Class Material Week 12

What is the most commonly used punctuation in academic writing?

• Period, comma, quotation marks, colon, semi-colon and apostrophe.

• Period, comma, and apostrophe.

• Period and apostrophe.

• Period, comma, quotation marks, colon, and apostrophe.

While a capital letter marks the beginning of a sentence, a period marks the end of a sentence. A period is used to indicate the end of a statement, command and indirect question. A period signals the end of a thought.                            

• Yes

• No

Comma is not used to indicate a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence.

• Yes

• No

Semi-colon is used to separata two related independent clauses.

Example: In Singapore, the president fulfils the functions of both political leader and head of state; however, these two functions are separate in Malaysia.

• Yes

• No

Punctuate the following text and change the capitalisation when necessary.

conversely in the past only rich people would have access to formal education therefore most people did not have a lot of opportunities to study

Answer explanation

Conversely, in the past, only rich people would have access to formal education; therefore, most people did not have a lot of opportunities to study.

Punctuate the following text and change the capitalisation when necessary.

when comparing between living in a city and living in a rural area one should consider some salient points cost of living space and accessibility an article entitled Country Living versus Urban Living suggests that as both options have advantages and drawbacks it is vital for a person to recognise his or her priorities before investing on the property location

The text below contains 10 punctuation errors. Correct the following errors.

One similarity between Brazil and the United States is the diversity of the population. Brazil was colonised by Europeans; and it’s culture has been greatly influenced by this fact, however, Brazilians identity was influenced by many other cultures as well. According to (Wenger, 2018), other than the indigenous people, Brazil is a melting pot of many ethnic groups that immigrated there. Similarly, the United States also has a diversity of ethnic groups from the Native American population and early colonists from northern Europe, to slave groups from Africa. Later “immigrants” from the Mediterranean, Asia, and South America added to the diversity of its citizens. the mixture of: cultures and customs, has worked to form ethnically rich cultures in both countries.

 

Adapted from Muchmore-Vokoun, A., Solomon, E. & Folse, K. (2019). Great writing 4: Great Essays (5^th ed.). Cengage Learning

Answer explanation

One similarity between Brazil and the United States is the diversity of the population. Brazil was colonised by (1) Europeans, and (2) its culture has been greatly influenced by this fact. (3) However, OR ; however, Brazilians’ identity was influenced by many other cultures as well. According to (4) Wenger (2018), other than the indigenous people, Brazil is a melting pot of many ethnic groups that immigrated there. Similarly, the United States also has a diversity of ethnic groups from the Native American population and early colonists from northern Europe (5) (no comma) to slave groups from Africa. Later (6) immigrants from the Mediterranean, Asia (7) (no comma) and South America added to the diversity of its citizens. (8) The mixture of (9) (no colon) cultures and customs (10) (no comma) has worked to form ethnically rich cultures in both countries.

Fill in the blanks with the correct tenses (simple present / simple past / present perfect) of the verbs in the parenthesis.

Over the years, technology evidently __________ (change) our society.

Fill in the blanks with the correct tenses (simple present / simple past / present perfect) of the verbs in the parenthesis.

In the past, technology __________ (be) not really familiarised, thus the old generation __________ (has) to ensure that their task is done without any programmed device that they could use.

Fill in the blanks with the correct tenses (simple present / simple past / present perfect) of the verbs in the parenthesis.

An undergraduate student from a local university recently __________ (create) this user-friendly website.