Moulton English

A sentence fragment is an  incomplete sentence . Some fragments are incomplete because they lack either a subject or a verb, or both. The fragments that most students have trouble with, however, are  dependent clauses —they have a subject and a verb, so they look like complete sentences, but they don’t express a complete thought. They’re called “dependent” because they can’t stand on their own (just like some people you might know who are SO dependent!). Look at these dependent clauses. They’re just begging for more information to make the thoughts complete: Because his car was in the shop (…What did he do?) After the rain stops (…What then?) When you finally take the test (…What will happen?) Since you asked (…Will you get the answer?) If you want to go with me (…What should you do?) Does each of these examples have a subject? Yes. Does each have a verb? Yes. So what makes the thought incomplete? It’s the first word ( Because, After, When, Since, If ). These word...

In-text citations: Author-page style MLA format follows the author-page method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear on your Works Cited page. The author's name may appear either in the sentence itself or in parentheses following the quotation or paraphrase, but the page number(s) should always appear in the parentheses, not in the text of your sentence. For example: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263). Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263). Both citations in the examples above, (263) and (Wordsworth 263), tell readers that the information in the sentence can be located on page 263 of...

New writers often struggle to properly format dialogue. The rules are strict and different than prose, but easily mastered. Whether you are writing a short story, full novel or anything in between, the way you format dialogue is the same. The examples below demonstrate how to properly format dialogue in various situations. However, writing dialogue in the proper format and composing effective dialogue are two different things. Be sure to check out my tips and examples on  how to write engaging dialogue . Rules to Format Dialogue 1. Enclose the spoken words with double quotation marks. “I love it when that happens.” Note: The British use single quotation marks. 2. Dialogue tags (the he asked/she said portions) stay outside the quotes and get separated by a comma. Sam said, “I’ll never do that again.” “Don’t be a sissy,” said Bill. “Let’s get back in line and ride this beast again.” Note: When dialogue ends in a question or exclamation mark, tags that f...

Ronan Stone Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 1 12 October 2016 February 22, 2011 If you’d asked nine-year-old me what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d probably say a-l-o-t, of stuff. First, he would probably say that he wanted to be Batman. Later he’d probably change his mind, over and over and over. Then he’d wind back up as Batman. Yes, I wanted to be Batman when I was nine. Who didn’t? In 2007, my family decided to leave the US and move to New Zealand. For those of you who don’t know where that is for some reason, it’s about 100 miles south of that that thinks-its-so-cool-but-it-ain’t-really continent known to some as Koala Land, and to the rest as Australia. If you ask my parents why they decided to move to land-down-under-the-land-down-under, they would say that it was to raise their children. The public schools in New Zealand perfect if you have little kids. When we moved, I was more excited at that point than I had been in my entire life. It was a uniqu...

The layout or format of business letters is broadly divided into two type or two styles or ways. They are: the semi-block format the block format Below are the layouts of the above mentioned formats. Please make sure to have your MLA header in the top of the paper, and then the semi-block or block format. SEMI-BLOCK FORMAT BLOCK FORMAT Taken from http://literallycommunication.blogspot.com/2013/03/layout-for-business-letters.html

Resource: not sure what to write about? Try the topics here, organized by grade and genre https://k12.thoughtfullearning.com/resources/writingtopics

Liam Vereb Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 2 13 January 2016 Conquering The Double Diamond “Wakeup! We’re going to be late,” shouted my sister as she jumped up and down on my bed. I sprang up out of my bed, showered, threw on my ski clothes and ran downstairs to join my family for breakfast. No trouble getting out of bed today as this was the day I would ski my first Black Run. I helped my father load the last of our bags into the back of the car, double-checked with mom that we had everything, and then we were off on our three-hour journey to the ski resort. "Look there it is," my sister said, pointing at the massive mountains that rose up above the clouds. Finally, after an exhausting three-hour drive we had arrived at the ski resort. Since we had been through the ticketing system before, we decided to divide and conquer. My mom and I would go and get in the line for the ski rentals while my dad and my sister would get us lockers. We would rendezvous in...

Celine Nguyen Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 6 2 October 2015 All the Beautiful Seasons There are four seasons in a year With many things that are so dear Like flowers, animals, and Christmas trees And like spending time with your families In winter, we sing carols and have snowball fights We drink hot chocolate and hang up Christmas lights We also open presents from family and friends And we always think that the fun in winter never ends In spring, the warm days have finally come All the bees and birds like to buzz and hum The flowers are blooming and the animals are out of hibernation The students are excited to almost be on vacation In summer, there is no homework and no school The children play on beaches and also in the pool Everyone eats ice cream and has a lot of fun But, we all are sad when summer is almost done In autumn, all the leaves are no longer green They turn red, orange, and yellow and it's almost Halloween...

Celine Nguyen Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 6 20 November 2015 Hope Is Always Here              In your life, there are some good days and there are some bad days. You might have a day when something amazing has happened to you and you jump for joy. You might have a day when something bad unexpectedly slaps you across the face. You might feel like you can't handle what has happened to you and you start to lose hope. To everyone who has lost hope, I am here to tell you that you will have hope again.              In the book Hope Was Here , Joan Bauer writes about a girl who gives hope to people. Hope Yancey is sixteen years old and she works as a waitress at a restaurant every time she moves to a new place. She lives with her aunt, Addie, who is a cook. Hope has been through a lot in her life and she has a lot going on in her life. When she was a baby, she was born too early and too sm...

Celine Nguyen Ms. Asuncion English 9 Honors, Block 6 25 February 2016 Technology Has Affected Our Lives        Technology is a part of our lives. It has helped us with communication, transportation, education, and  many more. We have faster communication through phone calls, emails, texts, and facetime. Cars, trains,  and airplanes transport us faster than walking. Computers and iPads have helped students in school learn  something new in a fun way. Technology has helped us a lot, but it has also affected our lives in a negative  way.        Texting is a fast way to communicate. 91 percent of adults (Rainie paragraph 1) and 78 percent of   teens own a cell phone (Rainie paragraph 5). We text our friends and family to ask questions or just for fun.  Americans between the ages of 18 to 29 send and receive about 88 text messages every day (Kluger  paragraph 5). Texting has caused some peo...

You call me weird, you call me crazy,   You say that I'm a mess.   That books have changed me, but not for good,   That I've become obsessed.   I stay in my room, wrapped in a blanket,   Reading a really good book.   You say books are stupid, that they are dumb,    But you haven't even had a look.   I'm antisocial, a loner you say,   I never spend any time with you.   You say you're my friend, my best friend,    But the distance between us grew.    You tell me that you know me,    That you will always be there,   But you were never there when I needed you,    Never there, I swear.   Where were you when I needed you,   When my days were bad.   Books were there when I needed a friend,    Or if I was just sad.    Books taught me many things,   I do...