Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Consider restructuring the sentence, perhaps by subordinating one of the clauses
Revise run-on sentences
Grammar

If one of the independent clauses is less important than the other, turn the less important clause into a subordinate clause or phrase. (For more about subordination, see the chart in 14a.)

EXERCISE 20-1

Revise the following run-on sentences using the method of revision suggested in brackets. Possible revisions appear in the back of the book.

a. Martina recently started working at a new company, it designs and manufactures educational toys. [Restructure the sentence.]

b. The building is being renovated, therefore at times we have no heat, water, or electricity. [Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction.]

c. I don’t think I will buy the new model of smartphone, why spend the money when my current phone works perfectly?

d. Walker’s coming-of-age novel is set against a gloomy scientific backdrop, the earth’s rotation has begun to slow down. [Use a semicolon.]

e. City officials had good reason to fear a major earthquake, most of the business district was built on landfill. [Use a colon.]

EXERCISE 20-2

Revise any run-on sentences using a technique that you find effective. If a sentence is correct, write “correct” after it. Possible revisions appear in the back of the book.

a. Wind power for the home is a supplementary source of energy, it can be combined with electricity, gas, or solar energy.

b. Aidan viewed Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation three times and then wrote a paper describing the film as the work of a mysterious modern painter.

c. In the Middle Ages, the streets of London were dangerous places, it was safer to travel by boat along the Thames.

d. “He’s not drunk,” I said, “he’s in a state of diabetic shock.”

e. Are you able to endure extreme angle turns, high speeds, frequent jumps, and occasional crashes, then supermoto racing may be a sport for you.

EXERCISE 20-3

In the following rough draft, revise any run-on sentences.

We may blame television for the number of products based on children’s TV show characters from Big Bird to SpongeBob, in fact merchandising that capitalizes on a character’s popularity started long before television. Raggedy Ann began as a child’s rag doll, a few years later books about she and her brother, Raggedy Andy, were published. A cartoonist named Johnny Gruelle painted a cloth face on a family doll and applied for a patent in 1915. Later Gruelle began writing and illustrating stories about Raggedy Ann, then in 1918 he and a publisher teamed up to publish the books and sell the dolls. He was not the only one to try to sell products linked to children’s stories. Beatrix Potter published the first of many Peter Rabbit picture books in 1902, no one was better at making a living from spin-offs. Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny became popular, at that point Potter began putting pictures of them and their little animal friends on merchandise. Potter understood that her fans wanted to see her characters not only in books but also on teapots and plates and lamps, therefore her merchandise was successful. Potter and Gruelle, like countless others before and since, knew that entertaining children could be a profitable business.