Analysis of Fragments, Comma-Splices
and Run-ons
CS #27 -- Other: This appears to be a parenthetical
interjection to the effect that her brother is a turkey. I must admit,
I would leave to my editor (if I had one) to punctuate it:
"She makes a great big turkey -- I wish it was my brother, and she alway's
allway's makes a gigantic pot of fudge." or "She makes a great big turkey
(I wish it was my brother), and she alway's allway's makes a gigantic pot
of fudge."
RO #40 -- Other (probably careless): A pronoun
reference problem may have been pitting stress on STM. Note that the "them"
appears to refer to the dead puppies and gerbils, but it was meant to refer
all the way back to grandparents.
RO #41 -- Contrast (or subordination) The
writer may have had in mind the contrast between work and play:
"I clean house for about two hours; then I go out and ride the motorcycle,
mopad . . . ." Subordination of the second clause would lose the contrast,
replacing it with a purely temporal connection: "I clean house for about
two hours, after which I go out and ride the motorcycle, mopad .
. . ."
RO #42 -- Subordination (or amplification):
Subordination works here, but so would amplificaiton:
" . . . then I go out and ride the motorcycle, mopad, which is a
lot of fun." or " . . . then I go out and ride the motorcycle, mopad, because
it's a lot of fun." or " . . . then I go out and ride the motorcycle, mopad
-- it's a lot of fun." I'm wondering if part of the problem here is
that "which" tends to modify just the "motorcycle, mopad," whereas the
fun is in the going out and riding? The main point, however, is that here
the student had three possible options, each of which slightly affects
the meaning. Most instruction in grammar does not relate it to meaning,
and so this student, at a loss as to how to handle it, simply left out
the punctuation altogether.
RO #43 -- Amplification (possibly subordination):
It is possible to eliminate the run-on by using "because":
"At Christmas it's the most fun though, because we get a lot of big expinsive
fifts and a lot of money." This turns the second clause into the reason
for its being fun, rather than a part of the fun: " {At Christmas
it's the most fun though -- we get a lot of big expinsive fifts and a lot
of money. She makes a great big turkey, . . ." I'm suggesting that the
student could have used "because" if that was what she meant. The run-on
probably results from her not knowing how to use the dash to express amplification.
RO #44 -- Other (possibly subordination):
The student wrote: "I usually stay with her a couple weekes after Christmas
to clean up \R\ we alway's have big get togethers around the holiday's"
I suspect a cause/effect relationship was in the writer's mind here, but
the sentences did not come out right: "Because our get-togethers around
the holidays are always so big, I usually stay with her a couple weeks
after Christmas to clean up."
RO #45 -- Other (probably careless)
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