Exam 1: Writing Effective Paragraphs

Instructions: What kind of paragraph or essay is required by each of the following questions? Select the letter of the correct answer. What are the main ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson s essay Self-Reliance ?

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) According to researchers, babies can be classified according to their temperament, the general pattern of their emotional reactions to their environments. (2) In the first category are the easy babies, who account for about 40 percent of all babies. (3) They are usually in a positive mood, and they adapt well to new situations. (4) Another category contains the difficult babies, who make up about 10 percent of all infants. (5) They are often in a bad mood, and they exhibit signs of stress when placed in new situations. (6) The next group, the slow-to-warm-up babies, account for 15 percent of all infants. (7) They are moody, and they struggle to adapt to new experiences, but to a lesser degree than the difficult babies. (8) In the last group are the mixed-pattern babies, the 35 percent of infants who do not fall clearly into any of the other three groups because their moods and reactions are less predictable. Select the number of the topic sentence in the paragraph above.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Satire is a type of humor that attacks or exposes foolishness or lack of good sense of a subject using sarcasm, wit, or irony. (2) Subjects of satire can be specific individuals or organizations. (3) Examples of modern satire include three popular animated TV comedy series: Family Guy , South Park , and The Simpsons . (4) All three repeatedly make fun of the modern American middle-class lifestyle as well as all other aspects of American culture and society. (5) In particular, greedy, selfish, or ineffective authority figures including parents, teachers, principals, police officers, elected officials, and the clergy are favorite targets of ridicule in all three of these comedies. (6) Other examples of modern television satire are The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report , two fake news programs that poke fun at the media, government, and politics. How many examples does the writer use to develop the topic sentence?

Instructions: Each group below contains one correct sentence. In each group, select the letter of the sentence that is correct. Which sentence is correct?

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct noun for each blank. Several hotel ____ refused to let him stay with the team when the Dodgers went on road trips.

Instructions: Read the paragraph below and answer the question(s) that follow. (1) Both a cold and the flu can make you miserable, but they are different in several ways. (2) Experts say a cold will go away by itself. (3) However, the flu can lead to pneumonia and other serious or even deadly problems. (4) A cold usually comes on gradually, accompanied by little or no fever. (5) In contrast, the flu comes on suddenly, and its fever can spike as high as 104 degrees and linger for three or four days. (6) Someone with a cold might experience mild body aches and fatigue, but the flu often brings severe body aches, deep fatigue, chills, and a major headache. (7) In general, a cold is wet, with much congestion, a runny nose, and even runny eyes. (8) The flu, on the other hand, is far drier, marked by a dry cough. Select the number of the topic sentence in the paragraph above.

Instructions: Identify each of the following definitions as a synonym definition, class definition, or definition by negation. Select the letter of the correct answer. Love is not just a feeling but also a stimulus for certain actions and behaviors.

Instructions: The following sentences form a paragraph. For each item, select the underlined part that contains an error. In fact, psychologist s have identified four major types of stress. The first type is stress that comes from major life changes.

Instructions: The following sentences form an essay. Select the correct verb for each blank. Activities ____ to appeal to both adult and child.

Instructions: For each Works Cited page entry below, select the answer Correct if the entry is correctly formatted according to MLA guidelines. Select the answer Incorrect if the entry is not correctly formatted. Miller, Peter. Weather Gone Wild. National Geographic , 2012.

Instructions: Select the letter of the answer that correctly identifies the subject and complete verb in each sentence. You should bring a change of clothes to the beach.

Instructions: For each of the following sentences, select correct if the sentence is punctuated correctly, fragment if it is a fragment, run-on if it is a run-on, and comma splice if it is a comma splice. George Washington often attended barbecues in the years before the Revolutionary War.

Instructions: In each set below, select the letter of the sentence in which commas are used correctly. In which sentence are commas used correctly?

Instructions: Select the letter of the correct answer. Which prewriting technique involves writing down associations that branch out from a topic in the center?

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. Select the correct adjective or adverb for each blank. Some have argued that the wreck is a mass grave site, so the ____ thing to do is leave it undisturbed.

Instructions: The paragraphs of the following essay have been scrambled so that they are out of order. Read them and then answer the question(s) that follow. Visual Memories of Arizona _____ (1) First, was the massive 415 foot center field wall that surrounded the beauty that was the diamond. (2) Lush green grass swayed gently back in forth in the soft breeze. (3) The cloudless blue skies allowed the golden-yellow sun to beat down on us. (4) Two shattered wood bats, both from my doing, lay in the garbage can in the long crowded dugout. (5) The smell of pine tar filled the air as batters rubbed it on the bat handles for an extra grip. (6) The pitcher s mound is where I took root most of the time, staring the opposing batters down and waiting for the sign to be called. (7) This was one of the most beautiful fields I had ever played on. _____ (8) Finally, my Grandma s cozy little house was the perfect place to come and relax after a long day of baseball. (9) Paintings that my grandma had made of fruit, vegetation, and scenery cluttered the walls all over the house. (10) Also, the granite floors and countertops brought a nice sense of style to the house, and if anyone knew my grandma, they would know she s all about style. (11) My room was small and contained all her sewing materials and art supplies. (12) The table and countertops were lined with: fresh fruit, muffins, and a platter of eggs and bacon every morning for us to eat before our long days of baseball. (13) Behind her house was one of the seven golf courses that could be found in her city. (14) My Grandma s house was the ultimate post game getaway. _____ (15) Next, were the spectacular mountain views, the cacti and palm trees, and the animals that are native to the western area. (16) Enormous mountains bordered the highways and the diamonds that we played on. (17) Palm trees ran down both sides of the road that my grandma lived on along with a few strays that could be found by the field. (18) Green, prickly cacti were in every yard as shrubbery and were also outside of buildings and the ball diamonds. (19) We even came across a roadrunner and a jack rabbit after one of our games; however, the roadrunner didn t look anything like it did on television. (20) Arizona is probably the most spectacular state I have ever visited. _____ (21) My trip to Arizona will stay with me for the rest of my life. (22) I will never forget all the amazing people I met or the memories I made with them. (23) The ball diamonds, beautiful scenery, and my Grandma s little house made my trip what it was. (24) Now I can only wait to see what next year s trip holds for me. _____ (25) I recently took a trip to Arizona for a father-son baseball tournament. (26) On the plane trip there it was very crowded and noisy, mostly from the baby crying the whole way there. (27) Once we got there we could immediately feel the climate change as the heat was dry; our lips became chapped and our skin became dry. (28) My teammates were some of the best I could have ever asked for. (29) Above all, the ball diamonds, lush scenery, and my Grandma s cozy little house are the things that I remember the most. Sam Foutch, Student This essay is a(n) a. process essay. b. narrative essay. c. illustration essay.

Instructions: The following sentences form a passage. For each one, select the type of error in the sentence. If the sentence is free of mechanics errors, select Correct. Children of the Kindertransport One foster daughter asks her adoptive father why he took part in the Kindertransport. I knew I could not save the world, he says. I knew I could not stop the war from starting, but I could save one human life.

Instructions: Identify each of the following definitions as a synonym definition, class definition, or definition by negation. Select the letter of the correct answer. An essay is not just a padded paragraph but a short composition that develops more ideas about a topic.

Instructions: Select the correct past participle for each blank. In addition, the famous bulb has ____ in the Guinness Book of World Records and on Ripley s Believe-It-or-Not .

Instructions: Each group of sentences below could be unscrambled and written as a paragraph. Read each group, and select the letter of the topic sentence for each. Select the topic sentence.