Notes on Sentence Parallelism

This principle of parallel construction requires that expressions of similar content and function should be outwardly similar.

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed.

Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method.

The left-hand version gives the impression that the writer is undecided or timid; he seems unable or afraid to choose one form of expression and hold to it. The right-hand version shows that the writer has at least made his choice and abided by it.

By this principle, an article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term.

The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese	The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese
In spring, summer, or in winter	In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter)

Correlative expressions (both, and; not, but; not only, but also; either, or; first, second, third; and the like) should be followed by the same grammatical construction. Many violations of this rule can be corrected by rearranging the sentence.

It was both a long ceremony and very tedious.	The ceremony was both long and tedious.
A time not for words, but action.	A time not for words, but for action.
Either you must grant his request or incur his ill will.	You must either grant his request or incur his ill will.
My objections are, first, the injustice of the measure; second, that it is unconstitutional.	My objections are, first, that the measure is unjust; second, that it is unconstitutional.

The position of the words in a sentence is the principal means of showing their relationship. The writer must therefore, so far as possible, bring together the words, and groups of words, that are related in thought, and keep apart those which are not so related. The subject of a sentence and the principal verb should not, as a rule, be separated by a phrase or clause that can be transferred to the beginning.

Wordsworth, in the fifth book of The Excursion, gives a minute description of this church.	In the fifth book of The Excursion, Wordsworth gives a minute description of this church.
Cast iron, when treated in a Bessemer converter, is changed into steel.	By treatment in a Bessemer converter, cast iron is changed into steel.

Source: Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.

Notes on Achieving Success Through Effective Business Communication

Getting Ready for Business Communication 2.0

• Back in the old days, business communication was largely defined by a publishing or broadcasting mindset. Externally, a company released carefully scripted messages to a mass audience that often had few, if any, ways to respond. Internally, communication follow the same, “we talk, you listen” model with upper managers issuing directives to lower-level supervisors and employees.
• In contrast to the publishing mindset, this new social communication model is interactive and conversational. The audience is no longer a passive recipient of messages but an active participant in the conversation.
• Business communication 2.0 is a convenient label for this new approach. 

Achieving Success in Today’s Competitive Environment

• No matter what career path you pursue, communication skills will be essential to your success. If you learn to write well, speak well, listen well, and recognize the appropriate way to communicate in various business situations, you’ll gain a major advantage that will serve you throughout your career.
• Communication is the process of transferring information and meaning between senders and receivers, using one or more written, oral, visual, or electronic channels.
• Effective communication yields numerous business benefits:Stronger decision making

1. Faster problem solving
2. Earlier warning of potential problems
3. Increased productivity and lower costs
4. Stronger business relationships
5. Clearer and more persuasive marketing messages

Communicating in Organizational Settings

Messages flow into, through, and out of business organizations in a variety of ways. Internal communication takes place between people inside a company, whereas external communication takes place between a company and outside parties.

• Every organization has a formal communication network, in which the ideas and information flow along the lines of command in the company’s organization structure.
• Throughout the internal formal network, information flows from in three directions. Downward communication flows from executives to employees; conveying executive decisions and information that helps employees do their jobs. Downward communication flows from employees to executives, providing insights to problems, trends, opportunities, grievances, and performance. This allows executives to solve problems and make intelligent decisions. Horizontal communication flows between departments to help employees share information, coordinate tasks, and solve complex problems.
• Every organization has informal communication network, often referred to as the grapevine or rumor mill, encompasses all communication that takes place outside the formal network. Some informal communication takes place naturally and some takes place when the formal network does not provide information the employees want.

Recognizing Effective Communication

1. Provide practical information
2. Give facts rather than vague impressions
3. Present information in a concise, efficient manner
4. Clarify expectations and responsibilities
5. Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and recommendations

Understanding What Employers Want

1. Organizing ideas and information logically and completely
2. Expressing ideas and information coherently and persuasively
3. Actively listening to others
4. Communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds
5. Using communicating technologies effectively and efficiently
6. Following accepted standards of grammar
7. Adapting your message and communicating styles to specific audiences and situations
8. Communicating in a civilized manner
9. Communicating ethically
10. Managing your time wisely and using resource efficiently

Understanding the Unique Challenges of Business Communication

1. The globalization of business and increase in workforce diversity
2. The increasing value of business information (Competitive insights, Customer needs, and Regulation and guidelines)
3. The pervasiveness of technology
4. The evolution of organizational structures
5. The growing reliance of teamwork

Six Strategies for Communicating Effectively

A. Minimizing Distractions

1. Using common sense and courtesy
2. Not sending unnecessary messages
3. Not isolating yourself
4. Informing receivers of message priority

B. Adopting an Audience Centered Approach

C. Fine-Tuning Your Business Communication Skills

D. Giving—and Responding to—Constructive Feedback

1. Think carefully your suggested changes
2. Discuss improvements rather than flaws
3. Focus on controllable behavior
4. Be specific
5. Keep feedback impersonal
6. Verify understanding
7. Provide your feedback in a timely fashion
8. Highlight any limitations your feedback may have.

E. Being Sensitive to Business Etiquette

F.  Applying What You’ve Learned to the Communication Process

Using Technology to Improve Business Communication

1. Keeping Technology in Perspective
2. Guarding Against Information Overload
3. Using Technological Tools Productively
4. Reconnecting with People

Making Ethical Communication Choices

• Plagiarism
• Omitting essential information
• Selective misquoting
• Misrepresenting numbers
• Distorting visuals
• Failing to respect privacy or information security needs

Distinguishing Ethical Dilemmas from Ethical Lapses

• An ethical dilemma is a choice between alternatives that may all be ethical and valid.
• A lapse is making a choice that you know to be unethical.

Ensuring Ethical Communication

• Have you defined the situation fairly and accurately?
• What is your intention in communicating this message?
• What impact will this message have on the people who receive it, or who might be affected by it?
• Will the message achieve the greatest possible good while doing the least possible harm?
• Will a decision that seems ethical now seem ethical in the future?
• Would you be embarrassed if your message be printed in the newspaper or spread across the internet?

Ensuring Legal Communication

1. Promotional Communication
2. Contracts
3. Employment Communication
4. Intellectual Property
5. Financial Reporting

Source: Thill, John V., and Courland L. Bovee. Excellence in Business Communication, 9th edition. USA: Pearson, 2011.   

Notes on Sentence Structures

Sentence Structures 

1.  Simple
2. Compound
3. Complex
4. Compound-Complex

Simple Sentence 

A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate.

Mary plays tennis.

A simple sentence with a compound subject and compound predicate:

Mary and Tom play tennis and swim.

Compound Sentences 

A compound sentence has more than one part that can stand alone (independent clauses). Independent clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs or a semi-colon.

Tom swims, and Mary plays tennis.

Coordinating Conjunctions

FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, SO

Conjunctive Adverbs

MOREOVER, HOWEVER, OTHERWISE, THEREFORE

Conjunctive adverbs are sometimes called “floating” adverbs because they can be positioned at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a clause.

Bob is handsome; moreover, he is rich.

Bob is handsome; he is, moreover, rich.

Bob is handsome; he is rich, moreover.

 “If the relation between the ideas expressed in the main clauses is very close and obvious without a conjunction, you can separate the clauses with a semicolon” (Little, Brown Handbook, 9th Edition, p. 361).

Complex Sentence

A complex sentence has at least two parts: one that can stand alone and another one that cannot. The part that cannot stand alone is linked to the rest of the sentence by a subordinating conjunction. The most common subordinating conjunctions are   "after," "although," "as," "because," "before," "how," "if," "once," "since," "than," "that," though," "till," "until," "when," "where," "whether,” and “while."

Bob is popular because he is rich.

Since Bob is rich, he is popular.

Compound-Complex Sentence

This type of sentence has more than one part that can stand alone, and at least one that cannot. Conjunctions link the different parts of this sentence.

Bob is popular because he is rich, but he is not very happy.

Source: www.atlanta.k12.ga.us

Notes on the DO, IO, OC, and SC (PN and PA)

Direct Object

The d.o. is always a noun

The d.o. will always follow an action verb- an action that you can do to someone or to something

The d.o. will answer the question WHO or WHAT

The d.o. will NEVER be in a prepositional phrase (cross them out!)

The dog eats food.
The dog eats what? Food  (Direct Object)

Indirect Object

There must be a direct object

Therefore, there must be an action verb

The indirect object will always come BEFORE the d.o.

The indirect object answers the questions TO WHOM, TO WHAT, or FOR WHOM

The i.o. is NEVER in a prep phrase

The i.o. is ALWAYS a noun

The dog brought me his bone.
The dog brought his bone to whom? Me (Indirect Object)

Verbs commonly used with indirect objects:

SEND, LEND, BRING, and GIVE

Indirect Objects can be rephrased as prepositional phrases after the direct object:

The dog brought his bone to me.  (Prep Phrase)

The Objective Complement

An objective complement is an adjective or a noun that appears with a direct object and describes or renames it. Object Complements can either be nouns or adjectives.  They restate the direct object.

I made my dog angry.  (angry = adjective)

I consider my dog a good companion.  (companion = noun)

They are used only with the following verbs:

Appoint, Name, Make, Think, & Call

An objective complement can only be found in a sentence with a direct object.

To determine if a word is an objective complement, say the verb and the direct object, then ask What?

The girl considers her dog intelligent.
The girl considers her dog what? Intelligent (Objective Complement)

Predicate Nominative

There must be a linking verb (state of being verb)

The pn means the same thing as the subject

The pn is NEVER in a prep phrase

The pn is ALWAYS a noun

The pn is ALWAYS on the RIGHT side of the linking verb

John is the captain. 

Predicate Adjective

There must be a linking verb

A predicate adjective describes the subject

The predicate adjective is NEVER in a prep phrase

The predicate adjective is always an adjective

The predicate adjective is ALWAYS on the right side of the verb

The dog is hungry.

Source: www.harths.org

Notes on Skin, Hair, and Nail Vocabulary

A good understanding of vocabulary words in pharmacy is very important for communication with professors, fellow students, patients, and coworkers. Knowledge of understanding leads to successful communication and success as a pharmacy student, as a pharmacy technician, and as a practicing pharmacist.