Unit 9 - Grammar Pronunciation and Usage

Unit 9 Active Reader

Grammar Punctuation Usage Lens

Page 1

A 2013 Gallup poll found that only 30% of us are happy at work; fully 70% of Americans, according to Gallup, “are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and less likely to be productive” (qtd. in Adams).

Smoothly blending source materials into your own work is an important college-level writing skill. You must be able to clearly show where your own ideas end and cited information begins. You can do this by quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

In this sentence, the author blends source material into the essay by leading into it with an attributive phrase: A 2013 Gallup poll found that only 30% of us are happy at work; fully 70% of Americans, according to Gallup, …. By using this attributive phrase to lead into the quotation, the author shows the significance of the quote and its connection with his point about Americans’ level of happiness. When you quote from source material, it’s preferable to use an attributive phrase to lead into the quotation.

It’s where we spend most of our time, and it’s a large part of who we are.

Writing concisely means eliminating unnecessary words and making sure the words you do use are the most effective.

In this sentence, there are no wasted words. The author avoids wordiness by avoiding repetitive ideas, unnecessary prepositional phrases, modifiers, and passive voice.

He uses the contraction it’s to replace “[work] is,” and he uses active voice in the first part of the sentence: …we spend most of our time…. These strategies help the author say a lot in just a few words.

Shawn Achor is one researcher who thinks that’s exactly the case.

Writing concisely means eliminating unnecessary words and making sure the words you do use are the most effective.

In this sentence, the author writes concisely by making every word count. He starts by naming a researcher, Shawn Achor, and stating that Achor agrees with the statement the author made in the previous sentence: “Well, it could be because we’ve had things backward all this time, and that contrary to what we (and the founding fathers) assume, happiness should not be our destination but instead our starting point.” Instead of restating parts of that sentence, the author uses that's to indicate the idea with which Achor agrees. He uses a short relative clause, who thinks that’s exactly the case, to describe Achor. Using these strategies helps the author write concise, effective sentences.

His firm advertises a simple but lofty goal on its website: “to make you happier” (GoodThink).

When writing a research paper, you will need to include sources to support your own ideas. You can use different citation styles, such as MLA, APA, and The Chicago Manual of Style, to name a few. The citation style you use will often be assigned by your instructor.

The author quotes from a site called GoodThink. After the quoted material, he uses an in-text citation to indicate which source he used. This citation represents a complete and correct MLA citation. If there is an author listed, you would use the author’s name. If there is not an author listed, you would use the name of the article. In this particular case, the article name and the website name are the same. The other part of the correct MLA in-text or parenthetical citation is the page number. In this case, the author uses a website, which does not have page numbers. Thus, he does not need to add this part of the citation.

When you have a writing assignment in any of your classes, you must find out which style of documentation your instructor requires. MLA is used primarily in the humanities, for classes like English, Spanish, art, or philosophy. Alternatively, APA is typically used to cite sources when writing in the social sciences.

As he writes in his best-selling book, “happiness and optimism actually fuel performance and achievement—giving us the competitive edge that I call the Happiness Advantage” (The Happiness Advantage 3-4).

In this sentence, the author effectively blends source material into his essay by leading into the quotation with an attributive phrase: As he writes in his best-selling book …. By using he, the author refers back to Shawn Achor, who was mentioned in the previous sentence.

The author leads into the quotation, and then follows up the quotation with a proper MLA parenthetical citation. He accurately and ethically blends the material from Achor with his own arguments.

Page 2

In contrast, our brains are designed to respond well to happiness.

Writing concisely means eliminating unnecessary words and making sure the words you do use are the most effective.

This sentence is effective and concise. The author uses a transitional phrase, in contrast, to refer to something in a previous sentence about how our brains respond to happiness based on different stimuli. The transitional phrase acts as a kind of shorthand to show the relationship between sentences without the necessity of repeating ideas.

In addition, the author uses active voice; only one modifier, the adverb well; and only one prepositional phrase, to happiness. No word is wasted. These strategies make his writing more concise, and therefore, more effective.

Happiness, he says in his TED talk, is not the end but the beginning:

“It’s not necessarily the reality that shapes us but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality. And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness, we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.”

The author leads into this quotation with an attributive phrase, which makes clear from which source the quotation originated (i.e., Achor’s TED talk). He introduces the quotation with an attributive phrase followed by a colon. The colon indicates that a quotation, list, or other important information will follow. You can use a colon after the attributive phrase as long as it is an independent clause. The author’s attributive phrase (Happiness, he says in his TED talk, is not the end but the beginning:) completes a thought, so it is an independent clause, and it can be followed with a colon.

Achor, Shawn. The Happiness Advantage. New York: Broadway, 2010. Print.

---. “The Happy Secret to Better Work.” TED. TED Conferences, May 2011. Web. 1 July 2014.

These two works cited entries are in correct MLA format. The first one lists a book written by Shawn Achor. (Notice the included elements, which follow correct MLA citation for a print book.)

The second entry lists a TED talk (web video), also by Shawn Achor. Notice that if you have two or more sources by the same author, you indicate all but the first by a series of three hyphens rather than repeating the author’s name. You should also notice each of the elements, which illustrate the correct MLA entry for a video presented on the Internet.

Page 3

Here’s an excerpt from a letter that an indignant father sent to his son after hearing that he had opted for an impractical major:

I am appalled, even horrified, that you have adopted Classics as a major. As a matter of fact, I almost puked on my way home today. … I am a practical man, and for the life of me I cannot possibly understand why you should wish to speak Greek. With whom will you communicate in Greek? …

I suppose you will feel that you are distinguishing yourself from the herd by becoming a Classical snob. … I think you are rapidly becoming a jackass, and the sooner you get out of that filthy atmosphere, the better it will suit me.

The reaction of Ted Turner’s father, who wrote that letter₍₁₎ to his son, years before he founded CNN, is pretty typical.

Here, the author effectively blends source material into the essay. He begins with an attributive phrase that gives the back story of the block quotation: Here’s an excerpt from a letter that an indignant father sent to his son after hearing that he had opted for an impractical major. He follows with an excerpt of the letter, and then he follows the excerpt with an explanation of its significance. The story the author uses illustrates the “typical” response of many parents to their children’s choice of college major; it clearly introduces his thesis.

When you use source material, make sure that you point out to the reader why it is important and how it connects to your argument.

With less than half of recent college graduates₍₂₎ landing jobs that require a college degree, this concern is understandable. But it’s misguided.

Writing concisely means eliminating unnecessary words and making sure the words you do use are the most effective.

This sentence represents concise writing. Here, the author succinctly gives a relevant statistic in an opening prepositional phrase: With less than half of recent college graduates landing jobs that require a college degree…. He uses a short phrase to allude to an idea in the previous paragraph (“this concern”). This is followed by a second sentence of only three words.

Omitting any unnecessary words or ideas enables the author to express a great deal of meaning in just a few words, making his writing both concise and effective.

A study conducted by PayScale Inc.₍₃₎ found that history majors who pursued careers in business ended up earning, on average, just as much as business majors.

This sentence blends source material into an essay by paraphrasing from a research study. The author presents the main finding of the research study in his own words, and he explains how this evidence substantiates his thesis about choosing a college major. He stresses the fact that students who choose liberal arts majors stand to earn just as much as those who major in business.

When you use research material, it is very important to illustrate how the evidence supports your argument. Do not leave it up to the reader to figure out the relevance of your evidence.

Page 4

But don’t think that you are doomed to a life of poverty if you pick the wrong major.

Writing concisely means eliminating unnecessary words and making sure the words you do use are the most effective.

This sentence illustrates effective, concise writing. The author expresses his ideas in as few words as possible, eliminating any unnecessary prepositional phrases, modifiers, clichés, or redundancy. He uses active voice and avoids fillers, negatives, and wordy constructions. Practicing these strategies will strengthen your writing by making it more concise.

High G.P.A.’s help graduates land jobs, and there is a fairly strong correlation₍₅₎ between class rank and career earnings.

In this sentence, the author effectively blends source material into the essay. He paraphrases a source in order to assert the correlation between GPA and future earnings.

Whether you summarize, paraphrase, or quote from a source, make sure that you carefully cite the source in the documentation style of the discipline or the one that your instructor requires for the assignment.

If your goal is to develop written and verbal communications skills, a finance major may not be the best bet.

Writing concisely means eliminating unnecessary words and making sure the words you do use are the most effective.

This sentence provides an example of effective, concise writing. The author begins the sentence with a subordinate clause: If your goal is to develop written and verbal communications skills …. He follows that with an independent clause that succinctly conveys an idea: a finance major may not be the best bet.

The author avoids wordiness by replacing phrases with words and by eliminating wordy constructions such as prepositional phrases, modifiers, clichés, fillers (“there is/are”), negatives, and passive voice. Using these strategies helps to make your writing more effective.