a punctuation mark generally used in order 1) to show the omission of one or more letters in a contraction, and 2) to show ownership or possession
comma splices
incorrect use of a comma to connect ("splice" together) two complete thoughts. Ex.: I go to school, my brother stays home.
editing
revising a piece of writing with particular attention to grammar, style, punctuation, and other mechanical issues
expository patterns of development
patterns of paragraph development such as illustration, classification, cause and effect, process analysis and comparison/contrast
sensory details
descriptive evidence that appeals to a reader's sense of sight, hearing, taste, smell, or touch
sentence fragment
a word group that lacks a subject or a verb and/or one that does not express a complete thought. Ex.: Whenever I go to school. ("Whenever," introduces a dependent clause, so it cannot stand alone.)
proofreading
the last step of paper preparation: carefully re-reading the near-finished draft, checking for errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and format.
