CHAPTER 13 GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER ENGLISH FOR

CHAPTER 13 GETTING YOUR ACT TOGETHER ENGLISH FOR CAREERS, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical by Leila R. Smith Presentation design by Barbara Moran English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

After completing Chapter 13, you will l Get Your Act Together, by reviewing the most common writing faults and replacing them with clear, correct, and logical language l Reinforce the grammar, word choices, and punctuation you practiced in Chapters 1 -12 English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Sentence faults l result in problems for readers l prevent writers from achieving objectives l readers are amused or distracted by errors l readers have to seek clarifications, wasting time l miscommunications happen l frustrations mount l the company looks unprofessional English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Written workplace communications must be concise clear correct English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith l a c i g lo s u o e t cour © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Let’s review Chapter 10! Are these sentences, fragments, run-ons, or commas splices? l Hopeful to hear from you for your input. l FRAGMENT l I hope to hear from you; we need your input. l SENTENCE l I hope to hear from you we need your input. l RUN-ON l I hope to hear from you, we need your input. l COMMA SPLICE English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

TLC for sentences l To improve writing style, vary sentence lengths l Try to keep sentences under 25 -30 words l Short “choppy” sentences may be blended. l For example: Jane likes her work. Dick likes to play. Jane likes her work, but Dick likes to play. l Although Jane likes to work, Dick likes to play. l Jane likes her work and Dick likes to play. l English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

l The play was long. The play was boring. And the actors forgot their lines. l The play was long, boring, and the actors forgot their lines. I knew we should have rehearsed. English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

TLC for sentences l Beware of “gobbledygook” l needlessly long words l superfluous words l complicated sentence structure l pompous, hard to understand language l Try clarifying this: Ø To prevent interference of respiration due to the obstruction of the larynx region, masticate sustenance with absolute thoroughness. Ø To prevent choking, chew food thoroughly. English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

TLC -- for pronouns Vague pronoun references create confusion. l Joe and Ed are going in his car. (whose car? ) l Joe and Ed are going in Ed’s car. l We ordered cheese pizza and spinach salad, but Jean is allergic to it. (allergic to what? ) l We ordered cheese pizza and spinach salad, but Jean is allergic to cheese. English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Misplaced words create confusion (or unintended amusement) l Mom has the recipe for the apple pie, which is in her head. (she has an apple pie in her head? ) l Mom’s apple pie recipe is in her head, not written down. l We need a trainer for the dog who speaks German. (the dog speaks German? ) l We need a dog trainer who speaks German. English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith Strive for clarity! © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Parallel Parts (Use consistent grammatical form) l Not parallel l. Americans have a right to live, having liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith l Parallel l. Americans have a right to life, to liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness. © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

The voice of verbs Active (direct) l The subject does the verb’s action l Use active for most workplace writing l Passive (indirect) l The subject receives the action l Use passive for tact or emphasis l If inserting “by someone” after the verb makes sense, the voice is passive English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Are these sentences active or passive? l The soloist sang the aria off-key. l ACTIVE subject (soloist) did the action (sang) l The aria was sung off-key. l PASSIVE aria was sung “by someone” off- key l Antonio forgot to tune the piano. l ACTIVE subject (Antonio) did the action (forgot) l The piano wasn’t tuned. l PASSIVE piano wasn’t tuned “by someone” English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

Don’t let your verbals dangle in public! l Flying overhead, the guide pointed out the rare whooping cranes. (the guide was flying? ) l The guide pointed out the rare whooping cranes flying overhead. l Smothered in fudge, we ate the delicious sundaes. (we were smothered in fudge? ) l Smothered in fudge, the sundaes we ate were delicious. English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

o t w o h n e e s e v a h u ” ! r Yo e h t e g o T t c A r u o Y “Get English for Careers, 9 th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith © 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458