Original sentence: Many literary scholars regard the poet, Emily
Dickinson, as one of Americas best writers.
Improved sentence: Many literary scholars regard the poet Emily Dickinson
as one of America's best writers.
1a. Because "Emily Dickinson" is a restrictive appositive telling which poet the writer means, it should not be set off with commas.
1b. The word "Americas" requires an apostrophe before the "s" because it is a singular noun in the possessive case.
Original sentence: Although she was not famous in her own life.
Improved sentence: Many literary scholars regard the poet Emily Dickinson
as one of America's best writers, although she was not famous in her own
life.
2. This phrase is a fragment. Specifically, it is a subordinate clause because it begins with a subordinating conjunction ("Although") and contains a subject ("she") and a tensed verb ("was"). The writer could correct the problem by attaching the subordinate clause to the previous sentence.
Original sentence: She grew up in Massachusetts, and attended
Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847.
Improved sentence: She grew up in Massachusetts and attended Mount
Holyoke Female Seminary in 1847.
3. There is no need for a comma before the coordinating conjunction ("and") because the sentence does not contain two independent clauses. Instead, it merely has two verbs ("grew up" and "attended").
Original sentence: In 1848 she met a Law Clerk that worked in
her fathers office, he encouraged her to take poetry seriously.
Improved sentence: In 1848 she met a law clerk who worked in her
father's office; he encouraged her to take poetry seriously.
4a. "Law Clerk" is a common noun, not a proper noun, and thus should not be capitalized.
4b. The appropriate relative pronoun after "Law Clerk" is "who," not "that," because "Law Clerk" is a person.
4c. The word "fathers" requires an apostrophe before the "s" because it is a singular noun in the possessive case.
4d. This sentence is a run-on because it contains two independent clauses connected by only a comma. The writer could correct the problem by substituting a semicolon for the comma.
Original sentence: The correspondance between she and him show
that he effected her very strong.
Improved sentence: The correspondence between her and him shows that
he affected her very strongly.
5a. The word "correspondance" is misspelled; the correct spelling is "correspondence."
5b. Pronouns that are the objects of prepositions should be in the objective case; thus, "she" should be "her" because it is the object of the preposition "between."
5c. Because the subject of the sentence is singular ("correspondence"), the verb should also be singular; thus, "show" should be "shows."
5d. The writer has misused the word "effected," which means "brought about." The writer probably intended "affected," which means "influenced."
5e. The word "strong" modifies a verb ("affected") and thus should be an adverb. The appropriate form is not "strong," which is an adjective, but "strongly," which is an adverb.
Original sentence: Over the coarse of her life, she wrote more
than 1,700 poems, however almost all of it laid in obscurance while she
was alive.
Improved sentence: Over the course of her life, she wrote more than
1,700 poems; however, almost all of them lay in obscurity while she was
alive.
6a. The word "coarse," which generally is an adjective meaning "rough," has been misused. The writer probably intended "course," which generally is a noun meaning "period."
6b. This sentence is a run-on because it contains two independent clauses connected by only a comma and a conjunctive adverb ("however"). The writer could improve the sentence by substituting a semicolon for the comma and inserting a comma after "however."
6c. The sentence has a problem in pronoun-antecedent agreement. The writer should change "it" to "them" so that the pronoun will agree in number with its antecedent ("poems").
6d. The writer has misused the word "laid," which is the past-tense form of the transitive verb "to lay." Because the clause contains no direct object, the verb must be intransitive. The appropriate verb is "lay," which is the past-tense form of the intransitive verb "to lie."
6e. In turning the adjective "obscure" into a noun, the writer has used an inappropriate derivational morpheme. The commonly used noun is not "obscurance," but "obscurity."
Original sentence: When she was lay to rest most American's had
never heard of Emily Dickinson who modern scholars consider a literary genius.
Improved sentence: When she was laid to rest, most Americans had
never heard of Emily Dickinson, whom modern scholars consider a literary
genius.
7a. The appearance of the understood object ("she") in the subject slot and the use of a "to be" form ("was") in front of a verb ("lay") suggest that the verb in the introductory subordinate clause ("When she was lay to rest") is in the passive voice. Passive voice requires a form of the verb "to be," followed by a transitive verb in its past-participle form. As I explained above, "to lie" is intransitive, and "to lay" is transitive. Thus, the correct word in this context is "laid," which is the past-participle form of the transitive verb "to lay."
7b. An introductory subordinate clause should always be followed by a comma; thus, the writer should insert a comma after the clause "When she was laid to rest."
7c. The word "American's" does not require an apostrophe because it is merely plural, not possessive.
7d. A comma should appear after "Dickinson" because the phrase following it ("who modern scholars consider a literary genius") is a non-restrictive relative clause. In other words, it does not distinguish this Emily Dickinson from some other Emily Dickinson; rather, it merely adds additional information about her.
7e. Because it is the direct object in its own clause, the relative pronoun should be the objective form "whom," not the subjective form "who."
Original sentence: Living in our era, its hard to believe that
Dickinsons contemporarys did not appreciate her work but we must remember
that her style was very unique.
Improved sentence: Living in our era, we may find it hard to believe
that Dickinson's contemporaries did not appreciate her work, but we must
remember that her style was unique.
8a. "Living in our era" is a misplaced modifier because its understood subject is not adjacent to it. The writer could improve the sentence by inserting the understood subject of the participle ("Living") after the phrase: "Living in our era, we may find it hard to believe . . . ."
8b. The word "its" requires an apostrophe before the "s" because it is a contraction of the phrase "it is."
8c. The word "Dickinsons" requires an apostrophe before the "s" because it is a singular noun in the possessive case.
8d. The word "contemporarys" is misspelled; the correct spelling is "contemporaries."
8e. The writer should insert a comma after "work" because the sentence contains two independent clauses ("Living in our era, its hard to believe that Dickinsons contemporarys did not appreciate her work" and "we must remember that her style was very unique") connected by a coordinating conjunction ("but").
8f. The word "unique" literally means "one of a kind"; thus, it is an absolute adjective and should not be modified by qualifiers such as "very." The writer could improve the sentence by omitting "very" or by changing the absolute "unique" to an adjective that can be qualified, such as "unusual."
Original sentence: Even people who read her poetry today, are
marveled by her bazaar poems.
Improved sentence: Even people who read her poetry today are amazed
by her bizarre poems.
9a. The relative clause "who read her poetry today" is restrictive, or defining, because it tells which people the writer intends; the writer is not talking about all people, only people who read Dickinson's poetry. Because it is a restrictive relative clause, there should be no comma before or after it.
9b. The verb "to marvel" is an intransitive verb and thus is not grammatical in the passive voice. The writer could improve the sentence by substituting a transitive verb such as "amazed" for "marveled."
9c. The word "bazaar," which is a noun meaning "market," has been misused. The writer probably intended "bizarre," which is an adjective meaning "odd."
Original sentence: Including "Because I could not stop for
Death", "I heard a Fly buzz--when I died" and "I felt
a Funeral in my Brain".
Improved sentence: Even people who read her poetry today are amazed
by her bizarre poems, including "Because I could not stop for Death,"
"I heard a Fly buzz--when I died," and "I felt a Funeral
in my Brain."
10a. This phrase is a fragment because it lacks a subject and a tensed verb; instead, it is merely a participial phrase. The writer could correct the problem by attaching this phrase to the preceding sentence.
10b. Commas and periods should always appear inside quotation marks; thus, the first comma should appear immediately after the word "Death."
10c. The form of Standard Written English used in academia calls for commas between the elements in a series, including a comma before the coordinating conjunction; thus, a comma should appear immediately after the word "died."
10d. Commas and periods should always appear inside quotation marks; thus, the period should appear immediately after the word "Brain."
Original sentence: Where would we be if Emily Dickinson had not
wrote her strange beautiful poems.
Improved sentence: Where would we be if Emily Dickinson had not written
her strange, beautiful poems?
11a. The verb expansion rule calls for the past-participle form of a verb after the auxiliary "have," which in this case is in its past form, "had." The past-participle form of the verb "to write" is "written," not "wrote."
11b. The adjectives "strange" and "beautiful" both modify the noun "poems." Because the phrase would still sound natural if we inserted an "and" between these adjectives, there should be a comma between them.
11c. The interrogative ("Where") and the appearance of the auxiliary ("would") before the subject ("we") indicate that this sentence is an interrogative; thus, the final punctuation should be a question mark.