Lesson 1

Do not start a sentence with a gerund (ing verbal that acts as subject). Ever. Ever. Ever!!!!

Revise each of these terrible sentences with a partner, then go to your own Cohen essay and highlight your own gerund beginning a sentence (there may be more than one). If you can’t find any, hurrah! hurrah!

1.      Lending a helping hand—it may not be an action we necessarily want to take, but we must.

2.      Helping those in need simply because it’s the right thing to do no longer will enter the minds of people, and eventually the idea of “lending a helping hand” will come to an end.

3.      Offering incentives for charity work cannot be tolerable in any community and therefore should not be used as enticement to arouse the interest in any person.

4.      Helping out the less fortunate and committing charitable acts is great, but the true meaning of charity should not be tarnished.

5.      Boosting revenue increases the items received by charities but donators do not lose the ethical purpoe of giving.