In-Class Writing Exercise 2- NAME___________________________

Its Time for I to Learn You to Write Gooder

22 February 2006

Many of you can immediately begin improving your writing based on the following guidelines for some commonly made mistakes (modified from H. Grissino-Mayer, 2003, TRR 59: 3-10)

since ≠ because: The primary definitions for the word since are related to elapsed time (Agnes 1995). If causality is implied, use instead the word because.

Examples: “Since the beginning of the semester, I have had to wake up before noon”

“Because I teach a 12-12:50 class, I must wake up before noon”

“Since they are making me teach, I have to wake up before noon”

due to ≠ because of: Although common, due to is not a satisfactory substitute for because of. The primary meanings of the word due refer to something owed (Agnes 1995), whereas if causality is implied, use because of.

Examples: “A standard monetary kick-back to pass the class is due to the instructor”

“Your instructor requires a kick-back because of his extravagant lifestyle”

“You bribe your instructor due to your need to get a good grade”

“A major water issue is the lack of water filtration devices due to the country’s lack of hard currency”

because ≠ whereas ≠ while: These conjunctions are not interchangeable. Use because if causality is suggested by the second conjoined sentence. Use whereas and while if the second conjoined sentence contrasts the meaning of the first sentence or phrase, but like the word since, while conveys the element of time.

Examples: “I drive a Jaguar, whereas my TAs drive Yugos”

“I normally bake cookies while the TAs grade the quizzes”

“I normally bake cookies because prepackaged confections are beneath me”

“While a bribe may seem like a good idea, you really better think that one through”

“While the country borders the Indian Ocean, the government has had a difficult time supplying adequate water for the population”

that ≠ which: These troublesome words are not interchangeable. The pronoun that is restrictive, referring to one specific object, whereas which is nonrestrictive, referring to a choice that must be made when more than one object exists (Hart 1976; Strunk and White 1979). In most cases, that will directly follow without punctuation, whereas which is usually preceded by a comma.

Examples: “I keep a top-secret list that contains the names of students not attending class”

“It is better to give than receive, which is good motto for life”

“The air pressure that exists outside the plane at 35,000 feet is about one-fourth of sea-level pressure, which is a good reason why the environment in the plane is controlled”

“Over 54 tons of organic pollutants were discharged to waterways in the Dominican Republic every day in 1980, which is likely to have since increased.”