These are my answers to the questions pertaining to Chapter 3 in the Dynamics of Media Writing workbook:
a. For writers and readers, grammar and style matters because it enhances a work’s credibility, trustworthiness, understandability, consistency, and efficiency. These improve the connection between the piece and its audience.
b. The “holy trinity” of a sentence is made up by the pattern of noun-verb-object.
c. The benefits of active-voice structure: it makes sentences shorter, clearer, and stronger — hence, more concise and efficient.
d. One way to find grammar/structural errors in sentences is to read your work aloud. While doing this, keep note of the sentences’ rhythms as well as your breath until the end of the piece.
e. A way to tell if your work has too many prepositional phrases is if a sentence has two or more prepositional phrases. The piece will also sounds song-like or flow in short spurts.
f. An antecedent is a thing or event that comes before another thing or event. In relation to pronouns, antecedents are the words to which pronouns refer.
g. Some important things to examine between antecedents and pronouns are collective nouns and singular nouns, as well as pronoun-antecedent agreements.
h. To avoid problems with antecedent-pronoun agreements (caused by the lack of a gender-neutral pronoun), pluralize singular nouns.
1a.
a. Clare and her went to the movies last weekend.
b. I gave Roger and him a chance to come with us.
c. I can’t believe neither of them wanted to go.
d. The class will take its final exam on Wednesday.
e. The Cleveland Cavaliers will play their final game on Friday.
f. Each member of the Cavaliers will practice their free throws before the game.
g. The cat lost its favorite toy under the couch.
h. The ball wasn’t thrown to him or me, which is good because neither him nor I would have caught it.
2a.
a. Among the six people in your house, who is the oldest?
b. Jim told me he definitely supported the president, backing every choice the leader made.
c. As much as Chaz loved to win, he hated to lose even more.
d. After her car accident, Jillian was wracked with pain every day.
e. After a skunk sprayed him, Spot just wreaked for days.
f. I tried to break him of that habit, but Victor just would not stop smoking.
g. I took my rod and reel down to the pond in hope of catching some fish.
h. After she lost her bid for Congress, Kayla’s victory party essentially was moot.
i. He kept his father’s old plane in the hangar out back.
j. The envelope was unopened, but we all wanted to see what was inside.
k. When the Rev. Carlton Smith approached the altar, he invoked God to help lead his flock.
l. When Susie got to the baseball game, she found her seat in the middle of the aisle.
m. Lilly’s favorite comedy troupe was performing at a theater on Smith Street.
n. The mayor cited his favorite law during the debate.
o. Andrea seemed to have a flair for the dramatic.
3a.
a. Active
b. Active
c. Passive
d. Active
e. Active
f. Passive
g. Active
h. Passive
i. Active
j. Passive
k. Active
l. Active
Hope you’re having a sublime day!