Writing 1030F Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Nicolas Cage, The Instructor, Tom Waits
23 Mar 2018
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Writing – Week 6
Punctuation and Parallel Structures
COLON
• The colon is commonly used to introduce lists, examples, and long or formal quotations. A colon
looks forward or anticipates: it gives readers a push forward to the next sentence. (In the
previous sentence, for example, the colon sets up a sense of expectation about what is coming.)
o There are three things I love to do: playing football, swimming, and to drive.
o If you like to gamble, be prepared to learn this lesson: a fool and his money are soon
parted.
o We witnessed a truly incredible scene: mountains of garbage stacked a hundred feet
high, seagulls circling through the smoggy sky, and Tom Waits cackling as he played his
marimba atop a burnt out pickup truck.
OTHER USES OF THE COLON
• Dear Mr. Johnson:
• Postode Claptap: Petetious Appliatios of Jaues Laa’s Witigs
• During a late night interview in the late 1970s, Tom Waits made this memorable statement:
• I’d athe hae a ottle i fot of e than a frontal lobotomy.
WRITING CLEAR SENTENCES
PASSIVE VS. ACTIVE VOICE
What is the active voice? What is the passive voice?
• Active: the subject acts on the direct object
o Jimmy opened the door
o
• Passive: the direct object is acted upon by the subject
o The door was opened by Jimmy
The passive voice is wordy and vague; it obscures the subject – who is responsible for the action? Avoid
using it in virtually all situations.
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