a. Basic Grammar - Grammar tells us how the classes of words (nouns, pronouns, prepositions, etc.) are related to one another, and how they all go together to make up a sentence. Grammar shows us how to build meaningful communications out of isolated words and phrases. Specific examples include:
b. Punctuation - Use and placement of commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, parentheses, apostrophes, and quotation, question, and exclamation marks. Specific examples include:
c. Sentence Structure - Relationships between/among clauses, placement of modifiers, and shifts in construction. Specific examples include:
2. Rhetorical Skills - Items that measure rhetorical skills may refer to an underlined portion of the text or may ask a question about a section of the passage or about the passage as a whole. You must decide which alternative response is most appropriate in a given rhetorical situation. Item examples include:
a. Focus - consistency and clarity in identifying and maintaining the main idea or point of view. Specific examples include:
b. Organization - Organization of ideas and relevance of statements in context (order, coherence, unity). Specific examples include:
c. Content - Appropriateness of expression in relation to audience and purpose, strengthening of writing with appropriate supporting material, and effective choice of statements of theme and purpose. Specific examples include:
d. Style - Precision and appropriateness in the choice of words and images, rhetorically effective management of sentence elements, avoidance of ambiguous pronoun references, and economy in writing.
Created by Renee Wright for Triton College 2013.