Unit 4 conventions and grammar

1. Unit 4
Chimpanzees I Love, Deep Sea Danger and Inventing the Future

2. Pronouns and Antecedents
 A pronoun takes the place of a noun or nouns.
 An antecedent, is the noun or nouns to which the pronoun refers.
 The pronoun and antecedents MUST agree in number and gender.
 Jay and I walked to the zoo, and we saw the new exhibit.
 Jay called Carla to pick him up from the zoo.

3. Author’s Purpose
 The Author’s purpose is the reason the author has for writing.
 Authors may write to persuade (convince), inform (tell) ,
express ideas or feelings (verbalize), or entertain (amusement).
 If you know the author’s purpose, you can adjust the way you read. If the purpose is
to entertain, you may choose to read faster. If the purpose is to inform, you may want
to read more slowly.

4. Persuade
Persuasive writing: states the opinion of the writer and attempts to
influence or convince the audience. It is intended to convince the
reader that a certain point of view is the right one to have, or that
some action should be taken.
 Book or film review
 Restaurant reviews
 Editorial articles
 Political position papers
 Advertisements and commercials

5. Inform
 Informational writing: shares information about a topic or explains how to do
something .
 Informational brochures/articles
 Newspaper articles
 Research summaries
 Textbooks
Non-fiction trade books and picture books
 How-to manuals
 Cookbooks

6. Express
Descriptive writing: paints a picture in the reader’s mind often making use of
sensory details (what the writer sees, hears, smells, feels)
 Menus
 Catalogs
 Travel brochures
  Some poetry

7. Entertain
Narrative writing: tells a story. Creative narrative writing has a plot, setting,
and characters who have motives for what they do.
 Trade books and picture books
  Novels
 Plays
 Diaries

8. Indefinite and Reflexive Pronouns
 Indefinite
 These are pronouns that don't refer to a specific person or thing. The prefix
"in" means "not." That will help you to remember that these pronouns are
not definite.
 Singular Indefinite Pronouns: someone, somebody, anyone, anybody,
everyone, everybody, something, no one, either, each.
 Plural Indefinite Pronouns: few, several, both, others, many, all, some

9. Indefinite and Reflexive Pronouns
 Reflexive
 These pronouns end in -self or -selves, and they always refer the action to
the subject of the sentence.
 Singular Reflexive Pronouns: myself, himself, herself, itself, yourself
 Plural Reflexive Pronouns: ourselves, yourselves, themselves

10. Draw Conclusions
 When you draw conclusions, you form reasonable opinions about what you
have read.
 Use what you know about real life to help you draw conclusions.
 Be sure that there are enough facts or information in the text to support
your conclusions.

11. Follow and Clarify Directions
 Following directions involves doing or making something.
 Clarifying directions means writing clear directions for others to use.
 Directions usually are numbered. The numbers tell you the sequence of the
steps. Read all directions before starting to act on the first direction given.
Visualize the purpose or the end result of the directions while reading.

12. Writing a Summary
 Key Features:
 Tells what a selection is about
 Includes the most important ideas and details
 Leaves out unnecessary details

13. Using Who and Whom
 The pronoun who is used as a subject
 Who planted the garden? (who is the subject of the sentence)
 The pronoun whom is used as the object of a preposition, such
as to, for, and from) and as a direct object.
 Whom did you invite? (whom is a direct object)