UWRF

Writing Center
Open— Monday-Thursday…..8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday………………..8 a.m.-2 p.m.

 The Writing Center welcomes all UWRF

students seeking to develop as writers

 Walk-ins are welcome although appointments

preferred by calling the Writing Center at 3608

 The Online Writing Lab is open for the Spring

Semester and available to students through D2L

 Additional information about the Writing

Center may be found online at
http://www.uwrf.edu/ENGL/Writing-Center.cfm.
 Verb Tense
A verb is an “action” word.
It word that tells you what a noun (person, place, or thing) is doing.
Verb tense conveys when an event happens.

Present:
Present tense verbs are verbs that tell your reader that what is happening is
happening now.
Example: Write— I am currently writing a story.

Past:
Past tense verbs tell your readers something that has been done in the past. In other
words, it has already happened.
Example: Wrote— I wrote a paper last night.

Future:
Future tense verbs tell your readers what will happen. It’s not happening now, and it
hasn’t already happened, but it’s happening sometime in the future. The most
common verbs in future tenses are: will, won’t (will not), going to, with.
Example: Write— I will write a paper later tonight.
 Passive and Active Voices
This handout explains the differences between active and passive voice, how
to use active voice, and situations where passive voice is okay and preferable.

What is the difference between active and passive?

 Passive voice is when the person or thing doing the action in a sentence is not
the subject of the sentence. When you use passive voice, it is sometimes
unclear who or what is doing the action.
 Active voice puts the person or thing doing the action as the subject of the
sentence, making it clear who or what is doing the action in a sentence.
Passive voice is a stylistic choice, not a grammatical error.

Examples:
Passive: The results were calculated by the grad students.
Active: The grad students calculated the results.

Passive: It was determined by the restaurant owners that vegetarian food would be
added to the menu.
Active: The restaurant owners decided to add vegetarian food to the menu.

Passive: A number of things can be determined from this study.

Active: This study determines a number of things.
 Confused Words
Affect vs. Effect
Affect is a verb meaning “to influence.”
Effect is a verb meaning “to accomplish” or a noun meaning “result.”
Examples:
Sugar-coated candies often affect a child’s excitement level.
An A+ is one of the positive effects of hard work.

Its vs. It’s

Its is a possessive pronoun that means “of” or “belonging to it.”
It’s is a contraction for “it is.
Examples:
How do you find its square root?
It’s a beautiful day outside.

Loose vs. Lose

Loose is an adjective that means “free, not securely attached.”
Lose is a verb that means “to fail to keep” or “to be deprived of.”
Examples:
He often has loose change floating around in his pocket.
She was worried she might lose her passport on her vacation.
 Confused Words Continued
Principal vs. Principle
Principal is an adjective that means “most important” or a noun that means “head
of a school.”
Principle is a noun that means “general or fundamental truth.”
Examples:
She admires her elementary school principal.
She felt that being honest was an important principle.

Who’s vs. Whose

Who’s is a contraction for “who is.”
Whose is a possessive form of “who.”
Examples:
Who’s attending the banquet on Saturday?
Whose cookie is this?

Your vs. You’re

Your is a possessive form of “you.”
You’re is a contraction for “you are.”
Examples:
Please leave your backpack outside of the common eating area.
You’re going to class today, right?
 Other Ways to Say
“He said” or “She Said”
(From Melissa Forney’s The Writing Process)
Accused Communicated Insisted Recited
Admitted Confided Interrupted Remarked
Agreed Confirmed Lectured Repeated
Announced Congratulated Mentioned Reported
Answered Cried Mumbled Reprimanded
Apologized Declared Murmured Responded
Appealed Denied Muttered Retaliated
Argued Described Narrated Retorted
Asked Differed Objected Revealed
Asserted Disagreed Observed Scolded
Begged Drawled Pleaded Shouted
Bickered Droned Pointed out Spoke
Blamed Echoed Pronounced Squealed
Bragged Estimated Proposed Stated
Called Exclaimed Protested Suggested
Cautioned Expressed Quarreled Taunted
Charged Groaned Rambled Uttered
Chattered Guessed Raved Voiced
Claimed Heckled Reasoned Whispered
Commented Insinuated Rebuked Yelled
 Thesis Statement
Your essay must always include a thesis statement, or the main idea that you want
your reader to remember and understand as a result of reading your paper. This
main idea usually consists of one or two sentences, and is most often placed at the
end of your introductory paragraph.

The rest of your essay (your body paragraphs) will provide quotations, visuals,
graphs, statistics, or other forms of evidence which support your thesis statement.

To test your thesis statement, try the following:

If your thesis statement:

 Does no more than repeat/summarize the topics you are writing about
 Poses a question without suggesting an answer
 Only states a fact or series of facts
 Only reflects personal beliefs or preferences
IT IS NOT A THESIS

If, on the other hand, your thesis statement:

 Suggests an answer to a question you have posed as a result of your
reading/research
 Is specific rather than general
 Is debatable (asserts a conclusion with which the reader might disagree)
 Can be supported by evidence from your credible sources
IT IS A THESIS