cre 101Facts (The Undisputed Truths) and Opinions
cre 101Facts (The Undisputed Truths) and Opinions
A complete sentence has three features:
- A subject: the actor in a sentence
- A verb: the action in a sentence
- Expresses a complete thought: the sentence can stand alone and make sense
Some complete sentences can be very short with only two or three words expressing a complete thought.
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. Some fragments are incomplete because they lack either a subject or a verb, or both.
Was running late that day. (
No subject: Who was running late?)
The boy with the blue mohawk. (
No verb: The boy with the blue mohawk did what?)
The fragments most students have trouble with are
dependent clauses.
Dependent clauses have a subject and a verb, so they look like complete sentences, but they don’t express a complete thought. They are called “dependent” because they can’t stand on their own as complete sentences.
I want you to come to the party. If you are not too busy.
He had no transportation. Because his car was in the shop.
You can easily fix this kind of sentence fragment by joining the independent and dependent clauses to make a single sentence.
I want you to come to the party if you are not too busy.
He had no transportation because his car was in the shop.
Watch the following short video on sentence fragments.
For more information on sentence fragments and other common writing errors, click below:
Writing Help: Top 20 Writing Errors
Writing Help: Sentence Fragments
Check Your Understanding: Prior to starting on your assignment, take the quiz below to ensure that you understand how to identify sentence fragments in your writing.
Graded Assignments
For this lesson’s Reader’s Log, watch this video: TED Talks: Joe Smith’s How to Use a Paper Towel. (Print the transcript PDF .)
- As you watch, note facts, opinions, and how facts (or even opinions) are substantiated by evidence or hedged appropriately.
- Share your favorite three examples (one fact and two opinions, or two facts and one opinion) with an explanation of how they were contextualized, substantiated, or otherwise used by the speaker.
Facts and opinions may seem obvious to most people; however, the confusion sets in when you make assumptions. It is important to remember that just because someone uses statistical data doesn’t make it a fact. Facts must be proven through verifiable objective evidence. Do your research! Make sure what is being said is true. If it can be proven, it is a fact!
- Your work will be scored by the following criteria.
| Criteria | Max. Points available |
|---|---|
| Content: In shaping his/her response, the student applies vocabulary from the lesson and correctly presents three specific examples of the author’s use of facts and opinions and how they were contextualized, substantiated, or otherwise used by the speaker. | 20 |
| Grammar/Mechanics: The assignment has been proofread and spellchecked prior to submission. There are no errors that impede comprehension. | 5 |
| Total Possible Points | 25 |
To submit this assignment to your instructor, select the following link. Copy and paste your work into the textbox on that page. Select the Submit button when you are ready to submit this assignment to your instructor. Review Submitting Assignments if you need help copying and pasting your assignment.
