Student Interview

Professional Interview

How to Avoid Offensive and Gender-Specific Language

Hello, I'm Ada Fisher, and I'm a colleague of Joshua Schwartz. This article will focus on how to avoid using offensive and gender specific language, according to the advice of the Senior Editors of Yahoo! (Barr, C., & Senior Editors of Yahoo!, 2010).

Offensive language is language that leaves your readers feeling excluded or offended.  Offensive language—which includes sexist language, biased language, and nonliteral language that excludes non-native speakers of English—gives your writing the appearance of bias, and can damage your credibility. Your writing should be free of offensive language.

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How to Avoid Gender-Specific Pronouns

Gender-specific pronouns are appropriate to use when you write about specific individuals, but you should avoid using gender-specific pronouns when you write about groups that could have members of either gender. Using the gender-specific pronoun she to refer to nurses generally, for example, is both factually inaccurate and potentially offensive. You could avoid the appearance of gender bias by using phrases like "he or she" or "his or hers," but using these phrases often leads to awkward or clunky sentence construction.

Here are several methods for eliminating gender-specific pronouns from a sentence.

• Remove the pronoun if the sentence works without it.
• "Accept any challenging assignments that your boss offers to you to show them your eagerness."
  becomes
• "Accept any challenging assignments that your boss offers to you to show your eagerness."
• Rewrite the sentence to remove the need for gender-specific pronouns. Substituting a or the for the pronouns can sometimes eliminate this problem.
• "“A crossing guard performs his job carefully.”
  
  becomes
• “A crossing guard performs the job carefully.”
• Use the imperative form—write the sentence as a command—and replace gender-specific pronouns with you and your.
• “A writer should proofread before she publishes.”
  becomes
• “Proofread before you publish.”
• Use the plural form of the noun, and replace gender-specific pronouns with they.
• “A professional golfer should never lose his composure.”
  becomes
• “Professional golfers should never lose their composure.”

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How to Avoid Gender-Specific Words

Some words in the English language are inherently masculine or feminine; to keep your writing gender-neutral, replace masculine or feminine words with gender-neutral terms. Here are a few examples.

• "We need a new chairman to head the board."
  becomes
• "We need a new chair to head the board."
• "You may call the stewardess over to help adjust your seat."
  becomes
• "You may call the flight attendant over to help adjust your seat."
• "Man the terminal while I'm away."
  becomes
• "Operate the terminal while I'm away."

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How to Write Culturally Inclusive Text

Writing clearly, efficiently, and literally accommodates your international audience.  Here are a couple of tips to make your text more understandable to an international audience.

• Avoid idioms, rhetorical language, slang, and nonliteral usages.
• Non-native speakers of English may not understand idiomatic language, and may find phrases like "that was a piece of cake" or "that was a slap on the wrist" confusing or meaningless.
• Slang is culture-specific, and sometimes carries offensive connotations.
• Keep sentence structure simple 
• Limit the number of words in each sentence.
• Use active verbs.
• Use positive language.
• Negative language increases the number of words in a sentence, and can sound bureaucratic.
• Negative questions—for example, "Don't you like coffee?"—can leave nonnative speakers of English uncertain as to how to answer. A "yes" answer could be understood to indicate a dislike of coffee by speakers of another language.

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Thanks for reading, and thanks to Joshua for allowing me to write this guest post. If you're interested in exploring alternative forms of narrative, visit my text game tutorial blog Text Game Tutor.

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Source

English Writing Infographic

 
        Top Ten Mistakes College Writers Make
 

| Create infographics

How to Properly Place Modifiers

Another important aspect of style is how to correctly use a modifier. This article focuses on how to improve the usage of a modifier according to the University of Wisconsin (Twelve common errors, 2013).

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How to Use a Modifier

A modifier is a word that changes the meaning of another word. In the next examples, the modifiers have been italicized while the words they change have been underlined.  

• "The ball is red."
• "He ran quickly."
• "The crooked stairs are difficult to climb."
• "To boldly go where no man has gone before."

What Happens When We Misuse a Modifier 

• A modifier becomes misplaced
• A modifier becomes a dangling modifier

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Misplaced Modifiers

A misplaced modifier is a modifier that creates confusion in a sentence. Misplaced modifiers are found near multiple nouns or any two clauses. In the following examples, the misplaced modifiers have been italicized while the words they modify are underlined. 

Notice how the misplaced modifiers create confusion in the sentences.

• "People who laugh rarely are sad."
• Are the people who laugh rarely sad, or do they laugh rarely?
• "She saw a puppy and a kitten on the way to the store."
• Did she see a puppy and a kitten going to the store, or did she see the puppy and the kitten as she herself was on her way to the store?

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How to Fix a Misplaced Modifier

To fix a misplaced modifier, move the modifier next to the word or clause it modifies. Notice in the changed above examples, the modified words are closer to their modifiers. 

• "People who rarely laugh are sad."
• "On the way to the store, she saw a puppy and a kitten."

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Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier is similar to a misplaced modify, but slightly different. In a dangling modifier, the modifier is present, but the word that it modifies is absent. In the next examples, the modifiers have been italicized. 

Notice how the modifiers lack a word to modify.

• "Walking down the street, the weather was fine."
• Who walked down the street?
• "Bored of the long trip, John's excitement rose as he spotted a rest house."
• John's excitement is incapable of being bored

How to Fix Dangling Modifiers

To fix a dangling modifier, include the missing modified word into the clause that contains the modifier. Using the earlier examples, the modifiers have been italicized, while the newly included modified words are underlined.

• "Walking down the street, I saw the weather was fine."
• "John felt bored of the long trip, but his excitement rose as he spotted a rest house."

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Review

Tips on How to Spot Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers

• Use your eyes! Many grammar checkers often miss a misplaced modifier or a dangling modifier

1. Identify the words that are being modified and the words that modify the aforementioned words
2. Are the modifiers and modified words close together? If not, check to see if they fit the criteria for a misplaced/dangling modifier
3. Rewrite the sentence so that the modifiers and modified words are as close together as possible

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Avoid Helping Verbs and Modal Verbs

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List of Helping Verbs and Modal Verbs

Helping Verbs

• Will, shall, may, might, can, could, must, ought to, should, would, used to, and need

Modal Verbs

• Can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would

How to Write Clearer and More Efficiently

Now that a college student knows how to fix most of their grammar issues, it is time to move on to writing style tips. The focus of this article will be on how to improve the flow of a written work, according to the advice provided by the Senior Editors of Yahoo! (Barr, C., & Senior Editors of Yahoo!, 2010)

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How to Use Determiners

A determiner is a word that comes in front of a noun. 

• "The cat is sleeping."
• "A giant bird just flew past my head."
• "Dude, did you eat my pizza?"
• "Both blinds were drawn fully open to let the moonlight seep inside the room."

Why Using Determiners Improves Your Writing

• Reduces the grade level of your writing
• Makes it easier for non-native English speakers to translate the written work

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How to Untangle Messy Sentences

1. Check for Excessive Gerunds

• "Slipping the round peg into the electrical configuration, making sure that it fits properly, adjusting it for proper fitting." 

    2.    Remove Unnecessary Modal Verbs

• "Can you if you would, the shortest route to Kansas is by bus."

    3.    Avoid Passive Sentences

• "I have been running since I was at least six years old."
• This rule never applies if you follow an old/new pattern (see below)

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Follow an Old/New Pattern

An old/new pattern occurs when you start the next sentence of a paragraph with a subject that has been introduced in a previous sentence.

"The dog ate from its bowl. The bowl was very clean. Cleanliness is important for dog owners. Dog owners must make sure that their dogs avoid becoming sick."

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Review

How to Make Your Writing Clearer

• Use Determiners
• The, a/an, both, many, some, few, etc.,
• Untangle your sentences
• Check for gerunds
• They are verbs that end with -ing, running, hitting, swinging, etc.,
• Check for modal verbs
• Can, could, would, shall, might, etc.,
• Avoid passive sentences
• Instead of "she has been running until she became tired," use "she ran until she was completely tired."
• Follow the old/new pattern
• Remember that it is okay to use a passive sentence if a new subject has been introduced in a previous sentence

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Commonly Confused Words

Now that we have finished the most common mistakes college students make in terms of commas, it is important to mention that many college students make mistakes in terms of word choice. 7.8% of students make a mistake in regards to word choice, according to a 1988 study (Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A., 1988).

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Here is a list of the commonly confused words (Lunsford, A., 2008).

A lot and alot

• A lot is a phrase that describes the group of a noun
• "A lot of ducks gathered at the pond."
• Alot is a word that is mistakenly used in place of "a lot"
• "You will never find the word 'alot' in any dictionary."

Accept and except

• Accept is a word that describes when a person gives a sense of permission
• "I will accept the terms of the agreement."
• Except is a word that describes when an object has been excluded
• "I like all dogs, except for a Weimaraner."

Affect and effect

• Affect is a word, as a verb only, and describes influence
• "The wind will affect the rain patterns."
• Effect is a word, as a noun only, and describes influence
• "The effect of the tornado caused houses to be ruined."

All ready and already

• All ready is a phrase that describes a preparation
• "The meal was all ready to eat."
• Already is a word, as an adverb only, that describes a quality of readiness
• "I was already hungry by the time I sat down to eat." 

Altogether and all together

• Altogether is a word, as an adverb only, that describes the entire status of an object
• "The painting was altogether beautiful in an eerie way."
• All together is a phrase that describes the state of togetherness
• "All together, we looked like a group of misfits and nerds."

Among and between

• Among is a word that describes when an object has been found near another object
• "The grass looked clean among the piles of raked leaves."
• Between is a word that describes when an object has been stuck against another object
• "I found this book between the history and fantasy sections of the library."

Apart and a part

• Apart is a word that describes the state of being apart
• "Apart from the yellow frame, the picture looked gorgeous."
• A part is a phrase that describes a single noun as an individual
• "A part of me wanted to run away from the screaming crowd."

Cite, sight, and site

• Cite is a word, only as a verb, that describes a quote on a document
• "Never forget to cite your sources on a research project."
• Sight is a word, only as a noun, that describes the quality of vision
• "The sight of the nation's flag inspired the patriots."
• Site is a word, only a noun, that describes a specific place with a specific boundary
• "The construction site had been vacant for some time."

Complement and compliment

• Complement is a word that describes a quality that creates a beneficial influence between any two objects
• "Our personalities complement one another."
• Compliment is a word that describes an act that gives praise
• "I will give a compliment when it is needed to keep the workers happy."

Farther and further

• Farther is a word that describes a specific distance
• "The farther I go, the more I realize I have yet to accomplish."
• Further is a word that describes an uncertain distance 
• "Any further and I would have perished in the dry desert of the Sahara."

It's and its

• It's is a shorthand for the phrase "it is"
• "It's going to be a long day."
• Its is the possessive pronoun of the pronoun "it"
• "The monster ate its bones and belched loudly."

Lay and lie

• Lay is a word, unattached to a preposition, that describes the act of laying 
• "I will lay in the grass to rest."
• Lie is a word, always attached to a preposition, that describes the act of laying 
• "I need to lie down for a nap."

Lose and loose

• Lose is a word that describes the act of a loss
• "I will lose the game at this rate."
• Loose is a word that describes the state of non-togetherness
• "The feathers fit like a loose clump in my hand."

Than, their, and they're

• Than is a word that uses a comparison with another object
• "I will be prettier than her when we compete at the dance."
• Their is a word that describes the possession of an object by a group
• "That rock is their diving board to the waterfall."
• They're is a shorthand for the phrase "they are"
• "They're coming to greet us soon, be ready."

Then and than

• Then is a word that describes a later period in time
• "I ate a cheese dog and then took a nap."
• Than is a word that uses a comparison with another object
• "I will be prettier than her when we compete at the dance."

Too, two, and to

• Too is a word that describes an extremeness or a degree 
• "I am too smart for my own good."
• Two is a word that describes the presence of two objects
• "There are two eyes on a human's face."
• To is a word that describes the act of being toward
• "I went to the football game."

Who and whom

• Who is a word, as a subject only, that describes an unknown noun
• "Who ate my pizza?"
• Whom is a word, as an object only, that describes an unknown noun
• "To whom it may concern, I was about to eat that pizza."

Who, which, and that

• Who is a word, as a subject only, that describes an unknown noun
• "Who ate my pizza?"
• Which is a word that takes the place of a noun in question
• "Which of you ate my pizza?"
• That is a word that describes a reference to a group or an individual object
• "That perfect pizza was what I have been wanting this whole time."

You're and your

• You're is a shorthand for the phrase "you are"
• "You're going to eat your vegetables young lady."
• Your is a word that describes a possessive object for the pronoun "you"
• "I accidentally ate your pizza, I am sorry."

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Review

Tips on How to Prevent the Use of a Wrong Word

• Rely on your eyes, many of the similar sounding words in the English language will pass through a spelling checker or a grammar checker
• Read backwards and zoom-in closely to see the text from another fresh perspective
• Consult an online dictionary if in doubt on a word's usage
• First type "define:X" into the Google search engine
• Replace X with the word you need to search quickly
• Next, check the category of the word
• Ask yourself if the word fit as a noun, adverb, preposition, verb, or adjective

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A Comma Splice

This article stays with the theme of the common errors a college student makes when they use a comma. A comma splice is such a common error. 5.5% of college students will neglect to put a comma between two independent clauses (Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A., 1988). 

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Independent Clauses

To fix a comma splice, you must be able to identify independent clauses. Having been previously mentioned on this blog, a lonely clause is a clause unable to be a complete sentence. An independent clause is a clause that is the opposite, however, and can be a complete sentence. 

In these next two examples, the lonely clauses are underlined and the independent clauses are italicized. Notice how the lonely clauses are unable to be a complete sentence, while the independent clauses can be a complete sentence. 

• “We will throw you a party, because you want to take time off.”
• “If we want to win, we will work harder.”

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A Comma Splice

A comma splice happens when a comma joins two independent clauses. This is incorrect because in this case the comma functions as a semicolon (Williams, E. H., 2013). A semicolon joins two independent clauses. 

Here are two examples of a comma splice. Notice how the parts of the sentence between the commas function each as a complete sentence. 

• “The dog ate its meal, it looked up and wagged its tail.”
• “Twenty sets of plates were laid on the table, every plate had its own unique design.”

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Review

How to Fix Comma Splices

• Rewrite the independent clauses so that each have their own sentence
• Rewrite the sentence so that a semicolon replaces the comma
• Rewrite the sentence and add a joining word from this list after the comma
• And, but, or, yet, for, nor, so
• “The dog ate its meal, so it looked up and wagged its tail.”
• After, although, because, before, if, since, though, unless, until, when, where, while
• “Twenty sets of plates were laid on the table, since every plate had its own unique design.”

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Parenthetical Commas

Many college writers forget to put a parenthetical comma in their sentences. 6.5% of college writers will neglect to put a parenthetical comma in their sentences. This error is the sixth most common writing mistake among all college students (Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A., 1988). 

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Parenthetical Commas

A parenthetical comma shows two ideas in a sentence, shows a contrast in a sentence, or shows a moderate/heavy pause in a sentence. A second idea or a word that creates contrast or a pause is put between the two commas in a sentence. These two commas are called the parenthetical commas (Kahn, J., 2013).  

Here are four examples of a correct parenthetical comma use. Notice how the two ideas show themselves in the examples, or show a contrast or a moderate/heavy pause. 

• “The rain, while pleasantly mild, made the air humid.”
• “My cat, Twitchy, loves catnip.”
• “My fiancé showed up late to our wedding, however, I forgave him.”
• “The cat crouched by the hole, meanwhile, the mouse was busy helping itself to some cheese.”

Let’s break the four examples down further.

“The rain, while pleasantly mild, made the air humid.” 

• The first idea is that the rain made the air humid
• The second idea is that the rain is pleasantly mild

“My cat, Twitchy, loves catnip.”

• The first idea is that my cat loves catnip
• The second idea is that my cat is Twitchy

“My husband showed up late to our wedding, however, I forgave him.”

• The first idea is that the husband showed up late
• The second idea is that the implied wife forgave her husband
• The “however” between the two parenthetical commas shows the contrast between the first and the second idea

“The cat crouched by the hole, meanwhile, the mouse was busy helping itself to some cheese.”

• The first idea is that the cat crouched by the hole
• The second idea is that the mouse was helping itself to some cheese
• The “meanwhile” between the two parenthetical commas shows the heavy pause between the first and the second idea

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Review

When to Use Parenthetical Commas

• To show in a sentence there are two ideas present
• To show a moderate or a heavy pause
• To show a contrast of two ideas
• To show a sentence that starts with a main subject and follows with any of these words
• Which
• “The snake, which had been curled up sleeping, hissed and bared its fangs.”
• When
• “The earthquake, when it had occurred, destroyed several buildings.”
• Where
• “The statue, where it had been placed, drew attention from tourists.”
• Being
• “The girl, being short, had difficulty reaching the top shelf."

When to Avoid the Use of Parenthetical Commas

• There is a presence of more than two ideas in the sentence
• There is a slight pause
• There is a long phrase in the second idea that works better as a standalone sentence
• There is a sentence that starts with a main subject and follows with the word “who”
• “The man who was drunk crashed into a tree.”

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Introductory Commas

College students often forget to add an introductory comma to their sentences. 11.5% of college students will forget to add an introductory comma to their sentences, according to a 1988 study (Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A., 1988). An introductory comma introduces an action, a subject, or a previous idea, and makes them easier to see.

Now how do college students know where to find an introductory comma?  Let us explore these three situations.

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Lonely Clause

Some introductory commas are in sentences that start with a lonely clause. A lonely clause is a clause that relies on the other part of the sentence in order to work.

The lonely clauses are underlined in the next two examples. Notice how a comma joins the lonely clause to the rest of the sentence.

• “We will throw you a party, because you want to take time off.”
• “We will work harder, if we want to win.”

An introductory comma comes after a lonely clause. If we change the above examples so that they have the introductory commas, they will look like this.

• “Because you want to take time off, we will throw you a party.”
• “If we want to win, we will work harder.”

The introductory commas are needed because they introduce information in a lonely clause. A lonely clause that has an introductory comma will always start with an adverb such as after, although, as, because, before, if, since, though, until, when, etc. (Lunsford, A., 2008).

Introductory Phrase

An introductory comma also appears after an introductory phrase. An introductory phrase is a phrase that comes before the main subject. Unlike a lonely clause, an introductory phrase lacks the main subject of the sentence.

The introductory phrases are underlined in the next two examples. Notice that the introductory phrases lack the main subject of the sentence.

• “To beat the game and claim the prize, you must understand the rules.”
• “A new person in town, Jake was lost."

Introductory Word

An introductory comma also appears after an introductory word. An introductory word is a word that creates flow from one sentence to another.

• “He tried to think of his opponent’s next move. Meanwhile, his opponent knew he had already won.”
• “Michael Phelps won many Olympic gold medals in swimming. Therefore, he is a good swimmer.”

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Review

When to Use an Introductory Comma

• After a lonely clause that starts a sentence
• After an introductory phrase
• After an introductory word

When to Avoid an Introductory Comma

• The introductory phrase is fewer than five words
• “To get ahead Frank painted the shelves."
• The introductory comma separates the subject from the main verb
• “Quickly he ran to the stop sign realizing that it had fallen.”

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Want more practice? Check the top of the page for practice problems.

Blog Introduction

This blog is for college students who wish to improve how they write. College students are welcome to use this blog to study better writing. For better writing, the help articles within this blog teach college students what they will use in the creative writing and technical writing career fields.

On the blog, students in college will find practice problems that will make them feel confident of their ability to find and remove mistakes in written works. The practice problems come with an answer key found on this blog. On the blog, the answer key is on the top row, third button from the left.

Most importantly, this blog encourages and gives college students that necessary freedom to ask for the live writing help that this blog’s owner provides free of charge. The live writing help works through the support software called Zopim.

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To Request Live Writing Help

1. In the bottom right corner, find the live writing help button
• If the button is gone, disable any adblock or privacy add-ons in your browser (Adblock Plus, Ghostery, NoScript, etc.,)
2. Leave a message with your given name or nickname and specifically your question about writing
3. Wait for a reply
• If the blog owner is away, expect a reply within 1-2 business days
• If the blog owner is online, expect a reply within one hour unless the blog owner is busy

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Conclusion

This blog focuses on the top five most common writing errors. These top five most common writing errors were found in 300 undergraduate papers in a 1988 case study (Connors, R. J., & Lunsford, A. A., 1988). The most common writing errors were in the usage of commas.

This blog covers style issues that turn text into weasel writing. Weasel writing is text that makes readers work harder to learn the text’s meaning. Readers must be able to learn the meaning easily when they read, and for technical writers this task is their daily job. Technical writers will learn methods that will make their writing clear, concise, and effective. Creative writers will learn ways to shorten the time they have to spend on drafts.

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