3. Reference Problems
• Articles without authors
• Capitalization and format of titles of articles
• Authors’ names
• Sources in italics
• Alphabetized lists
• Links that don’t link up to the correct article
4. Good Example
• Deadly clashes rock Guinea ahead of poll.
(2013, May 26). Aljazeera. Retrieved from
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/
05/20135261010468596.html
• Thousands mourn celebrated Nigerian writer.
(2013, May 23). Aljazeera. Retrieved from
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/
05/201352310332736640.html
5. Grammar Problems
• Inconsistent tense usage in reporting verbs
• Fused clauses
• -ing forms after prepositions
• Unclear use of the term “news” and “report”
6. Tense in Reporting Verbs
• The reporting verbs are the verbs that explain
what the article does.
• Examples: This article describes. . . explains. .
. Etc.
• All your reporting verbs should be in the same
tense. If you decide to use present tense,
then they should all be in the present tense.
• If you choose past tense, they should all be in
past tense.
7. Example
• Deadly clashes rock Guinea ahead of poll.
(2013, May 26). Aljazeera. Retrieved from
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/
05/20135261010468596.html
• The article describes inter-tribal violence in
Guinea associated with pending elections as
the country moves towards democracy. The
report indicates that this violence has had a
negative effect on foreign investments.
8. Example 2
• Deadly clashes rock Guinea ahead of poll.
(2013, May 26). Aljazeera. Retrieved from
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/
05/20135261010468596.html
• The article described inter-tribal violence in
Guinea associated with pending elections as
the country moves towards democracy. The
report indicated that this violence has had a
negative effect on foreign investments.
9. Fused Clauses
• A clause is a structure with a subject and a
complete verb phrase.
• We combine clauses to form sentences.
• Fused clauses happen when part of one clause
ends up playing the role of the subject of the
verb phrase in another.
10. Example
• The reporter talked to an insurgent.
• The insurgent was holding several hostages.
• FUSED:
• The reporter talked to an insurgent was holding
several hostages.
• ANALYSIS:
• “insurgent” is both the object of a preposition
“to” in one clause and the subject of the verb
phrase“was holding” in another clause.
11. Fix it!
• Every verb phrase must have its own subject.
• The reporter talked to an insurgent who was
holding several hostages.
12. -ing forms after prepositions
• When we combine clauses and clause 2
comes up behind a preposition in clause 1, the
verb in clause 2 must go into the –ing form.
13. Examples
• I report on something.
• He told the truth.
• = I reported on his telling the truth.
• I report on something.
• He should tell the truth.
• = I reported on his telling the truth. In my
opinion he should tell it.
• I reported on something.
• He has told the truth.
• = I reported on his having told the truth.
14. Unclear Terms
• This news reports (“news” is the subject;
“reports” is a verb)
• This news report says (“news report” is a
compound noun subject; the verb is “says”).
