ENGL 1301

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ENGL 1301

• English Composition I
• Narration

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Narration

• Another name for a story is a narration. A short
  narration is an anecdote. A long narration one
  that is essay or even book length is an
  extended narration.

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Visualizing a Narrative Essay
Opening Paragraph or Paragraphs The opening may
do one or more of the following provide
background, set scene, state thesis, give the
point of the narration, or begin narration.
First Body Paragraph This paragraph begins the
story (or continues it if story begun in
opening). Includes description, dialogue, and
answers to journalists questions. Details are
arranged in chronological order flashback may be
used.
Next Body Paragraph This paragraph continues the
story. Includes description, dialogue, and
answers to journalists questions. Details are
arranged in chronological order flashback may be
used.
Next Body Paragraphs Body paragraphs continue
until story is told.
Closing Paragraph The last paragraph achieves
closure in one or more of these ways narrating
the last event, explaining the significance of
the event, or stating the point of the narration.
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Word Choice

• Phrasing That Announce Your Intent or Opinion
• 1. Eliminate phrasings like as the paragraph
  will explain, my paper will prove, as I have
  shown, and the following paragraphs will tell.
• 2. Eliminate the phrase, in conclusion when you
  have reached your last paragraph, and it is
  obvious that you are concluding.
• 3. Avoid phrases and clauses such as I believe,
  in my opinion, it seems to me, and I think when
  the idea expressed are clearly your beliefs,
  opinions, and thought.

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Unnecessary or Faulty Modifiers

1. Do not use very to intensify things that cannot
   be intensified. The temperature can be hot or it
   can be very hot, but words like dead, gorgeous,
   incredible, outstanding, unique, and perfect
   cannot be made stronger by adding very.
2. Avoid unnecessary qualifications using words such
   as really, different, and particular. They add
   no meaning to your sentence and make them wordy.
3. Avoid modifying nouns and adjectives with the
   suffix type. Find the accurate word for what
   you mean.

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Faulty Synonyms

1. Avoid being as or being that as synonyms for
   since or because.
2. Avoid using expect as a synonym for suppose.
3. Avoid using real to mean very.
4. Do not use of to mean have.
5. Do not use plus as a synonym for and to join main
   clauses.

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Etc.

1. Etc., and more, and so forth, and and such
   suggest that you could say more but do not want
   to. At times, these expressions are appropriate,
   but usually you should say whatever you could
   say.
2. Do not use etc. with such as. Such as notes you
   are listing items representative of a group, so
   there is no need to use etc. to indicate other
   things are included.
3. Do not use and etc. Etc. means and so forth
   therefore, and etc. means and and so forth.

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Faulty Grammar and Usage

1. Avoid referring to people with the relative
   pronoun which or that. Instead, use who or whom.
2. Do not use irregardless. Use regardless or
   irrespective of.
3. Eliminate the reason is because. Use the reason
   is that or because instead.
4. Avoid using so as an intensifier unless it is
   followed by a clause beginning with that.
5. Eliminate vice versa. If you want to indicate
   that the opposite is also true, write out exactly
   what the opposite is.
6. Replace a lot and a lot of with many, much, or a
   great deal of.
7. Use try to rather than try and.

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Double Negatives

• The following words are negatives because they
  communicate the sense of no.
• no none nothing hardly
• not nowhere no one scarcely
• never nobody
• Be sure to use only one negative to express a
  single negative idea.
• Contractions often include a form of not, which
  is a negative.
• A sentence can include more than one negative
  idea. However, only one negative word should
  express each of these negative ideas.

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Frequently Confused Words

• accept, except
• accept to receive or to agree to
• except excluding
• advice, advise
• advice a recommendation
• advise to recommend
• affect, effect
• affect to influence
• effect result
• all right, alright
• alright is nonstandard
• allusion, illusion
• allusion indirect reference
• illusion something false or misleading

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Frequently Confused Words

• all right, alright
• alright is nonstandard
• allusion, illusion
• allusion indirect reference
• illusion something false or misleading
• already, all ready
• already by this time
• all ready prepared
• among, between
• between is usually used to show the
  relationship of two things
• between can be used for more than two things
  when it means within
• among is used to show the relationship of more
  than two things

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Frequently Confused Words

• amount, number
• amount is used for a unit without parts that can
  be uncounted individually
• number is used for items that can be counted
• beside, besides
• beside next to
• besides mean
• breath, breathe
• breath is a noun
• breathe is a verb
• coarse, course
• coarse rough
• course path, route or procedure

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Frequently Confused Words

• complement, compliment
• complement something that completes
• compliment praise or flattery
• conscience, conscious
• conscience an awareness of right and wrong
• conscious aware
• dessert, desert
• dessert the sweet at the end of a meal
• desert abandon
• desert dry, sandy land
• different than, different from
• different from is preferred
• disinterested, uninterested
• disinterested impartial
• uninterested lacking interested or boarded

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Frequently Confused Words

• farther, further
• farther refers to distance
• further in addition or additional
• fewer, less
• fewer is used for things that can be counted
  individually
• less is used for one unit without individual
  members that can be counted
• human, humane
• human people
• humane compassionate
• imply, infer
• imply to suggest something without stating it
• infer to draw a conclusion from evidence

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Frequently Confused Words

• its, its
• its a contraction for it is or it has
• its a possessive pronoun
• lay, lie
• lay to put or to place
• lie to recline
• loose, lose
• loose unfastened or not tight
• lose misplace
• passed, past
• passed went by
• past previous time
• precede, proceed
• precede to come before
• proceed - continue

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Frequently Confused Words

• principal, principle
• principal a school administrator
• principle a truth or a moral conviction
• stationary, stationery
• stationary unmoving or unchanging
• stationery writing paper
• than, then
• than used for comparisons
• then time reference, next
• there, their, theyre
• there place
• their possessive pronoun
• theyre contraction for they are

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Frequently Confused Words

• threw, through, thorough
• threw past tense of throw
• through finished or into and out of
• thorough complete
• to, too, two
• to toward
• too also or excessively
• two number
• whose, whos
• whose possessive form of who
• whos contraction for who is and who has
• your, youre
• your possessive form of you
• youre contraction for you are