Reasoning through Language Arts

THIS LESSON MATERIAL IS ONLY FOR STUDENTS OF GELC.

COPYING ALL OR PART OF IT IS STRICTLY PROHIBIETED AND
SUBJECTED TO LEGAL ACTION.
 RLA
Grammar & Language
 Chapter 1
Punctuation
 Capitalization
• The first word in a sentence is always capitalized.
• This store sells a variety of books.

• Every main word in the title of movies, plays, books, stories, magazines, newspaper and
songs begins with a capital letter.
• I watched Titanic yesterday.
• Michael is singing Another One Bites the Dust.

• Words in titles that are not capitalized are short words, such as the articles a, an, and
the; the short conjunctions and, but, or, for; and short prepositions like in, from, to and
into.
• Your Child from Birth to Age Three
• I Have a Dream
 Capitalization
• Proper pronouns (names, companies, places, and holidays) are always capitalized. In
place names like the Great Lakes or Indian Ocean, both parts of the name are capitalized.
• The National Hockey League is holding its championship games in Metropolitan
Stadium near Lake Erie.

• Titles such as mayor, principal, and governor are capitalized when they appear before a
name. Titles are not usually capitalized when they follow a name or are used without a
name, unless they belong to a high office holder.
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Queen Elizabeth.
• The President met with a group of senators, congressmen and congresswomen, and
presidents of top American companies.

• Do not capitalize the names of seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter.

Capitalization
Exercise
 End Marks

• End marks are the punctuation marks that go at the end of a sentence. There are three
common end marks:
• (.) The period, used after most statements- and also after abbreviations
• This is a very corrupted organization.

• (!) The exclamation point, used after commands or statements that show excitement
or strong emotion
• Happy Birthday!

• (?) The question mark, used for questions

• Where is the bathroom?
 Commas
• After introductory dependent clauses beginning with words like if, when, because, after,
before, although, or other conjunctions:
• Whenever danger threatens, small animals hide in their burrows.

• After two or more introductory phrases:

• At the back of the restaurant, there is a private room for parties.

• To separate three or more items in a list:

• The children rushed down the stairs, out the door, and into the yard.

• To separate two or more words describing a word that follows:

• The telephone operator had a pleasant, cheerful, clear voice.
 Commas
• To separate two independent clauses joined by the words and, but, not, for, or yet:
• Bruce usually felt at home in the wilderness, yet tonight he was afraid for some
unknown reason.

• To set off transitional or parenthetical expressions:

• My mother, on the other hand, is not feeling well.
• Of course, this is not the right time to discuss vacations.

• To set off modifying phrases:

• Christiana Ferrell, the new art teacher, is starting on Monday.
End Marks & Commas
Exercise
 Semicolon

• To join two independent clauses.

• I love the game of basketball; however, I don’t play it myself.
• Bats are nocturnal creatures; they come out only during the night.

Phrase vs. Clause

Phrase: a group of words that are unrelated
Clause: a group of words that have a subject and a verb showing action
Twenty big cats (phrase)
The clock struck three (clause)
 Colon
• Used after an independent clause to direct attention to:

• A list
• A classic egg benedict breakfast should include the following ingredients: poached
eggs, English muffins, bacon, and hollandaise sauce.

• A noun phrase
• There is only one thing I want to do on a beach: eating grilled shrimp.

• Quotation
• The speaker had a few last words of wisdom for the students: “Always do what you
are afraid to do.”

• Another independent clause that provides a summary or clarification

• I had no choice but to utter the truth in front of the judge: my brother was guilty.
 Dash
• Dashes (-) are used to separate interrupting thoughts and phrases from the rest of the
sentence, often for dramatic effect. The interrupting thought will typically be a list, a
restatement, or an additional detail.

• When the interrupting thought is at the end of the sentence, use a single dash.
• There are only two vegetables I will ever eat - eggplant and corn.

• When the interrupting thought is in the middle of the sentence, use a pair of dashes.
• The Loch Ness Monster – a sea creature that is rumored to exist but has never been
found – supposedly comes out only during the winter.
 Common Punctuation Misuses

• Don’t use punctuation before prepositional phrases (e.g. at, for, in, of, on, to, with)
• She was waiting at the train station.

• Don’t use any punctuation after such as, like, or including

• The Thai restaurant serves noodle dishes such as pad thai, pad see ew, and kua gai.

• Don’t use any punctuation before that

• The report indicates that the pollution above Beijing has reached an all-time high.

• Don’t put semicolons, dashes, or colons where commas should be used

• The patient lifted up his sleeve, revealing a deep scar on his forearm.