FINAL EXAM

Name: Date:

Part 1 Wordiness (50 points)

Including unnecessary words is tiresome for the reader and can make an essay hard to read. Often, you can tighten a wordy passage by substituting a single word for a long phrase or by taking out words that are repetitive or don’t add meaning to a sentence.

This paragraph contains ten (10) sentences. Rewrite the paragraph, eliminating words/phrases that are wordy or redundant. You may also combine or eliminate sentences as you revise.

There is little doubt that technology has changed the way people can communicate with other people who are male or female, young or old.(1) Because computers used to be so large in size that they took up an entire room, very few people had access to computers. (2) Additionally, computers used to be extremely expensive; therefore, very few people could afford to own them.(3) Due to the fact that computers have become smaller in size and less expensive, computers are readily available to a wide range of people. (4) Desktop computers and laptop computers are quite common these days.(5) People use them to make phone calls, send text messages, and email other people with whom they want to communicate.(6) Also, in today’s day and age, many adults, teenagers, and children have smartphones that they carry around with them in their pockets, purses back packs, or briefcases.(7) They can use these phones to call, text message, and email their friends, family members, and co-workers. (8) One can only imagine how computers will continue to affect communication in the near or distant future. (9) Without a doubt, it will not bear a resemblance to present day today. (10)

Part 2 Identify the sentence error in the following (50 points):

____________1. Like most black people, Rick is a great basketball player

a. biased language; b. slang; c. cliché

____________2. The hospital employees spend much of their time helping patients, writing charts, and they also develop procedures.

a. correct as is; b. faulty parallelism; c. sentence fragment

____________3. Mary likes to hike, swim, and ride a bike.

a. Correct as is; b. faulty parallelism; c. comma splice

___________4. Susan bought a cell phone for her daughter with broken buttons.

a. correct as is; misplaced modifier; faulty parallelism

___________5. The exquisite lunch was prepared by chefs ranging from lobster bisque to steak bernaise.

a. correct as is; run-on; misplaced modifier

____________6. It seems to be true that much of humankind enjoys having pets, such as felines and canines, around to help alleviate feelings of loneliness and anxiety.

a. correct as it; b. wordiness; c. faulty parallelism

___________7. Rachel Carson’s “A Fable for Tomorrow,” is an example of which writing mode?

a. Process; b. Comparison/ Contrast; c. Argumentation

____________8. In “How to Mark a Book,” Adler says that full ownership of a book comes when?

a. when it always looks new; b. when it is filled with your writing and underlining; c. neither a. nor b.

____________9. In a Process essay, what is most important?

a. the steps involved in the process; b. descriptive language; c. dialogue

____________10. In a Comparison/Contrast essay, the writer may …

a. use the block or point-by-point method; b. create a dominant impression; c. use flashbacks

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