pass into common usage. Then either word will be correct
when describing how people feel. But until then, I can only hope.
Don’t even get me started on healthy and healthful.
Cite/site/sight
Homophones are words that sound the same as each other but are spelled differently,
like peace and piece. They are easy to confuse with each other.
This section focuses on one such set of words: cite, site, and sight.
Cite Cite means observe, note, point out, refer to, or quote.
Mr. Thompson cites the fact that the word nauseous is misused by more
screenwriters than any other word.
In speeches, many presidents cite passages from the Bible.
Mom cited my dirty bedroom as the reason I couldn’t have a pet.
Cite can also mean to summon to appear in court, like this:
Bruce Wayne was cited for a traffic violation.
While we’re on the topic of citing, as in when you cite your sources in an essay,
here’s a word that is always capitalized: Internet.
Site Site means a location or place.
The site of the battle is over that hill and to your left.
The city is going to build a new sports stadium near the site of the old fireworks factory.
Sight Sight is related to the sense of vision or the ability to see.
Fifi’s broken leg was a sorry sight.
Exercise 21
Circle the correct word in each parentheses. Each correct answer is worth 8.3 points.
1. If you ever visit the Holy Land, you can view the (cite, site, sight) where Samson had his
eyes gouged out and lost his (cite, site, sight).
2. I just learned how to (cite, site, sight) my sources in my essays. [Incidentally, you can
learn how to do that here if you’re in high school and here if you’re in junior high. No
joke.]
3. When I came across the (nauseous, nauseated) sneakers and rotting food under my
brother’s bed, I felt (nauseous, nauseated).
4. Jonas stepped into the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, a full-scale replica of the
original Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and felt caught (between, among) the fast-paced
modern era and a slower one.
5. The contest (between, among) the five of us in the geo-caching group came down to this
question about the treasure: (Where’s it at? , Where is it?)
6. Viewers of the historical movie watched a man being (hung, hanged), and the (cite, site,
sight) made more than a few (nauseous, nauseated).
7. If you had to choose (between, among) having your teeth, eyesight, or skin corrected,
which would you choose?
Titles
Lesson 22: Italics or Quotation Marks in Titles

Titles get special attention. You’ll put some of them in italics and others inside
quotation marks. But how do you know which treatment to use?
Here’s the general rule: Shorter works and parts of works use quotation marks.
Longer works and whole works use italics. Keep reading to get the full scoop.
Italics Titles of books, plays, long poems and essays, magazines, newspapers, movies,
TV shows, works of art, and even ships are italicized:
Book The Martian Chronicles
Play Our Town
Long poem Paradise Lost
Long essay Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal
Magazine Archaeology
Newspaper USA Today
Movie Pride and Prejudice
TV shows Downton Abbey
Work of art Michelangelo’s David
Ship Titanic
When you write those titles out by hand, you will underline them. When you type
them, remove the underlining and italicize them.
An exception: The title of a series is not italicized. Notice in the example below that the
title of the Narnia series, Chronicles of Narnia, is not italicized. However, the title of a
particular book in that series is.
I’ve read all the Chronicles of Narnia books, but my favorite one
is The Magician’s Nephew.
A quirk: When a whole sentence has to be italicized, the title you normally would
italicize reverts to normal font. In the example sentence below, the title of the textbook
The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School would be italicized, but
because the whole sentence is italicized, the title’s font is normalized. This serves to set
it apart:
This lesson is taken from The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School.
Quotation marks Titles of chapters, short stories, normal-length poems and essays,
magazine or newspaper articles, Internet articles, episodes on TV shows, and songs are
set off in quotation marks:
Chapter “Still Knitting” from A Tale of Two Cities

Short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
Article “Selecting Safe Pets” from Family Fun magazine
TV episode “Where No Mouse Has Gone Before” from Pinky and the Brain
Song “Jesus Loves Me”
Exception: If the title of the chapter is just Chapter 1, don’t put it in quotation marks. In
fact, some say you don’t even have to capitalize the word chapter when referring to it in,
say, an essay or literary analysis.
And just so you know, the title of any essays you write for school do not get
quotation marks at the top of your essay, but they do get them when you refer to them
elsewhere.
Exercise 22
Review the proofreading marks in lesson 1. Then use the correct proofreading marks to insert
quotation marks around titles or to italicize titles in the following sentences.
There are 21 possible correct answers. Each correct answer is worth 5 points.
1. Your World, our local newspaper, is a great source of grammar mistakes.
2. Did you like The Fellowship of the Rings or The Two Towers more?
3. I used to think My Sweet Lord by John Lennon could be about Jesus until I heard the chant at
the end. Then I knew it wasn’t!
4. The scene in which Satan tempts Eve in the epic poem Paradise Lost is tremendously
fascinating.
5. Did you know that the short story The Lottery has been made into a movie?
6. The Star Trek movie The Undiscovered Country is taken from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
Have you seen the TV episode Great Caesar’s Ghost?
7. When I want a challenge, I’ll turn on the TV and watch Jeopardy.
8. I love to read Bilbo’s encounter with the dragon Smaug in the chapter Inside Information
from The Hobbit.
9. I subscribe to Writer’s Digest magazine. I especially liked the article titled Will Write for
Food.
10. Carl Sandburg wrote the tiny poem Fog; he also wrote the book The Fiery Trial, a story of
families caught in the Civil War.
11. Henry David Thoreau’s long essay titled Civil Disobedience was a favorite of protesters
participating in sit-ins in the 1960s.
12. I have heard Rockapella sing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? in person as well as
on the PBS show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
13. John Elder Robison’s book Look Me in the Eye was inspired by the chapter He Was Raised
without a Proper Diagnosis in his brother’s book.
Lesson 23: Capitalize on Your Essay Titles

The title of your essay or report is the first thing readers see, and it helps them decide
whether they want to keep reading.
So make it interesting.
Instead of "A Biography of Hans Christian Andersen," try something catchy like "The
Original Ugly Duckling." When writing about online predators, use a tantalizing title
like "Beware of Sharks." When writing your opinion of fast food, try "Do You Want
Fries with That?"
Here are some really boring rules about titles that you probably should know:
 After you type your heading at the top left of the page (name, due date, name of
assignment), hit Enter twice and then center your title.
 Do not type your title all in capital letters.
 Do not underline your essay’s title or put "quotation marks" around
it. However, if you refer to your title somewhere else, like in another
essay, then it gets quotation marks.
 Capitalize all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and
subordinating conjunctions (as, that, because). Exception: Do not
capitalize the word to in infinitives, as in "How to Cook Possum."
Exception to the to rule: If to is the first word of the title, capitalize it, as
in To Kill a Mockingbird.
 Do not capitalize articles (the, and, a), coordinating conjunctions (see
lesson 3), and short prepositions.
 Always capitalize the first word and last word of the title, even if it is a small and
insignificant word like the.
 There is some debate about prepositions. {Really? With all the things wrong in the
world, we’re arguing about prepositions?} Some say if the preposition is five or more
letters long, like around, then capitalize it. Others say to only capitalize it if the word is
stressed, as in A River Runs Through It. Ask your teacher how to handle prepositions in
titles.
 After typing your perfect title, hit Enter again and begin typing your essay, double-
spaced. (See lesson 1.)
Exercise 23
In lesson 1, you learned that a forward slash through a capital letter means to make the letter
lower case. Underlining a letter three times means to make that letter capital.
Use your proofreading marks to correct these messed-up titles. I’ve included the names of the
authors for your reference. Each correct title is worth 10 points.
Note: These titles usually would be in italics, but for this exercise, we’re leaving them in normal
font. They are easier to correct this way.
1. Till we have Faces (C. S. Lewis)
2. Joseph Conrad: tales Of The land and The Sea
3. Earth is room Enough (Isaac Asimov)
4. A Connecticut yankee in king Arthur’s Court (Mark Twain)
5. The Gift Of The Magi and other short stories (O. Henry)
6. Except for me and thee (Jessamyn West)
7. The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket (Edgar Allan Poe)
8. The bridge of san Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder)
9. And then there were None (Agatha Christie)
10. The Incredulity of father Brown (G. K. Chesterton)
Answers
Exercise 1.1
Look at the paragraphs about the communes and answer the following questions. Use a
colorful pen to make your marks easier to locate.
1. Find one instance where something was deleted. Now make the proofreading mark to
delete this: x
2. Find one place where something was converted to a capital letter by a proofreading
mark. Now use the proofreading mark to make the name of this park capital:
banff national park.
3. Find where the word “form” is changed to the word “from.” See how the up-and-down
movement switches or transposes the two middle letters? Now use that same mark to
transpose the end punctuation in the following sentence. The period should be inside
the end quotation mark:
Gabriel said, “You really should wear pink to the game” .
4. Find one place where something is added. Now add the word “his” where needed to the
following sentence:
his
Nothing in remarks convinced me to wear pink to the game.
Exercise 1.2
On the next page are two paragraphs about John Newton that really need your help. Please use
a colorful pen and the proofreading marks to make corrections. Correct, add, and delete as
necessary. Note: You do not put quotation marks around the title of your own essay.
V
Incidentally, the caret can be the V right-side-up or inverted. It depends on how much
space you have and what you are inserting. For instance, commas always use an inverted caret.
Exercise 2
Read the letter to the editor on the next page completely through one time to get an idea of
what this teen is trying to convey to her audience. Then get out a colorful pen and proofread
the letter. Use correct proofreading marks. Help this gal express her message more clearly.
By the way, there are many correct ways to fix this letter. The way you edit it may be different
from the way a friend edits it. Edit for clarity, conciseness, punctuation, word usage, and so on.
Exercise 3
In numbers 1-7, write the coordinating conjunctions.
In numbers 8-20, read each sentence carefully and find the conjunction. If it is a true compound
sentence with a coordinating conjunction, place the comma correctly. If it is not a compound
sentence, leave the comma out.
Use carets to insert commas where needed. Each correct answer below is worth 5 points.
1. But
2. Or
3. Yet
4. For
5. And
6. Nor
7. So
8. I love to play the tuba and will enter the Oompah Contest next week. No comma needed.
“And” is joining two verbs (“play” and “will enter”).
9. Seymour fed the dogs, but he forgot to tell his mom.
10. Doctors study ethics, for they make many life-and-death decisions every day.
11. Jason doesn’t know if he will write a letter of complaint to the NFL about the godaddy.com
commercials or simply e-mail a short note. No comma needed. “Or” is joining two predicates
(“will write” and “e-mail”).
12. He fixed a peanut butter sandwich for me so I wouldn’t faint during my comma quiz. No
comma needed. A silent “that” can be added after “so.” This is mentioned as one of the
exceptions in the infographic but will be emphasized more in the next lesson.
13. The costume designer shopped all day yet did not find the right material for Anna’s and
Elsa’s dresses. No comma needed. “Yet” is joining two predicates (“shopped” and “did not
find”).
14. Jeremy loves to read The Three Musketeers, but he refuses to watch the movies.
15. Johnny Depp bought a private island for his family in 2004 because he wanted them to have
a safe haven. No comma needed. “Because” is not a coordinating conjunction; it is a
subordinating conjunction.
16. I quit gardening, for I couldn’t stand the worms and fat grubs.
17. I quit gardening because I couldn’t stand the worms and fat grubs. No comma needed.
“Because” is not a coordinating conjunction.
18. The soles on my new sneakers are flapping, so I bought a new pair.
19. Write your essay this week and hand it in by Friday. No comma needed. In this imperative
sentence, the coordinating conjunction “and” is joining two verbs (“write” and “hand”).
20. Castaway uses no music while the main character Chuck Noland is deserted on the island,
and I didn’t even notice!
Exercise 4
Read each sentence carefully. Determine if you should keep the comma or delete it based on
your new knowledge of “so” and “so that.” Use the caret to insert any commas. Use the delete
proofreading sign to take out any commas that are incorrect.
One sentence is correct. Mark it with a “C.”
Each sentence you edit or mark correctly is worth 10 points.
1. Keep yourself healthy this winter season, so that you may give of yourself to others.
2. My dog disobeyed, so I will have to watch that video by Caesar Milan again. Correct as
stands. Two independent clauses connected with “so” as the coordinating conjunction.
3. I could not understand my cousin from Germany, so I had to hire an interpreter.
4. Jen watched TV all night, so she wouldn’t have to do her homework.
5. Selma sat on the very edge of the chair. She had to, so her feet would reach the floor.
6. Liz traveled in November, so she could audition for an orchestra.
7. Lindsey enjoys playing guitar, so other teens can worship God.
8. “Apples, schmapples,” said Anna. “I only pick them, so I can earn enough money to
attend college.”
9. The choreography enchanted Marianne, so she practiced it to perfection.
10. The Phantom of the Opera spun an invisible web around a young woman, so he might
own her.
Exercise 5
Below you’ll find a few sentences on coordinating conjunctions from lesson 3, “so that” versus
“so” from lesson 4, and correlative conjunctions from this lesson.
Correct them by placing a comma where needed or deleting an unnecessary comma. Use your
proofreading marks. If the sentence is correct as it stands, mark it with a “C.”
Seven of the sentences are correct, if that helps. Each sentence you edit or mark correctly is
worth 5 points.
1. Not only did Landon send her flowers at work but he sent her candy, as well. Correct. No
comma needed with the correlative conjunction “not only/but {also}.” “As well,” in this
case is equivalent to “also.”
2. Either you drive this car across the bridge, or I’m going to slam my foot on the
accelerator and force us across. Correlative conjunction “either/or.”
3. We value your opinion, and truly appreciate your business. Compound verbs “value” and
“appreciate,” not a compound sentence.
4. Neither the faucet worked, nor did the water fountain. Correlative conjunction
“neither/nor.”
5. Alex wrote a note to himself, and put it on his dashboard; otherwise, he would forget to
pick up his mother. Compound verbs “wrote” and “put,” not a compound sentence.
6. Not only did the hurricane displace thousands of people but it also shut down hundreds
of businesses. Correct. Correlative conjuction “not only/but also,” not a compound
sentence.
7. Roberto did the written assignment, and handed it in two days before it was due.
Compound verbs “did” and “handed,” not a compound sentence.
8. You may either email me, or you may call me. Correlative conjunction “either/or.”
9. Bianca’s health has improved since she began doing daily exercises. Correct. “Since” is a
subordinating conjunction and needs no comma.
10. Bianca’s health has improved because she began doing daily exercises. Correct. Ditto
with “because.”
11. Bianca’s health has improved , for she began doing daily exercises. Two independent
clauses connected with the coordinating conjunction “for.”
12. Not only did Liz sneak in late, but she also lied about it to her mother the next morning.
Correlative conjunction “not only/but also.”
13. Bees have helped humans for years, and live everywhere on earth but the North and
South Poles. Compound verbs “have helped” and “live,” not a compound sentence.
14. The picture clearly showed your feet , but your head was cut off. Two independent
clauses connected with the coordinating conjunction “but.”
15. I can only hope that you will not only sneeze into a tissue, but you will throw it away,
too. Correlative conjunction “not only/but also,” not a compound sentence.
16. My mother lost her favorite earrings , so I will buy her another pair for her birthday.
Two independent clauses connected with the coordinating conjunction “so.”
17. My mother hid her favorite earrings so I would buy her a new pair. Correct. This “so” is
really a “so that.”
18. Don’t forget to rake the leaves, and clean the garage. Imperative sentence (silent “you”)
with compound verbs “rake” and “clean,” not a compound sentence.
19. I did my homework on Thursday so I could proofread it today. Correct. This “so” is really
a “so that.”
20. I’m going to wash my Colts hat so I can wear it for the big game Sunday. Correct. This
“so” is really a “so that.”
Exercise 6
The following sentences are all comma splices. Fix them by inserting a conjunction or a
semicolon as needed.
If you add nevertheless, furthermore, moreover, consequently, therefore, in fact, or however,

insert a comma after it. Each sentence you edit correctly is worth 12.5 points.
1. First impressions can be misleading; therefore, hasty judgments deserve more scrutiny.
You could use “consequently,” if you wish.
2. The Depression in the 1930s caused much unhappiness in some families; however, others
it brought closer together.
3. Horror movies are not good for children to watch; furthermore, they have an adverse
effect even on adults. You could use “in fact” instead of “furthermore,” if you wish.
4. The painting was not valuable; therefore, the museum offered only five thousand dollars
for it. You could use “in fact” or “consequently,” if you wish, or the conjunction “so.”
5. Many mystery writers have been helpful to the police in real crime cases; in fact, Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle is one prominent example.
6. I saw the cutest puppy at the animal shelter, so I brought him home.
7. New York was our capital at one time; moreover, George Washington was sworn in as
president there. You could use “in fact” instead of “moreover,” if you wish.
8. Dad refused to eat the mushrooms, for he was afraid they were poisonous.
Exercise 7
Insert commas as needed. Use your proofreading marks. (You know, those carets.) Three
sentences are correct as stands. Mark them with a “C.” Each sentence is worth 10 points.
1. James Marshall found gold in a river at Sutter’s Mill on January 24 , 1848, in California.
2. Few caught the fever, however, until President James Polk stated in his inaugural address in
December 1848 that there was an “abundance of gold.” Correct. No additional comma needed.
3. Poe’s short story “The Gold-Bug” takes place on Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina, and is not
about the Gold Rush. It’s about a man being bitten by what he thinks is a gold-colored bug.
4. In fact, it was published in June 1843 and predates the Gold Rush. Correct. No additional
comma needed.
5. Jack London was born January 12, 1876, and wrote of the Klondike Gold Rush in his popular
book The Call of the Wild.
6. On July 12, 1897, Jack London sailed from San Francisco, California, to try to find gold in the
Klondike.
7. He lived in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, for almost a year as he searched for gold. There he
developed scurvy and lost some of his front teeth to the disease.
8. The Call of the Wild was first published in August 1903. Correct. No additional comma
needed.
9. On another topic entirely, the Titanic departed Southampton, England, Wednesday, April 10,
1912, on its unsuccessful voyage to New York City, New York.
10. On yet another topic, the Smiths moved into their new home at 24 Wistful Vista,
Hollywood, California, on August 21, 1987, and moved out in December of 1999.
Exercise 8
Use the proofreading caret to insert commas where needed. Each sentence is worth 10 points.
1. Henry, I am very interested in electricity and galvanism.
2. You mean, Doctor Frankenstein, the belief that organisms can be reanimated after
death?
3. Yes, my friend, that is exactly what I mean.
4. But where will you find dead people to reanimate, Victor?
5. I have a plan, dear Henry, but you probably won’t like it.
6. Will it land you in prison, bold sir, if you continue with your plan?
7. Most likely. On the other hand, if it is never found out, I will have obtained eternal glory
for myself, esteemed colleague.
8. I will keep your secret, dear Victor. I do wish, though, that the gratification of your
wishes may not be a serpent to sting you.
9. Thank you, Henry. Now it is getting late. I must visit the dissecting room, the
slaughterhouse, and, oh yes, the graveyard.
10. Dearest Victor, I believe any man you reanimate will be filled with gratitude toward you
for this second chance at life.
Note: Part of sentence 8 is taken directly from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Exercise 9
Use your new powers of punctuation to correct these sentences. Only one sentence is correct
as it stands.
Use correct proofreading marks. This one will come in handy (as in “switch these around” or
“transpose”): The first one is done for you. Each sentence is worth 12.5 points.
1. Roxanne promised, “I’ll go to the party with you”. However, she sent her sister instead.
In other words, the period goes inside the end quotation marks, like this: “I’ll go to the
party with you.”
2. You must admit one thing about deliveries marked “rush order; ” they eventually arrive.
Semicolon goes on the outside of the end quotation mark.
3. Someone stole her books, her magazines, and her file labeled “How to do a triple Lutz” .
Period goes on the inside of the end quotation mark.
4. The first story Mark Twain ever wrote, “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” , was an
instant success. Comma goes on the inside of the end quotation mark.
5. I just read Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fog ; ” I’ve never thought before of fog as a stealthy
cat. Semicolon goes outside the end quotation mark.
6. Uncle Art looked up and snapped, “It’s time you learned to be accurate”; then he went
back to checking the columns of figures. Correct.
7. I answered, “That’s very good of you ” , but I didn’t mean it. Comma goes inside the end
quotation mark.
8. I had to look up these words from the poem “The Bells : ” tintinnabulation, euphony,
and expostulation. Colon goes outside the end quotation mark.
Exercise 10
The following sentences are real dialog from the original Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice
Burroughs. However, they are missing some punctuation and quotation marks. Fill them in
correctly according to what you just learned from the infographic. Use proofreading marks.
The first one is done for you. Note the circle around the period. Using it helps you spot your
lonely addition on the end. Each correct sentence is worth 7 points.
”
1. “Close and bolt the door, Alice , cried Clayton. “I can finish this fellow with my axe . ”
2. “Back, Alice, ”shouted Clayton , “for God’s sake, go back !

”
3. “Come back to me ,
” she whispered. “I shall wait for you—always . ”
”
4. “Mercy, Mr. Philander
, interrupted the girl. “ I never can remember so many questions .”
5. Jane asked, “ Where is the forest man who went to rescue you? Why did he not return? ”
6. “What are you Tarzan? ”he asked aloud . “An ape or a man?
”
7. “Then you knew your mother, Tarzan ?” asked D’Arnot.
8. “Yes. She was a great, fine ape, larger than I, ”replied Tarzan , “and weighing twice as much . ”
9. “Oh, I beg your pardon! ”she exclaimed, pausing on the threshold. “I thought you were alone, papa .”
10. “What shall I call you ?” she asked . “What is your name ?”
”
11. “I was Tarzan of the Apes when you first knew me , he said.
12. “Tarzan of the Apes! ”she cried . “And that was your note I answered when I left? ”
”
13. “This is not an African jungle , she said . “You are no longer a savage beast. You are a gentleman,
and gentlemen do not kill in cold blood . ”
14. “I am still a wild beast at heart, ”

he said, in a low voice, as though to himself.
15. “Jane Porter, ”said the man, at length , “ if you were free, would you marry me ?”
Teacher, they’ll end up looking like this in print:

1. “Close and bolt the door, Alice,” cried Clayton. “I can finish this fellow with my axe.” OR
“Close and bolt the door, Alice!” cried Clayton. “I can finish this fellow with my axe!”
2. “Back, Alice,” shouted Clayton, “for God’s sake, go back!”
3. “Come back to me,” she whispered. “I shall wait for you—always.”
4. “Mercy, Mr. Philander,” interrupted the girl. “I never can remember so many questions.”
5. Jane asked, “Where is the forest man who went to rescue you? Why did he not return?”
6. “What are you Tarzan?” he asked aloud. “An ape or a man?”
7. “Then you knew your mother, Tarzan?” asked D’Arnot.
8. “Yes. She was a great, fine ape, larger than I,” replied Tarzan, “and weighing twice as much.”
9. “Oh, I beg your pardon!” she exclaimed, pausing on the threshold. “I thought you were alone,
papa.”
10. “What shall I call you?” she asked. “What is your name?”
11. “I was Tarzan of the Apes when you first knew me,” he said.
12. “Tarzan of the Apes!” she cried. “And that was your note I answered when I left?”
13. “This is not an African jungle,” she said. “You are no longer a savage beast. You are a
gentleman, and gentlemen do not kill in cold blood.”
14. “I am still a wild beast at heart,” he said, in a low voice, as though to himself.
15. “Jane Porter,” said the man, at length, “if you were free, would you marry me?”
Exercise 11
Using the facts in the infographic, determine where the question marks and exclamation points
should go in the following sentences. The first one is done for you; the question mark is part of
the short story’s title. Each sentence is worth 17 points.
1. Have you ever read Frank Stockton’s short story “The Lady or the Tiger?”
2. Did you know that during the Civil War, the government censored the song “Lorena”?
3. I was mugged yesterday. I couldn’t believe it, but the guy really shouted, “Your money or
your life!”
4. Is it true that Psalm 42:5 is the source of the song “Why so Downcast?”
5. Instead of “you’re welcome,” do you use the phrase “no problem”?
6. Who exclaimed the famous words, “Give me liberty or give me death!”
Exercise 12
Below are sentences that contain active and passive constructions. Put an “A” next to the
active ones and a “P” next to the passive ones. Then rewrite the passive ones and make them
active. (Note: Put a star next to the sentence that is correct as passive.)
1. He was heard by someone from the RCA record label during the concert. P. Someone
from the RCA record label heard him during the concert.
2. Sir James Barrie wrote Peter Pan, the story about a boy who never grows up. A.
3. The astronaut Vladimir Shostakovich was hit in the foot by a meteor while repairing the
space station. P. It is correct as it stands because the astronaut is the important item in
that sentence and should not be buried in the middle of his own sentence. If it were in a
report on meteors, the meteor would be the subject of the sentence: A meteor hit
astronaut Vladimir Shostakovich in the foot while he was repairing the space station.
4. An escape was planned by the pandas in the zoo. P. Zoo pandas planned their escape.
OR Pandas planned their escape from the zoo.
5. The crowbar was dropped by the intruder when he heard the police sirens. P. The
intruder dropped the crowbar when he heard the police sirens.
6. Begin shoveling snow at the start of a snowstorm and you will regret it! A.
7. An injury was sustained in the head by the soccer goalie. P. “The soccer goalie sustained
a head injury” or “The soccer goalie was hit in the head.” The latter sentence remains
passive, but the goalie is more important than who hit him, so he or she remains first in
the sentence.
Exercise 13
The first five sentences below are taken from real students’ papers. The last two are from a
park sign and an informational pamphlet in Florida. Determine the important information in
each sentence.
Move the important stuff to the beginning or end of each sentence, creating either a loose or a
periodic sentence.
Be creative. There are a number of ways these sentences can be fixed. Oops! I mean: These
sentences can be fixed in a number of effective ways. 14.3 points for each sentence.
1. Nicole, at the age of seventeen, found herself unmarried and pregnant. Nicole found
herself unmarried and pregnant at age seventeen. OR At age seventeen, Nicole found
herself unmarried and pregnant.
2. The tensions were considerable that led up to the Civil War. The tensions that led up to
the Civil War were considerable. OR Considerable tensions led to the Civil War.
3. Norma McCorvey (called Jane Roe to conceal her identity) was an unmarried carnival
worker who was denied an abortion in Texas in 1969. Norma McCorvey, a.k.a. Jane Roe,
was an unmarried carnival worker in Texas in 1969 who was denied an abortion. OR
Norma McCorvey, an unmarried carnival worker who was denied an abortion in Texas in
1969, became the famous Jane Roe.
4. A nation lying deep in the Middle East called Iraq is the seat for many conflicts
throughout recent history. Iraq, a nation lying deep in the Middle East, is the seat of
many recent conflicts.
5. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes because of Hurricane Katrina alone,
and it will happen again if they move back. Hundreds of thousands lost their homes
because of Hurricane Katrina, and if they move back, it will happen again.
6. Dog waste should be picked up. You are responsible to pick up your dog’s waste. OR Pick
up your dog’s waste.
7. Evacuation of all properties should be made prior to flooding of either the north or
south causeways leaving New Smyrna Beach. Evacuate New Smyrna Beach by either
causeway before flooding occurs.
Exercise 14
Below are some nouns. Write the verb form of the word next to each noun. The first ones are
done for you.
Then fix the following sentences on a separate piece of paper; locate the subject and use an
action verb. The first one is done for you. Each correct answer is worth 5 points.
examination/examine preparedness/prepare
prediction/predict acknowledgment/acknowledge
hibernation/hibernate confirmation/confirm
decision/decide circulation/circulate
appearance/appear realization/realize
communication/communicate discernment/discern
advancements/advances acquisition/acquire
1. It is the prediction of this committee that the float will be a failure. (Fixed: The
committee predicts that the float will fail [or be a failure or will not work].)
2. The implementation of the fundraiser is still awaiting authorization from the principal.
We are still waiting for the principal to authorize our fundraiser.
3. The realization that I would finally have a parrot was exciting. When I realized I would
finally have a parrot, I was excited. OR I was excited when I realized I would finally have
a parrot.
4. Defenestration is prohibited. Don’t throw anything out the windows, including yourself.
5. The establishment of the carnival committee will be enhanced by the creation of
guidelines. Creating guidelines will establish the carnival committee. OR The carnival
committee could use a few guidelines. OR To establish the carnival committee, create
guidelines.
6. The success of the cross-country bicycle race depends entirely upon the utilization of a
safety team. The cross-country bicycle race will succeed if it uses a safety team.
7. In a healthy person, the circulation of the blood is uninhibited by clots, plaque, or bad
cholesterol. In a healthy person, blood circulates without clots, plaque, or bad
cholesterol.
8. Our low price includes the replacing of the pads and the machining of the rotors. We
replace the pads and machine the rotors for one low price. OR For one low price, we
replace the pads and machine the rotors.
9. Through careful observation and experimentation, Harvey clearly demonstrated the
circulation of the blood in 1628. (from Biology for Christian Schools, published by BJU)
By carefully observing and experimenting, Harvey, in 1628, clearly demonstrated how
blood circulates.
Exercise 15
Now you try it. Make a list of at least five strong, precise verbs for each blank below. Teacher,
below are some possibilities:
The short man marched, trotted, jumped, shouldered his way, slithered, waltzed, spun into the
room.
The fat man wedged his way, moseyed, trod, thrust himself, pushed himself, plodded, plowed
into the room.
The little boy jumped, sprinted, crashed, ran, darted, launched himself, threw himself into the
room.
A young woman shimmered, strode, glided, stumbled, ingratiated herself into the room.
Exercise 16
Correct the following sentences. Only one of them is correct as it stands. Mark it with a “C.”
1. Me and Molly took pictures of each other in Hawthorne Park yesterday. Molly and I took
pictures of each other in Hawthorne Park yesterday.
2. I and my neighbor’s dog Ruff love to play Frisbee together. My neighbor’s dog Ruff and I love
to play Frisbee together.
3. Jessica is a tremendous painter. When she and me get together, we’re even better. Jessica is
a tremendous painter. When she and I get together, we’re even better.
4. My brother and I have to clean our bedroom this weekend. C Correct as stands.
5. Some have described the Bible as God’s love letter to you and I. Some have described the
Bible as God’s love letter to you and me.
6. Emil and me are going to watch all the Star Wars movies tomorrow—in French! Emil and I are
going to watch all the Star Wars movies tomorrow—in French!
7. Joaquin says he won’t come to our party until he gets a personal invitation from you and I.
Joaquin says he won’t come to our party until he gets a personal invitation from you and me.
8. We make a great team, you and me! We make a great team, you and I!
9. How many miles do you think Jamie and me will run before we collapse? How many miles do
you think Jamie and I will run before we collapse?
10. Email your senior pictures to Val and I before Friday. Email your senior pictures to Val and
me before Friday.
Exercise 17
Determine if the verb or pronoun should be singular or plural. Then circle the correct verb or
pronoun in the parentheses. Each set of correctly marked parentheses is worth 7.7 points.
1. Jane and Sue waited for (her, their) mother.

2. Did Luke or David bring (his, their) joke book?
3. Either Bill or the twins usually (sit, sits) there.
4. Either Ricky or Lucy (makes, make) me laugh every time.
5. Neither you nor the foggy drizzle (depresses, depress) me today.
6. Did Julie or Sarah forget (her, their) homework?
7. Aubrey and Stephanie (graduates, graduate) this year.
8. Either Tanya or Liz (brush, brushes) (her, their) hair fifty times each night.
9. Have you given either the dogs or Jonathon (his, their) supper?
10. The girls and Brian (loves, love) black flames on silver cars.
11. Neither the phones nor the washer (is, are) working.
12. The pine trees and the beach (gives, give) this area a sense of serenity.
Exercise 18
Now you try it. Cross out the prepositional phrases and intervening phrases in these sentences
and then circle the correct verb. Correct answers are worth 5 points each.
1. A common sight on city buses (is, are) shopping bags in the aisles.
2. Fashions are dictated to us by ads, commercials, and stores, the ignorance of which (bring,
brings) swift disapproval.
3. Not one of the seniors (is, are) decided about future plans.
4. Everyone in the stands (eat, eats) a hot dog to support the team.
5. Neither of these answers (is, are) correct.
6. Both of the cars (need, needs) a tune-up.
7. Only one of the members (is, are) at the meeting.
8. Many of our shelter pet animals (goes, go) to loving homes.
9. The cost of new cars (are, is) high.
10. One of my friends (have, has) the flu.
11. Every one of the reports (is, are) due today.
12. Several of the games (were, was) cancelled.
13. The sight of the rollercoasters (is, are) exhilarating.
14. Not one of the delicate glass swans (have, has) been broken.
15. The last of the assignments (is, are) complete.
16. Nobody, not even my best friends, (realizes, realize) the troubles I have with grammar.
17. Each of the runners (have, has) a bottle of water.
18. My headaches over that irritating rooster’s crowing (is, are) many.
19. However, the enjoyment of my country songs (make, makes) up for the rooster problem.
20. The course, as well as the tests, (is, are) confusing.
Exercise 19
Now that you know how tricky indefinite pronouns can be, circle the correct verb in the
parentheses. Each correct answer is worth 10 points.
1. All of the emergency workers (agrees, agree) that trying to find the real accident victim on
the zombie movie sound stage was almost impossible.
2. Some of the candy bars in my stash (has, have) mysteriously disappeared.
3. Most of the money (is, are) yours.
4. Some of the “unretouched” photos (appears, appear) to have been enhanced.
5. Because of the tornado, all of the students (was, were) crouched down in the halls.
6. None of those who ate Kaylee’s blue-ribbon pie (was, were) admitting it. [None in this case
means not one.]
7. Most of the snowmen (is, are) melted.
8. All of life (is, are) not roses.
9. Only some of the trees (was, were) burned in the fire.
10. All of the salt (clump, clumps) together in this humidity.
Exercise 20
Circle the correct word to correctly complete each sentence. Each correct answer is worth 7
points.
Teachers, the correct words are in bold.

1. It’s Its not a secret.
2. It’s Its easy to fall off this cliff because it’s its trail runs too close to the edge.
3. You’re Your not really going to eat that, are you?
4. You’re Your stomach will revolt if you ride the Tilt-O-Wheel after eating three chili
dogs.
5. You’re Your experience at the theme park will be better if you’re your
not sick on the rides.
6. They really want to eat they’re their there chili dogs anyway.
7. The Lambert Stone Crushers’ Chess Club has they’re their there meet
tomorrow; they’re their there going to walk all over the Humbolt
Honeybees.
8. They’re Their There is every reason to believe they’re their
there going to win they’re their there trophy back.
9. Who’s Whose dog has been chewing my shoes?
10. Who’s Whose the clown in the purple polka-dot suit?
Exercise 21
Circle the correct word in each parentheses. Each correct answer is worth 8.3 points.
1. If you ever visit the Holy Land, you can view the (cite, site, sight) where Samson had his
eyes gouged out and lost his (cite, site, sight).
2. I just learned how to (cite, site, sight) my sources in my essays. [Incidentally, you can
learn how to do that here if you’re in high school and here if you’re in junior high. No
joke.]
3. When I came across the (nauseous, nauseated) sneakers and rotting food under my
brother’s bed, I felt (nauseous, nauseated).
4. Jonas stepped into the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, a full-scale replica of the
original Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and felt caught (between, among) the fast-paced
modern era and a slower one.
5. The contest (between, among) the five of us in the geo-caching group came down to this
question about the treasure: (Where’s it at? , Where is it?)
6. Viewers of the historical movie watched a man being (hung, hanged), and the (cite, site,
sight) made more than a few (nauseous, nauseated).
7. If you had to choose (between, among) having your teeth, eyesight, or skin corrected,
which would you choose?
Exercise 22
Review the proofreading marks in lesson 1. Then use the correct proofreading marks to insert
quotation marks around titles or to make normal font italicized in the following sentences.
There are 21 possible correct answers. Each correct answer is worth 5 points.
Teacher, the second sentence in each pair is how the sentence looks in print.
1. Your World, our local newspaper, is a great source of grammar mistakes.
-Your World, our local newspaper, is a great source of grammar mistakes.
2. Did you like The Fellowship of the Rings or The Two Towers more?
-Did you like The Fellowship of the Rings or The Two Towers more?
3. I used to think “ My Sweet Lord ” by John Lennon could be about Jesus until I heard the
chant at the end. Then I knew it wasn’t!
-I used to think “My Sweet Lord” by John Lennon could be about Jesus until I heard the chant at
the end. Then I knew it wasn’t!
4. The scene in which Satan tempts Eve in the epic poem Paradise Lost is tremendously
fascinating.
-The scene in which Satan tempts Eve in the epic poem Paradise Lost is tremendously
fascinating.
5. Did you know that the short story “ The Lottery ” has been made into a movie?
-Did you know that the short story “The Lottery” has been made into a movie?
6. The Star Trek movie The Undiscovered Country is taken from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
Have you seen the TV episode “ Great Caesar’s Ghost ” ?
-The Star Trek movie The Undiscovered Country is taken from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Have
you seen the TV episode “Great Caesar’s Ghost”? Note: Star Trek is not capitalized because it is
the name of a series.
7. When I want a challenge, I’ll turn on the TV and watch Jeopardy.

-When I want a challenge, I’ll turn on the TV and watch Jeopardy.
8. I love to read Bilbo’s encounter with the dragon Smaug in the chapter “ Inside Information ”
from The Hobbit.
-I love to read Bilbo’s encounter with the dragon Smaug in the chapter “Inside Information”
from The Hobbit.
9. I subscribe to Writer’s Digest magazine. I especially liked the article titled “ Will Write for
Food. ”
-I subscribe to Writer’s Digest magazine. I especially liked the article titled “Will Write for
Food.”
10. Carl Sandburg wrote the tiny poem “ Fog ” ; he also wrote the book The Fiery Trial, a story
of families caught in the Civil War.
-Carl Sandburg wrote the tiny poem “Fog”; he also wrote the book The Fiery Trial, a story of
families caught in the Civil War.
11. Henry David Thoreau’s long essay titled Civil Disobedience was a favorite of protesters
-Henry David Thoreau’s long essay titled Civil Disobedience was a favorite of protesters
12. I have heard Rockapella sing “ Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? ” in person as well
as on the PBS show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
-I have heard Rockapella sing “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” in person as well as
on the PBS show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
13. John Elder Robison’s book Look Me in the Eye was inspired by the chapter “ He Was Raised
without a Proper Diagnosis ” in his brother’s book.
-John Elder Robison’s book Look Me in the Eye was inspired by the chapter “He Was Raised
without a Proper Diagnosis” in his brother’s book.
Exercise 23
In lesson 1, you learned that a forward slash through a capital letter means to make the letter
lower case. Underlining a letter three times means to make that letter capital.
Use your proofreading marks to correct these messed-up titles. I’ve included the names of the
authors for your reference. Each correct title is worth 10 points.
Note: The titles usually would be in italics, but for this exercise, we’re leaving them in normal
font. They are easier to correct this way.
1. Till we have Faces (C. S. Lewis)
2. Joseph Conrad: tales Of The land and The Sea
3. Earth is room Enough (Isaac Asimov)
4. A Connecticut yankee in king Arthur’s Court (Mark Twain)
5. The Gift Of The Magi and other short stories (O. Henry)
6. Except for me and thee (Jessamyn West)
7. The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket (Edgar Allan Poe)
8. The bridge of san Luis Rey (Thornton Wilder)
9. And then there were None (Agatha Christie)
10. The Incredulity of father Brown (G. K. Chesterton)
Meet the author Sharon Watson
Sharon Watson is the author of Jump In, Apologia’s easy-to-use
middle school writing curriculum featured in Cathy Duffy’s 102 Top
Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. She was forced to retire from
homeschooling after 18 years when she ran out of her own children
but still teaches writing and literature courses in her local area. Her
popular course The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in
High School is based on her sought-after writing classes and is the
sequel to Jump In.
Let her practical textbooks teach writing for you:

 Jump In, Apologia’s popular middle school writing curriculum
 The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School
 Writing Fiction [in High School]
Find Middle School Writing Prompts here and High School Writing Prompts
here.
Teens enjoy the relaxed way they learn literature with Sharon’s
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equips them for the rest of their reading lives, and reveals the secret
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the first two chapters FREE here!
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Enjoy these other courses from Writing with Sharon Watson:

“Jump In . . . has revolutionized the way we learn writing,

The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School

“The dread is dead, and my son is loving this course!”

Writing Fiction [in High School]

Illuminating Literature: When Worlds Collide

Lesson 1: What Are These Marks of Which You Speak?

Okay? Here we go.

Gabriel said, “You really should wear pink to the game” .

Nothing in remarks convinced me to wear pink to the game.

“The Amazing John Newton”

how he came to wrote the famous Hymn?

wretch like me”.

Lesson 2: Try Them Again

that Hightower cheerleaders work hard.

Lesson 3: Commas and Compound Sentences

An independent clause, one that can stand alone as a sentence:

Jesse hates to do homework.

Which is not good.

A compound verb—often mistaken for a compound sentence:

A compound sentence with a coordinating conjunction (and, in this case):

For a full-size PDF of the

Clean your room and wash the dog.

Hey, you, clean your room and wash the dog.

Watch for one of these types of sentences in the exercise.

9. Seymour fed the dogs but he forgot to tell his mom.

19. Write your essay this week and hand it in by Friday.

Lesson 4: “So” and “So That”

Jason looked in the mirror so he could enjoy the view.

Yes, it looks as though so is a coordinating conjunction joining two independent

Jason looked in the mirror. He could enjoy the view.

However, there is a silent that after the word so:

Jason looked in the mirror so {that} he could enjoy the view.

One sentence is correct. Mark it with a “C.”

Each sentence you edit or mark correctly is worth 10 points.

4. Jen watched TV all night, so she wouldn’t have to do her homework.

6. Liz traveled in November, so she could audition for an orchestra.

7. Lindsey enjoys playing guitar, so other teens can worship God.

9. The choreography enchanted Marianne so she practiced it to perfection.

Lesson 5: Correlative Conjunctions

Not only do I despise Fluffy but I also cannot stand Fifi.

Not only . . . but also

Either you get a job or you go to school.

accelerator and force us across.

3. We value your opinion, and truly appreciate your business.

4. Neither the faucet worked, nor did the water fountain.

pick up his mother.

8. You may either send me an email, or you may call me.

19. I did my homework on Thursday so I could proofread it today.

Lesson 6: Comma Splices

There is a skunk in the aisles, I am sure that is against store policy.

You can fix it either of these ways:

Or you can get the skunk out of the store.

Here’s the skinny on comma splices:

“I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar

If you add nevertheless, furthermore, moreover, consequently, therefore, in fact, or however,

1. First impressions can be misleading, hasty judgments deserve more scrutiny.

Doyle is one prominent example.

Lesson 7: Commas with Dates and Places

In dates, you need a comma between . . .

Day and date Friday, September 13