Lesson 1.06 Grammar Spotlight: Run-ons and Fragments

Writing Exercise

Good writers know that their paragraphs must have well-constructed sentences, not fragments and run-ons. Let's look at an example of a paragraph with effective sentences.

In 1845, Frederick Douglass published his first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. In this paragraph from the first chapter, he remembers his mother, a field slave whom he barely knew.

I never saw my mother, to know her as such, more than four or five times in my life; and each of these times was very short in duration, and at night. She was hired by a Mr. Stewart, who lived about twelve miles from my home. She made her journeys to see me in the night, travelling the whole distance on foot, after the performance of her day's work. She was a field hand, and a whipping is the penalty of not being in the field at sunrise, unless a slave has special permission from his or her master to the contrary--a permission which they seldom get, and one that gives to him that gives it the proud name of being a kind master. I do not recollect of ever seeing my mother by the light of day. She was with me in the night. She would lie down with me, and get me to sleep, but long before I waked she was gone. Very little communication ever took place between us. Death soon ended what little we could have while she lived, and with it her hardships and suffering. She died when I was about seven years old, on one of my master's farms, near Lee's Mill. I was not allowed to be present during her illness, at her death, or burial. She was gone long before I knew any thing about it. Never having enjoyed, to any considerable extent, her soothing presence, her tender and watchful care, I received the tidings of her death with much the same emotions I should have probably felt at the death of a stranger.

A Writing Exercise

Douglass' paragraph is effective in part because he writes clear, complete sentences. To see how well he does this, answer the following questions. Use the dropdown lists to make your selections, then click the Check Answers button to check your answers.

... 1 3 5 none 1. How many sentence fragments did Douglass use?

... 1 3 5 none 2. How many run-on sentences did Douglass use?

 

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Interactive Games

Practice identifying sentence fragments and run-on sentences. Check your work after each quiz to see how well you did.

Finding Fragments in Short Passages

Oxford Learning Link Grammar Quiz Sentences

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