Exercise 32/33-4 The comma
Edit the following paragraphs to correct the use of commas. The first revision has been done for you. You should add ten more commas.
Feed, M.T. Anderson’s award-winning dystopian novel for young adult, focuses on modern anxieties about the changing world. Specifically the role of technology acts as the text’s central theme. The book depicts a world in which most of its inhabitants live with “feed’ a microchip implanted in their brains. The chip connects owners to the “ feednet” which allows instant advertising and manipulation of the owner’s mind by corporations. The “feednet” evidently a futuristic version of the Internet, acts as a constant force and distraction. This scenario is not unlike that facing the modern teen who must now navigate a world of information through computers, smartphones, iPods and other portable devices. Anderson recognizes that teenagers are the age group most likely to ask “ What does this all mean?” He thinks teens are well equipped to think about the effects that advances in technology might have on society and to ask and contemplate serious questions. Anderson believes that to engage today’s young people a writer must connect with what’s on their minds. Teens, like adults should be viewed as a smart curious audience for good literature.
Exercise 32/33-5 Unnecessary commas
Each of the following sentences contains one unnecessary comma. Delete the comma that is not needed.
1. The popularity of Suzanne Collins’s The hunger Games, can be seen as a counterpoint to the popularity of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series.
2. While the Twilight books feature a melodramatic Bella Swan, as their heroine, Collins’s female protagonist, Katniss, is too busy surviving to cry for help.
3. Many readers, young and old, criticized Bella’s passivity, and her need to be saved.
4. Meeting Katniss, readers see a resemblance to the strong female protagonists of the fantasy genre, such as Hermione in the Harry Potter books and Lyra, in Philip Pullman’s His dark Materials trilogy.
5. Katniss refuses to adhere to the rules enforced by the Capitol, and is determined to prove that, in the end, the authorities cannot control her.
6. She is heroine that young adult readers of both sexes can admire, for, she is strong-willed, passionate, intelligent, and tough.
7. When tributes are chosen for the Capitol’s annual Hunger Games, a horrific event held to remind the Districts of their powerlessness, Katniss puts her life at risk, and volunteers to be a tribute in place of her younger sister.
8. Though Katniss doesn’t have the extensive training that many of the other tributes have, her conviction and compassion, ultimately set her apart.
9. She remains, one of the few participants who does not have to resort to brutality to prove that she is just as strong as, if not stronger than, her savage contenders.
10. Katniss proves to be the type of protagonist, who, like Bella, will continue to win fans and whom we will continue to see in young adult literature.
