Classwork/Homework: Deleting Commas
Name:
Date:
Class:
DO NOW: Read the excerpt from The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz aloud with your
partner. Do so twice and with drama. Insert commas as you hear pauses and label the comma rule (the
issue). All other punctuation is correct. There are eight missing commas.
She was my Old World Dominican mother and I was her only daughter the one she had raised up
herself with the help of nobody which meant it was her duty to keep me crushed under her heel. I was
fourteen and desperate for my own patch of world that had nothing to do with her. I wanted the life
that I used to see when I watched Big Blue Marble as a kid the life that drove me to find pen pals and to
take atlases home from school. The life that existed beyond Paterson beyond my family beyond Spanish.
As soon as she became sick I saw my chance and I’m not going to pretend or apologize; I saw my chance
and eventually I took it.
Subject:
Deleting Commas
How do I check my
commas?
The ACT not only tests your ability to recognize when to use commas, but it
also tests your ability to __________________________________
__________________________
If you can’t
name the
rule, delete
the comma.
1. ________________ of the commas.
2. ______________________ based on our ________________.
3. Read the sentence over and _________________________.
Examples (name the comma rule being used underneath each sentence):
1. Do you use, relish, mustard, and mayonnaise?
Listen. Does
the pause
work? Does it
make sense?
______________________________________
2. Dried coconut meat, which is called, copra, is used for many products.
______________________________________
3. In her junior year, of college, she decided to become a doctor.
You should be
able to name
the rule that is
being used.
______________________________________
4. Joel understands French, but he, doesn’t write it well.
______________________________________
Classwork/Homework: Deleting Commas
Name:
Date:
Class:
PARTNER PRACTICE:
1. Write a sentence or two below with at least one incorrect comma and one correct comma.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Then, hand your sheet to your partner. Partner, cross out all the commas in the sentence above.
Use your logic to add commas back in where needed. Label the comma rule (the issue).
TOO MANY COMMAS: Cross out all of the commas in each sentence. Work each sentence. Then, use
your logic to add commas back in where needed. Label the comma rule (the issue).
1. When, Jorge went to the movies, he laughed so hard that he fell out of his seat.
2. My sister was born on June, 4, 1979, in Cleveland, OH.
3. Joe understands French, but he doesn’t, write it well.
4. On Tuesday, we will run a mile, in the snow.
5. Bananas, very high in potassium, and a favorite among young children, are often kept on hand
by parents.
6. Salsa dancing originated, in Cuba, and, continues to be popular in Latin America, though it has
now spread, to the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
7. Alligators can easily be distinguished, from crocodiles, by looking at the alignment of their teeth,
though who would want to get close enough to see them?
8. Although he had tremendous respect for Caesar, Brutus ultimately joined the conspiracy against
him, after Caesar’s assassination Brutus settled in Crete, for two years to avoid, the turmoil in
Rome.
9. My friend, Alice, lent me her skates, but now, I can’t find them.
10. Derrick Rose’s unfortunate, painful, injury may have ruined the Bulls’ season.
Classwork/Homework: Deleting Commas
Name:
Date:
Class:
COMMAS IN THE WRONG PLACE: Cross out all of the commas in each sentence. Work each sentence.
Then, use your logic to add commas back in where needed. Label the comma rule (the issue). Many of
the sentences below require commas where none previously existed.
11. Tomorrow, Hans and Sally, will present a short scene, from their skit.
12. They will use their script, costumes and props to illustrate, train travel today.
13. More people, these days it seems, are planning train trips.
14. Nowadays train fares are more affordable, than they were at one time.
15. What should people, who are in a hurry, do to reach their destination?
16. A trip by rail, of course takes longer, than one by air.
17. Moreover getting to the airport, or driving in highway traffic can be, a hassle.
18. Railroad stations are, usually in the center, of a city I believe.
19. The main station, in our city for example, is in the downtown area.
20. Therefore it is a simple matter of a convenient, bus ride to the train depot.
CORRECTIONS: Actively read the article, label the issues, and correct the underlined portions.
SVA
P/A (pronoun-antecedent)
≡ (capitalize )
pl (plural) s (singular)
pa (past)
pr (present)
f (future) ‘ (apostrophe)
./!/? (end mark) ? (confused words)
list (items in a list)
=adj. (equal adjectives)
LAND (letters/addresses/names/dates)
NE(nonessential)
part (participle)
CSent (compound sentence)
-, (no comma)
Nelson (21) Mandela
who led the
emancipation of South
Africa from (22) white minority rule, and served as his country’s first black president, becoming an
international emblem of dignity and (23) forbearance, died Thursday night. He (24) is 95. The South
African president, Jacob (25) Zuma announced Mr. Mandela’s death.
Mr. Mandela had long said (26) he wanted a quiet exit but the time he spent in a Pretoria hospital this
summer was a clamor of quarreling family, hungry news media, (27) spotlight-seeking politicians and a
national outpouring of affection and loss. The vigil eclipsed a visit by President (28) Obama who paid
homage to (29) Mr. Mandela, but decided not to intrude on the privacy of a dying man he considered his
hero.
Mr. Mandela ultimately died at home at (30) 8:50 p.m. local time and he will be buried according to his
wishes in the village of (31) Qunu where he grew up. The exhumed (32) remains, of three of his children,
were reinterred there in early July under a court order, resolving a (33) family, squabble that had played
out in the news media.