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The 1986 Study
Record Number: W7N27A
Transcript of the Student's Text
Coded for Statistical Analysis
Statistics: Table of Contents

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My Best Friend

       \-\I have a best friend. \-\and her name is Jill. \-\She had blond hair and blue eyes.=CC \-\She is 5'4" \R\RO#69she weighs 120 pounds#NuA02 \R\RO#70she is {in seventh grade,} really Good=CC{in Matth.}  \-\She has a boyfriend named*GiveR02 Jim. \-\She lives {down the road} {from me.} \-\She and I=CS go skating*GerNu01 a lot#NuA02  \-\Last year#NuA02 we hated each other. \-\And this year#NuA02 we are best friends \-\She is really caring and helps=CV me {with problems.} \-\She is kinda bossy sometimes \C\but we get {over it} \R\RO#71we fight {about the most stupidest things.} \-\Today we got {into an arguement} {about something} [RAJFI dont even know about.]\-\but eventully we will make up \-\We also went {to a lot} {of fotballs} {during the fall} \R\RO#72we had real fun. \-\And we go {to the ball park} a lot.#NuA02 \-\We had lots {of fun.} \-\We  have two classes together English#App01 and math.#App02 \-\And we always have fun \-\We both ride the same bus. \-\We are both wild. \F\Frag#17[RAVFWhen were together.] \-\We get {into trouble} sometimes [RAVFwhen we laugh to much.] \-\But any other time#NuA03 its Ok. \-\We fight sometimes \C\but we get {over it} quickly. \-\We only had one big fight. \-\A lot {of people} tell us [RNDOwe look {like each other}] \C\And we do. \-\She is my very best frind \C\and I'll never forget her. 
 
 
Analysis of Fragments, Comma-Splices and Run-ons

Frag #17 -- Subordination: Note that the fragment could be attached either to the preceding or the following main clause: "We are both wild when we're together. We get into trouble sometimes when we laugh too much." or "We are both wild. When we're together, we get into trouble sometimes when we laugh too much."

RO #69 -- Amplification: Note the context: "She had blond hair and blue eyes. She is 5'4" \R\she weighs 120 pounds \R\she is in seventh grade, really Good in Matth." In that they generally establish one's "figure," height and weight go together more than do hair, eyes, and grade level. Although I do not pay much attention to heights and weights, I can see a writer using either a dash or a semicolon beteen the two to establish a "good" or a "bad" relationship: "She is 5'4" -- she weighs 100 pounds." or "She is 5'4"; she weighs 180 pounds." I am therefore considering this run-on as the result of the writer seeing a relationship of amplification.
RO #70 -- Other: The writer may have considered "she is in seventh grade" as an amplification of the description, but that is not the way the language works.
RO #71 -- Amplification (or Subordination): The run-on could be an amplification of "it": "She is kinda bossy sometimes, but we get over it -- we fight about the most stupidest things." The writer may also have had in mind a vague sense of cause/effect: "She is kinda bossy sometimes, but we get over it because we fight about the most stupidest things." 
RO #72 -- Subordination (or amplification): The two clauses could be joined with a subordinate conjunction: "We also went to a lot of fotballs during the fall, where we had real fun." Part of the problem here may have been "fotballs" (instead of "football games"?). In addition, the "where" cause is separated from "fotballs" by an intervening prepositional phrase of time, not place. Note also that the sentences which precede and follow this one concern different topics. Thus the writer may have sensed the run-on as amplifying the preceding clause:  "We also went to a lot of football games during the fall -- we had real fun."