Understanding the A's!!!

"Handbook of Technical Writing" Understanding The A's!

For this blog, I will be using the "Handbook of Technical Writing" by Gerald J. Alred et al., to facilitate tutoring sessions in writing organization and fluency. I believe that it is important to utilize any technology that can be beneficial for progressive learning and experience in a nation that is beginning to submerge itself online. Referencing the eight edition of this text, I will proceed chapter-by-chapter, pulling out what I believe is most beneficial to learn about the writing process. This will also be a unique learning experience for me, an individual who aspires to become a teacher. Use this slowly and develop one step at a time, your understanding of each concept!

The first chapter deals with grammatical and organizational skills in writing, regarding terms that begin with the letter a.

Section I:

A/An: "A and an are indefinite articles because the noun designated by the article is not a specific person, place, or thing but is one of a group.

Example: She installed a program. (Not a specific program but an unnamed program).

* Use "a" before words or abbreviations beginning with a consonant or consonant sounds, including y or w.

Examples:
--> A manual has been written on that subject.
--> It was a historic event for the laboratory.
--> The year's activities are summarized in a one-page report. (One begins with the consonant sound "wuh").

Use "an" before words or abbreviations beginning with a vowel or a consonant with a vowel sound.

Examples:
--> The report is an overview of the year's activities.
--> He bought an SLR digital camera. (SLR begins with a vowel sound "es").

A lot is often used incorrectly as one word (alot). The phrase a lot is informal and normally should not be used in technical writing. Use many or numerous for estimates or give a specific number or amount.

Abstract Words refer to general ideas, qualities, conditions, acts, or relationships-- intangible things that cannot be detected by the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) such as learning, leadership, and technology. Concrete words identify things that can be perceived by the five senses, such as diploma, manager, and keyboard.

Accept Versus Except:

Accept is a verb meaning "consent to," "agree to take," "or admit willingly." (I accept the responsibility.)
Except is normally used as a preposition meaning "other than" or "excluding." (We agreed on everything except the schedule).

Adjectives:
An adjective is any word that modifies a noun or pronoun. DESCRIPTIVE adjectives identify a quality of a noun or pronoun. LIMITING adjectives impose boundaries on the noun or pronoun.

Ex:
--> Hot surface (descriptive)
--> three phone lines (limiting)

LIMITING ADJECTIVES include these categories:

--> Articles (a, an, the)
--> Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those)
--> Possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their)
--> Numeral Adjectives (two, first)
--> Indefinite adjectives (all, none, some, any)

ARTICLES: Articles (a, an, the) are traditionally classified as adjectives because they modify nouns by either limiting them or making them more specific.

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES.

A demonstrative adjective points to the thing it modifies, specifying the object's position in space or time. This and these specify a closer position; that and those specify a more remote position.

Ex: This report is more current than that report, which Human Resources distributed last month.
These brownies are more fresh than those that my mother made last weekend.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES.

Because possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) directly modify nouns, they function as adjectives, even though they are pronoun forms (my idea, her plans, their projects).

NUMERAL ADJECTIVES.

 Numeral adjectives identify quantity, degree, or place in a sequence. They always modify count nouns. Numeral adjectives are divided into two sub-groups. Cardinal and Ordinal. 

     a. A Cardinal adjective expresses an exact quantity (one pencil, two computers);
     b. An Ordinal adjective expresses a degree or sequence (first quarter, second edition).

--> In most writing an ordinal adjective should be spelled out if it is a single word (tenth) and written in figures if it is more than one word (312th).

INDEFINITE ADJECTIVES.

 Indefinite adjectives do not designate anything specific about the nouns they modify (some Cd-Roms, all designers). The articles a and an are included among the indefinite adjectives (a chair, an application).

PLACEMENT OF ADJECTIVES. 

When limiting and descriptive adjectives appear together, the limiting adjectives come before the descriptive adjectives, with the articles usually in the first position.

Ex:

--> The ten red cars were parked in a row. (article (THE), limiting adjective (ten), descriptive adjective (red).

Within a sentence, adjectives may appear before the nouns they modify (the attributive position) or after the nouns they modify. (The predicative position).

• The small jobs are given priority. (attributive position)
• The exposure is brief (predicative position)

USE OF ADJECTIVES:

Nouns often function as adjectives to make other nouns more precise.

• The accident report prompted a product redesign.

When adjectives modifying the same noun can be reversed and still make sense or when they can be separated by and or or, they should be separated by commas.

• The company seeks a bright, energetic, creative management team. (There is no comma after creative because you should never use a comma between a final adjective and the noun it modifies. When an adjective modifies a phrase, no comma is necessary. 

Works Cited:

Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing. New York: St. Martin's, 2006. 8. Print.

Schoolhouse Rock "Adjectives"