College Writing

College Writing Study Guide

Chapter 2: Grammar and Mechanics

Learning Objectives This chapter will discuss: 1. the difference between prescriptive and descriptive grammar 2. all of the required elements of a standard sentence 3. the different parts of speech 4. the most common rules for all the major punctuation marks 5. an introduction to source integration and documentation 6. some of the most common myths about writing

2.1 Kinds of Grammar Like most aspects of writing, you’ve probably been expected to understand grammar, but it’s been so long since you’ve studied it that it’s dif�icult to remember all of the terms. That’s understandable, so here is a quick guide to the study of grammar and how to avoid the most common errors on the test. There are two broad categories of grammar: prescriptive grammar and descriptive g ammar . Pre- scriptive grammar focuses on a set of rules that you should learn and apply to your writing. If you learn best by applying rules to each situation, then understanding grammar prescriptively will help, and throughout your Achieve College Writing experience, you should pay attention to your instruc- tor’s corrections on each of your writing assignments, asking yourself why commas or semicolons were added or taken out. Attempt to understand the reasoning behind each change, and apply that same reasoning to your future work. Descriptive grammar focuses on understanding how grammar is most commonly used. Rather than thinking of grammar as set-in-stone rules, descriptive grammar is more about a set of guidelines. If you learn best by example, then understanding grammar descriptively will help. You should still at- tempt to understand the reasoning behind each grammatical correction on your work throughout your Achieve College Writing experience, but the gains in your grammatical understanding will come from experimentation, observation, and reading more often. Neither of these methods of grammatical understanding is better than the other; each will work for different people. However, no matter how you conceive of grammar, the important thing to under- stand is that grammatical correctness is often viewed as a “gateway” for your writing: your audience will judge your writing based on its grammar, and some people often fail to appreciate your ideas if your grammar isn’t up to par. This makes acquiring a thorough understanding of grammar so important.

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