"Over the Rainbow"

Phrase:  a group of words in a sentence that function as a single part of speech; Phrases do not contain a subject and verb.

Using "Over the rainbow" as our exemplary prepositional phrase, we identify other phrases as word teams like it.  They start with prepositions, ends with nouns, and don't have subjects and verbs.

Some of the most common prepositions include: 

Think of it like this: a single adjective or adverb operates like a single tennis player or golfer, it's a one person job.  A phrase is like a team, working together to do one job. 

Consider the following example. Adjectives modify nouns, but so can adjective phrases:

Adjective:   A colorful parrot drank the water.

Adjective Phrase:  A parrot with colorful feathers drank the water.

The same goes for adverbs (which can modify verbs, adjective, and other adverbs):

Adverb:  The man sang loudly.

Adverb phrase:   The man sang in a loud ugly voice.

For a detailed explanation on phrases, see Guide to Writing and Grammar: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/phrases.htm

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Using transitional words and phrases
 helps papers read more smoothly.  
They provide logical organization and understandability
and improve the connections and transitions between thoughts.

A coherent paper allows the reader
 to flow from the first supporting point to the last.

Transitions indicate relations, 
whether within a sentence, paragraph, or paper.
 This list illustrates "relationships" between ideas,
followed by words and phrases that can connect them.

Addition:
 also, again, as well as, besides, coupled with, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly

Consequence:
 accordingly, as a result, consequently, for this reason, for this purpose, 
hence, otherwise, so then, subsequently, therefore, thus, thereupon, wherefore

Generalizing:
as a rule, as usual, for the most part,
generally, generally speaking, ordinarily, usually

Exemplifying:
chiefly, especially, for instance, in particular, markedly, namely, 
particularly,  including, specifically, such as

Illustration:
for example, for instance, for one thing, as an illustration, 
illustrated with, as an example, in this case

Emphasis
above all, chiefly, with attention to, especially, particularly, singularly

Similarity:
comparatively, coupled with, correspondingly, identically, likewise, similar, moreover, together with

Exception:
aside from, barring, besides, except, excepting, excluding, exclusive of, other than, outside of, save

Restatement:
in essence, in other words, namely, that is, that is to say, 
in short, in brief, to put it differently

Contrast and Comparison:
contrast, by the same token, conversely, instead, likewise,
on one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary, rather,
similarly, yet, but, however, still, nevertheless, in contrast

Sequence:
at first, first of all, to begin with, in the first place, at the same time,
for now, for the time being, the next step, in time, in turn, later on,
meanwhile, next, then, soon, the meantime, later, while, earlier,
simultaneously, afterward, in conclusion, with this in mind,

Summarizing:
after all, all in all, all things considered, briefly, by and large, in any case, in any event, 
in brief, in conclusion, on the whole, in short, in summary, in the final analysis, 
in the long run, on balance, to sum up, to summarize, finally

Diversion:
by the way, incidentally

Direction:
here, there, over there, beyond, nearly, opposite, under, above,
to the left, to the right, in the distance

Inference:

Often in good stories we must make a guess, or infer, what is happening based on indirect clues.

Hyphens and when to use them:

Third Person Narrator:

     In literary analysis this week we looked at the use of Third Person Point of View, Narrator.  Most stories are told in this form.  The narrator speaks from outside the story looking in at the characters, but does not participate in the story.  If the narrator can look into the thought of more than one character, we call this Third Person Omniscient  (omniscient means all-seeing, all knowing).  But if the narrator can only see the thoughts of one character this is called Third Person Limited.  Authors chose the point of view that best fits the needs of their story. For example, a mystery wouldn't be very mysterious if the narrator was omniscient. 

For more information checkout this Lit terms site: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

Coordinating Conjunctions:

Coordinating Conjunctions join related words, phrases, and clauses. The most common are: and, or, but, nor, for, yet, so.

Check our my Language Arts page for mountains of details. http://web.mac.com/mattox_live/http%3Aweb.mac.commattox_live/Language_Arts.html