Lesson One - Writing - Bio

Lesson One – Writing Assignment

MY BIO

Hi!  My name is JoDe,(4a) which is a contraction of my first and middle names,(4a) JoAnne DeWitt.  I was born in New Orleans,(?) LA(1) but moved to Connecticut in 1962.  I graduated from high school in 1970(1) and got a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from East Carolina University.    It is now a part of the University of North Carolina(1) and they no longer call it Home Ec. 

I married my high school sweetheart and went back to school for Secondary Ed. and Political Science,(1) but I only subbed high school social studies.  However,(4a) I did teach variety of Adult Ed classes for twenty years.  In 1977,( we moved into a hundred year-old,(3a) Victorian(3b) frame house and lived there for nearly twenty-four years,(?) until I filed for divorce in 2001.

Then I came out to Tucson, AZ to spend the winter with my parents.  I met a man and(1) fell in love.  When my divorce was final,(2) I moved out here and(1) bought a house.  Just two weeks after moving into my house(4b) my gentleman friend died.  Two weeks after that(4c) my dad died.  Whew!  And I thought the year-long divorce was a bad time…

But I managed to regroup and move along.  Eighteen months ago my brother,(4a) in Connecticut,(4a) died so,(1)(4a) after fifty-six childless years,(4a) I became a mom to my seventeen-year-old nephew,(?) RJ.  This should explain why I seem crazy.  It’s because I am—now!  I have two wire-haired fox terriers,(1) and RJ has a little,(3a) mini-dachshund/Chihuahua puppy.  My ex-Marine,(4a) David, has a fox terrier,(4a) as well.  I love needlework,(?) reading and,(4a) of course,(4a) writing.











RULES OF COMMA USAGE:

Rule #1 -  Compound Sentences With Coordinating Conjunctions (use commas)

Rule #2 -  Introductory Adverbial Clauses  (use commas)

Rule #3a - Coordinate Adjectives (use commas)

Rule #3b - Non-Coordinate Adjectives (don’t use commas)

Rule #4a - Non-Essential Elements (use commas)

Rule #4b - Essential Elements (don't use commas)

Rule #4c - Essential "That" Clauses (don't use commas)