Lesson #1 - Writing Assignment

LESSON # l - WRITING ASSIGNMENT


Write a BIO of at least two paragraphs (200 - 300 words) telling us about yourself, your interests, where you are from, or whatever you'd be comfortable in sharing with us. If you submit 199 words or less, you will be penalized. Be sure to use a selection of complex sentences demonstrating ALL SEVEN of the comma rules we studied in this lesson. If you use a comma in your bio and find that none of the rules apply to that comma, it is probably because we have not studied that Rule yet. Just put a (?) next to that comma and you will be okay. Below your Bio, write out each rule you used. (You can just copy the rules from the list below, and paste them into your static item) Number each comma used and not used which demonstrates those rules, and coordinate that number with the applied rule. Confused? Here’s an example:

My Biography

My handle is Phoenix, (#1) and I have been a member of WDC for over a year. My family consists of a husband, a son and myself. (?) Although I work in education, (#2) I need a lot of work on grammar and punctuation. The primary reason that I am not (#4c) well versed in grammar is because I teach science. As an Earth Science teacher I spend the majority of my days, when I'm not on break, (#4a) teaching twelve-year olds about geology, water/weather, volcanoes, astronomy and natural resources (?). Each day I log on to WDC, (#1) and I wish that I had (#4c) completed one of the writing classes that my college offered.

I am an eager, newbie writer (#3a) who has spent the last year attempting to learn the intricacies of the writing process. I have spent every year of my thirty-six years devouring works of fiction and non-fiction. My current goals include: expanding my writing experiences, reading more non-fiction writing books and learning about commas (?). To that end, (?) I have set up a blog, (#1) and I am keeping track of my goals on a monthly (ish) basis. I hope to publish something in the next few years.


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)