Chapter 10 Projects: Grammatical Sentences

Project Assignment

Project Goal

In Chapter 10, you studied a variety of ways to ensure your sentences are grammatically correct and varied in structure. The goal of this project is for you to explore grammar in the context of the internet.

Directions

Part 1

Use any search engine or social media platform (or a combination of both) to find five memes that mock errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, or mechanics covered in Chapter 10. Then, document your five choices by copying and pasting each meme—or the link to it—in the worksheet provided under the "Project Materials" section. If you copy the meme, you must also cite its source. Then, identify the type of error demonstrated in the meme and fix the mistake(s).

Part 2

Write a reflection paragraph that includes a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. Make sure to follow standard academic English rules and respond to the following questions.

• Are websites and social media platforms usually more accepting of grammatical errors than academic settings? Why or why not?

• What makes these memes popular and funny?

• What purpose do these memes serve for the average viewer?

Project Materials

Meme Worksheet

Student Checklist

Part 1

Individual

Part 2

Individual

Writing Assignment

Writing Assignment Goal

In Chapter 10, you studied a variety of ways to ensure your sentences are grammatically correct and varied in structure. The goal of this writing assignment is to practice finding grammatical errors in a text and correcting them through effective revision/editing.

Directions

Part 1

Read Chapter 1, page 1 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is included in the worksheet under "Writing Assignment Materials." You will notice the text uses vernacular (conversational language); therefore, the grammar is often incorrect.

After reading the excerpt, annotate it for grammatical errors. Then, rewrite the excerpt on a separate sheet of paper or in a Word document, correcting all grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes.

Consider the following guidelines before starting:

• Read the whole excerpt at least once before marking it up. Consider reading it aloud.

• Annotate the excerpt before rewriting. Highlight, underline, or circle errors and add notes that will make the revision process flow smoothly.

• Look for errors in the following categories:

  Sentence structure

  Comma splices, fused sentences, and fragments

  Subject-verb agreement

  Pronoun-antecedent agreement

  Pronoun reference and case

  Consistent verb tense and point of view

  Punctuation

  Spelling

Part 2

Write a reflection paragraph about your experience. Your paragraph should include a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. Use standard academic English rules and respond to the following questions.

• What did the original text gain from your revisions? What did it lose?

• Why do you think Mark Twain deliberately used incorrect grammar in his novel?

• Are there times when grammatical errors are important for narration or effect? If so, in what situations? Explain your reasoning.

Writing Assignment Materials

Pen and paper or word-processing program

Full novel: (hawkes.biz/HuckFinn)

Worksheet

Original excerpt from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain:

You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly—Tom's Aunt Polly, she is—and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.

Now the way that the book winds up is this: Tom and me found the money that the robbers hid in the cave, and it made us rich. We got six thousand dollars apiece—all gold. It was an awful sight of money when it was piled up. Well, Judge Thatcher he took it and put it out at interest, and it fetched us a dollar a day apiece all the year round—more than a body could tell what to do with. The Widow Douglas she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer I lit out. I got into my old rags and my sugar-hogshead again, and was free and satisfied. But Tom Sawyer he hunted me up and said he was going to start a band of robbers, and I might join if I would go back to the widow and be respectable. So I went back.

Student Checklist

Part 1

Individual

Part 2

Individual