you choose! the method we use for correctly connecting (or separating) independent clauses should depend on…

you choose! the method we use for correctly connecting (or separating) independent clauses should depend on the formality of our writing and how we want the ideas to flow together. for each of the following run - on errors, consider the best option for correction. highlight or underline your method of choice as you correct each sentence error. 13. elephants’ trunks are wrinkly to help them stretch out and reach further when an elephant reaches out to grasp an object with its trunk, extra wrinkles in the skin on top of the trunk allow it to stretch more than the skin of the underside. 14. i was fifteen years old and halfway through a family meal when the blow to my head came out of nowhere, it felt as if someone had clobbered me on the side of the skull with a mallet, the sudden pain making me drop my fork. 15. the only real problem with summer is that it’s finite you get 12 to 16 weeks and then it’s gone.

you choose! the method we use for correctly connecting (or separating) independent clauses should depend on the formality of our writing and how we want the ideas to flow together. for each of the following run - on errors, consider the best option for correction. highlight or underline your method of choice as you correct each sentence error. 13. elephants’ trunks are wrinkly to help them stretch out and reach further when an elephant reaches out to grasp an object with its trunk, extra wrinkles in the skin on top of the trunk allow it to stretch more than the skin of the underside. 14. i was fifteen years old and halfway through a family meal when the blow to my head came out of nowhere, it felt as if someone had clobbered me on the side of the skull with a mallet, the sudden pain making me drop my fork. 15. the only real problem with summer is that it’s finite you get 12 to 16 weeks and then it’s gone.

Answer

Brief Explanations:

  1. The original is a run - on. We can separate the two independent clauses with a period. "Elephants’ trunks are wrinkly to help them stretch out and reach further when an elephant reaches out to grasp an object with its trunk. Extra wrinkles in the skin on top of the trunk allow it to stretch more than the skin of the underside."
  2. This is a run - on. We can use a semicolon to separate the independent clauses. "I was fifteen years old and halfway through a family meal when the blow to my head came out of nowhere; it felt as if someone had clobbered me on the side of the skull with a mallet, the sudden pain making me drop my fork."
  3. This is a run - on. We can use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. "The only real problem with summer is that it’s finite, for you get 12 to 16 weeks and then it’s gone."

Answer:

  1. Elephants’ trunks are wrinkly to help them stretch out and reach further when an elephant reaches out to grasp an object with its trunk. Extra wrinkles in the skin on top of the trunk allow it to stretch more than the skin of the underside.
  2. I was fifteen years old and halfway through a family meal when the blow to my head came out of nowhere; it felt as if someone had clobbered me on the side of the skull with a mallet, the sudden pain making me drop my fork.
  3. The only real problem with summer is that it’s finite, for you get 12 to 16 weeks and then it’s gone.