How to Write Great Essays

HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
CHAPTER 4
Mechanics
50
Sentence B:
During my junior year I attended a conference in Washington,
D.C. where student delegates from every state presented their ideas.
Sentence A sounds more deliberate, giving a little more information with each clause.
Sentence B reads quicker, conveying the information faster and with equal weight on each
part.
In addition to helping to convey your voice and personality, commas are often misused.
There are two common errors that all college-bound students should be aware of: the comma
splice, and the serial comma.
Comma Splice
A comma splice is the incorrect use of a comma to connect two complete sentences. It cre-
ates a 
run-on sentence
. To correct a comma splice, you can either:
■
replace the comma with a period, forming two sentences
■
replace the comma with a semicolon
■
join the two clauses with a conjunction such as 
and, because
, or 
so
Comma splice:
Our school received an award, we raised the most money for
the local charity.
Corrected sentence:
Our school received an award. We raised the most
money for the local charity.
OR
Our school received an award; we raised the most money for the local charity.
OR
Our school received an award because we raised the most money for the local
charity.
Serial Comma
A serial comma is the one used last in a list of items, after the word 
and
. For instance, in the
following example, the comma after 
apples 
is the serial comma:
At the store, I bought bananas, apples, and oranges.
The lack of a serial comma can cause confusion. In the sentence,
Cindy, Ann, and Sally
were hired to work in the college counselor’s office
, the message is straightforward. But if the
serial comma is dropped, it could be understood as Cindy being told that Ann and Sally
were hired.
Cindy, Ann and Sally were hired to work in the college counselor’s office.