Underline the verb and tell me if the verb is a Passive Voice or a Active Voice. When writing a report, or any other formal text, it is best to use the active voice. This means that your sentences are constructed so that the subject of the sentence is performing the action.

ACTIVE VOICE EXAMPLE: His fans adore him.

The sentence above is written in the active voice, meaning that His fans is the subject of the sentence, and adore is in the active voice.

In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb.

PASSIVE VOICE EXAMPLE: He is adored by his fans.

Here, the fans still adore him, but He is now the subject of the sentence, and is adored in the passive voice.

DIRECTIONS: Underline the verb in each sentence. Then, write A if the verb is in the active voice or P if the verb is in the passive voice.

1. Yesterday, we celebrated Mom’s birthday.

2. Decorations were put up all over the house.

3. I baked a cake and Thomas bought flowers.

4. A lovely dinner was made.

5. After dinner, we made a fire and enjoyed each other's company.

6. Mom said she was excited to see everyone.

7. At almost one in the morning we realized the time.

8. Mom went to bed, tired but happy.

9. The kitchen was cleaned the next day.

10. A grand time was had by all.

c (: when ulrich considers throwing georg the flask

what: when quoting a source, use the author’s words verbatim, or word-for-word. this means you shouldn’t change any grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. put quotations around the words to tell your reader where the quote begins and where it ends.

you also need to acknowledge the author. for example, if using mla format for your research paper, you should have in-text citations with the author’s name and page number listed at the end of each quote.

when: use quotations to provide concrete examples to support your claims. using direct quotations is a great way to build your credibility on the subject. it’s also a good idea to quote your source when the author states things in a powerful way. if you think he or she said it best, then use the exact words to share the ideas.

example: in the short story “a jury of her peers”, mrs. hale compares mrs. wright to her caged bird, saying “she—come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and—fluttery. how—she—did—change” (glaspell).

paraphrasing

what: paraphrasing differs from quoting because you restate the passage in your own words. since you don’t use the author’s words, you don’t need to use quotation marks. however, you still need to acknowledge the author for his or her ideas.

when paraphrasing a text, you should communicate the full meaning of the text; don’t change the meaning. it can be a condensed version of the text, or it could end up being longer than the source it’s paraphrasing.

when: you use paraphrasing when you take notes, or explain a chart or diagram to someone. paraphrasing highlight the important parts of a larger text. it also allows you to simplify the ideas for your readers.

example:

original: “it was no ordinary thing that called her away–it was probably further from ordinary than anything that had ever happened in dickson county. but what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread all ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted” (glaspell).

paraphrase: as mrs. hales walks around mrs. wright’s home, she notices that the kitchen is in disarray as if she was in the middle of baking bread (glaspell).

the dog listens to mr miller