MECHANICS

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Mechanics

✢ Use to describe the technical aspects of

writing.
✢ Makes a story easy to read, and attracts
more readers.

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Punctuation

 Is use to make writing clear

and effective

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 Mechanics of Effective Writing

Commas
 Use a comma to separate items
in a series.

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 If all items in the series are
followed by and or, or, use a
comma

Example 1:
Squirrel, rabbit, and venison are the three
kinds of meat originally in a burgoo.

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 Use a comma to separate
coordinate adjectives.
Example:
The weak, tottery patient fell in his hospital room.

Use a comma to separate two

complete sentences joined by a
conjunction.
Example:
The CD player runs constantly, so I’m not surprised that
it needs cleaning. 6
 Be sure that the conjunction
joins two sentences.

Example:
The internet sites included good links,
and Carolyn followed each one.

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 Set off the interrupters with
commas. Interrupters, obviously,
interpret a sentence a create
emphasis.

Example:

Bald eagles, a once endangered

species, have made a comeback.

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 Another interrupters comes in the
form of words of direct address,
words used to speak directly to
someone.
Example:

Can you, Mr. Ramos, take photographs

of the race tomorrow?

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 A final kind of interrupter
is the parenthetical expression.

(of course, in fact, moreover, in the meantime, I

believe, I hope, I think, on the other hand, therefore,
however, for example, he said.)

Example:
Do you think, in fact, that he will win the
scholarship?
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 Use commas to set off
the dates and states.

Examples:

December 27, 2000

December 27, 2000, was his birthday
Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester, Minnesota, can have brutal winter.
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 Mechanics of Effective Writing

Semicolons
 Half colon and half comma,
the semicolon has many uses

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 Uses of Semicolons
Use a semicolon to separate two
sentences when there is no
coordinating conjunction.
(And, but, or, nor, for)
If the two sentences are joined by
a conjunction adverb, use a
semicolon before the conjunctive
adverb and a comma after it.
(However, consequently,
therefore, moreover)
Examples
With coordinating conjunction:
Autumn leaves showered from the trees in
multiple colors and it looked like snow with a
rainbow.
Without coordinating conjunctions:
Autumn leaves showered from the trees in
multiple colors; It looked like snow with a
rainbow.
Autumn leaves showered from
the trees in multiple colors;
consequently, we have a big job
ahead of us raking them into
compost piles.
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 Uses of Semicolons Examples

Use a semicolon to separate two Autumn leaves showered from

sentences joined with a the trees in red, gold, yellow and
coordinating conjunction when brown; it looked like snow with a
commas are contained within rainbow.
either of the sentences.

Use a semicolon to separate Mr. Johnson, my neighbor; Mrs.

items in a series if there are Addison, my aunt; and Ms.
commas within the items. Ricardo, my music teacher all
came to the open house.

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 Mechanics of Effective Writing

Colons
 The colon is one of the most
versatile of the punctuation
marks.

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 Uses of Colons
Use a colon for conventional items:
giving the time, separating chapter
from verse in Bible references,
separating volume from page in
bibliography references, and writing a
salutation in a business letter.
Examples
The alarm is set for 5:30 a.m.
He read Luke 4:17-28.
He cited an article in National
Geographic 196:81 (that is, volume
196, page 81).
Dear Madam:

Use a colon to introduce a The attendant made the following

formal list. Words such as the checks on my car: oil level,
transmission fluid level, battery, tire
following or as follows pressure, and windshield washer
frequently signal a formal list. fluid.
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 Uses of Colons
Use a colon to mean summary
follows or explanation follows. The
summary or explanation may be a
complete sentence.
Examples
The zoo faced a series of troubles:
It lost accreditation, a keeper was
attacked by a lion, a visitor was
bitten by a monkey, and the
director was fired.
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 Capital Letters
 Are signals to readers
 Announce new sentences,
people's name, and book titles.

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Capitalization
Guidelines

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1. Capitalize proper nouns

✢ Sonny Thoss
✢ Philippines
✢ Shakespeare
✢ Mother Theresa
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2. Capitalize proper adjectives

✢ Benguet farmers
✢ Chinese art
✢ Japanese tourist

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3. Capitalize the pronoun I
and interjection O.

✢ Rejoice, O ye people, for I

bring you glad tidings.

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4. Capitalize words that show
family relationship when they
are used instead or part of a
name

✢ I asked Mother if Uncle

Kent was coming.
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5. Capitalize professional titles
when they come immediately
before a personal name

✢ General Calderon
✢ Pope John Paul

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6. Capitalize academic titles
and their abbreviations when
they follow a personal name

✢ Saturnino Y. Ebusca, LPT

✢ John Bumantay, Doctor of Philosophy

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7. Capitalize brand names

✢ Ajax (detergent
✢ Toyota (car)

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8. Capitalize the names of all
nationalities, races, and tribes
(and adjectives that come
from them

✢ German
✢ Mangyan

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9. Capitalize the names of
buildings, monuments, streets,
bridges, parks and other
specific locations, and the
common nouns that are part
of the proper nouns
✢ White House
✢ Session Road
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10. Capitalize the name of the
organizations, business, and
institutions

✢ University of Mindanao
✢ San Miguel Corporation

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11. Capitalize the names of
political parties and religious
denominations.

✢ Liberal Party
✢ Methodist

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12. Capitalize the names of
sacred writings and of specific
creeds, confessions of faith,
and prayers

✢ Bible
✢ Koran

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13. Capitalize nouns and
pronouns that refer to a
specific Supreme Being

✢ God
✢ Allah
✢ Trust in Him for He is good.
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14. Capitalize the names of
specific branches,
departments, and other
divisions of government

✢ Department of Health
✢ Congress

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15. Capitalize the names of
specific awards and prizes

✢ Nobel Peace Prize

✢ FAMAS Award

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Considerations in
Formal Writing
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 We need to know in considering in a
formal writing. First you must identify the
identities of your audience, your
purpose, the arrangement, the style and
the delivery of your written work. Thus,
we need to know the varieties in formal
writing for better purposes in the future.

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 In formal writing we need to
consider the ff. :
1. Audience
2. Purpose and Strategy
3. Conclusion
4. Organization
5. Style
6. Flow
7. Presentation and Positioning
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1. Audience
✢ We need to know the audience
especially their age and gender.
✢ Provide a topic that can’t
intimidate them.

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2. Purpose and Strategy
✢ One of the considerations in formal
writing is the purpose. The writer must
have a reason why he/she composes
the paragraph.

✢ Although all academic writing has the

transmission of information as an
important purpose, there is some
difference among genres.
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 3. Conclusion
✢ In academic writing, a well-crafted
conclusion can provide the final word
on the value of the writer’s analysis,
research or paper.

✢ Conclusions show readers the value of

the writer’s completely developed
argument or thoroughly answered
questions.
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 4. Organization
✢ A number of organizational pattern
academic texts is very vital in writing a
paragraph.

✢ The writer can take advantage of these

patterns, so that readers can still follow,
even if there are errors and mistakes.

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5. Style
✢ Is a particular way in which you write
your piece. It is your technique and
design in writing.

✢ We must consider consistency and the

appropriateness of style to the
message.

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6. Flow
✢ Is what keeps the reader moving
forward in a text. Flow helps to
establish connection between ideas
to help your readers follow the text.

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 7. Presentation
Things to perform in presenting works to
receive a positive response are:
 consider the overall format of your written

works
 proofread for careless grammar mistakes.

 check misspelled words, even if you have

spelled-checked your work.

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 8. Positioning
✢ the words below are the factors stated
to help in creating a successful
academic text
✢ Audience
✢ Purpose
✢ Organization
✢ Style
✢ Flow
✢ Presentation
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