Part I is an introduction to the 8 Structures of Punctuation. Essentially, there are 8 foundational sentence structures we will familiarize ourselves with. They are introduced on the following page. Following George Orwell's essay, "Politics and the English Language," we don't want to view language as some "natural growth" that falls from the sky but rather as an "instrument" or tool that "we shape for our own purposes." Thus, language, and by extension grammar, are not arbitrary systems, but tools designed to maintain our clarity of expression. Likewise, punctuation is a tool designed to maintain one's clarity of expression and help avoid misunderstandings. This is all to say that punctuation affects meaning. For example, "The kids cheered, 'let's eat grandma'." With the absence of any additional punctuation, this sentence reads that these cannibalistic children are not inviting their grandmother to eat but to be eaten. Adding a comma after "eat" would indicate that the kids are inviting their grandmother to eat with them: "The kids cheered, "let's eat, Grandma." Our ability to accurately punctuate largely depends on our ability to distinguish between Independent and Dependent Clauses. Every combination of words is either an Independent Clause or a Dependent Clause. Every sentence needs at least one Independent Clause, which expresses a subject, predicate, and complete idea. A sentence can have as many dependent clauses as the author desires, but each dependent clause must be attached to an independent clause in order to stand as a complete sentence; otherwise by itself, the dependent clause is a fragment. One wants to think about the Independent clause as the main idea, which is comprised of an actor (person, place, or thing: subject) and the action (the predicate or verb). One wants to think of dependent clauses as supporting details. Depending on which we start with, either an Independent or a Dependent clause, will indicate how to punctuate the sentence. Take a look at the 8 structures on the following page.After reviewing the sentence structure models, please attempt an exemplification of each sentence structure.

The 8 Structures of Punctuation First: What three things does an Independent Clause need to have? A subject (Actor)+A predicate (Action)+Every word produces a complete thought that can stand alone = Independent Clause Ex: The food tasted good. 1Subject = food; 2predicate = tasted; 3all words contribute to a complete thought Independent Clauses are often initiated by starting a sentence with an article, adjective, verb, or noun. Second: a Dependent Clause is missing at least one of the above criteria. It is a fragment or incomplete idea that cannot stand alone as a sentence. Ex: that he made (eliminating 'that' would yield a correct sentence) Dependent Clauses are often initiated by starting a sentence with a preposition, an adverb, or any short introductory word or phrase as in "wow, punctuation isn't that hard"

Directives: Demonstrate mastery of the eight foundational sentence structures introduced in Unit 1. If you write eight random sentences without following the directions, you will fail this graded assessment. Please review Unit 1 before proceeding with this major graded assessment.

1.) Provide an example of a periodic sentence. To do this, write a dependent clause by starting a sentence with a preposition, adverb or short introductory detail ending with a comma, and then provide an independent clause.

Ex: After close to a decade of grammar school, I still don't accurately punctuate.

2.) Provide an example of a loose or cumulative sentence. One can accomplish this by starting a sentence with a noun, pronoun, adjective, article, or verb combined with a subject in a statement where every word contributes to the expression of a complete idea; one can then add on dependent supporting details to that idea without punctuation.

Ex: I am hoping that a meager investment of time with moderate attention and minimal focus will magically yield remedial results in my fluency of expression.

3.) Demonstrate punctuation mastery of a coordinating conjunction. Connect at least two independent clauses with a comma and coordinating conjunction.

EX: There's a correlation between practice and improved expertise, but I rather wallow in self pity and blame others for not teaching while I make no effort at learning.

4.) Demonstrate mastery of semicolon usage; connect TWO independent clauses with a semicolon.

Most languages share the same grammatical concepts as English; most languages use punctuation to indicate the movement between independent and dependent clauses; many possess concepts of verb tense conjugation, pronoun, and article agreement; many demonstrate consistent patterns of syntax; many of the words in English originate from other languages.

EX: English is a crazy and idiosyncratic language; it just requires time and practiced expertise to attain our best results.

5.) Demonstrate mastery of a semicolon with a coordinating adverb. While connecting TWO independent clauses with a semicolon, interject an adverb; subsequently, this will demonstrate transitionary control between ideas by use of coordinating and conjunctive adverbs; moreover, be sure to proofread your submissions to ensure they are demonstrative of their corresponding structures and numbered to reflect their structure's enumeration in Module 1; unfortunately, too many attempt this exercise without reading the directions and module; ultimately, reading comprehension of the syllabus, assignment directives and module materials provide an area of gradable assessment; consequently, asking questions already answered by the syllabus demonstrates low literacy; however, students are encouraged to share questions about the module materials, posit new connections and use this exercise as an opportunity to master punctuation while introducing themselves to their peers through the content of their examples.

EX: I often blame others for not teaching; however, I rarely blame myself for not learning.

6.) Demonstrate accurate punctuation of short independent clauses. Connect short independent clauses each less than four words via commas.

Short independent clauses of four words or less can be connected with commas; connecting longer independent clauses should use semicolons; connecting longer independent clauses with commas will yield run ons, which should be avoided; it is rare to express such short independent clauses. Also, note that the example lacks any dependent clauses as their punctuation with just commas would become unclear; favor semicolons or periods when transitioning between longer independent clauses to avoid run ons.

EX: Life is hard, school is hard, happiness is an unreasonable expectation.

7.) Demonstrate advanced mastery of semicolons and punctuation of supporting details by demonstrating accurate punctuation of two or more independent clauses with supporting dependent clauses.

EX: Intelligence is not what you know, but how you come to know what you know, retain it and apply it; one can learn a lot through superstitious intuition, limited life experience and gut intuition, but ultimately, the most reliable knowledge is garnered through rigorous adherence to the scientific method, dissolution of ego, interrogation of bias, discernment between competing evidence, devout curiosity, interdisciplinary thinking and multi-sensory ability; retention of information and accurate application to problem solving is associated with the practiced skill of attention; attention is not an innate quality but a practiced skill; no one is born with competence or expertise; it requires sustained engagement, application and practiced ability.

8.) Demonstrate accurate punctuation of items in a list. Be sure to maintain parallel structure.

EX: Sustained engagement with the module materials will improve fluency of expression, rhetorical prowess, logical alacrity, metacognitive reflectiveness, and critical reflexiveness.