I went into the Hacker website thinking all the exercises would be easy, and they were not. They gave me a reminder of what keeps writing parallel. As in the example: A tsunami hit a populated coast in Papua New Guinea, killing two thousand people and wiping out whole towns. This sentence was correct because the –ing forms killing and wiping are parallel. Another exercise that was helpful was what words are needed in sentence and what is not. For example: The man whom we encountered at the airport turned out to be a long lost friend, the word ‘whom’ can be omitted without causing problems for the reader. Sometimes I use unnecessary words when they are not needed. Another helpful review during the exercises was the about shifts in verb tense. A person should not be changing tenses every few words in a sentence. In the sentence: Rowling, who is now one of the richest people in England, has the ability to make readers of any age remember their awkward preteen years. This sentence is correct because the verbs is and has are both present tense. Overall the Hacker website was very helpful, and I will use the knowledge I know to improve my writing.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Hacker Review of Clear Sentences.
E-ex 8-1 Active vs. passive verbs: This exercise was very helpful, because I do not always understand the difference between what is happening and what has happened.
E-ex 8-2 Active vs. be verbs: This was not very helpful. I did very well in this exercise, and realized the difference in how strong or weak writing or making a statement/question can be.
E-ex 8-3 Active verbs (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful, it helped me get a review of how to make strong sentences, and take away extra words or information that are unnecessary.
E-ex 9-1 Parallelism: Although I knew about this exercise well, it was still helpful because it was a good reminder to use the same endings, such as -ing, -es, or -ed.
E-ex 9-2 Parallelism: This exercise was not very helpful because I knew already about parallelism and what is acceptable and what is not.
E-ex 9-3 Parallelism (edit and compare): This exercise was not helpful, I had almost all the same answers as the possible revisions. It did make me think though about how my sentences needed to be and was a good review.
E-ex 8-2 Active vs. be verbs: This was not very helpful. I did very well in this exercise, and realized the difference in how strong or weak writing or making a statement/question can be.
E-ex 8-3 Active verbs (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful, it helped me get a review of how to make strong sentences, and take away extra words or information that are unnecessary.
E-ex 9-1 Parallelism: Although I knew about this exercise well, it was still helpful because it was a good reminder to use the same endings, such as -ing, -es, or -ed.
E-ex 9-2 Parallelism: This exercise was not very helpful because I knew already about parallelism and what is acceptable and what is not.
E-ex 9-3 Parallelism (edit and compare): This exercise was not helpful, I had almost all the same answers as the possible revisions. It did make me think though about how my sentences needed to be and was a good review.
E-ex 10-1 Needed words: This exercise was helpful and reminded me of words that may be unnecessary in writing.
E-ex 10-2 Needed words (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful because my revisions were not always like what the revisions the program had. I did learn about more ways to make a sentence more complete.
E-ex 11-1 Mixed constructions: This exercise was helpful because it made me realize what was a better sentence word choice than some I may have used otherwise, such as how to start a definition properly.
E-ex 11-2 Mixed constructions (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful because I had a hard time distinguishing between using words that are appropriate for a sentence and other that are not correct, such as starting a sentence with "by".
E-ex 12-1 Misplaced modifiers: This exercise was not helpful because I knew that certain words need to be close to what it is modifying.
E-ex 12-2 Misplaced modifiers (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful because it showed me how to make sentences clearer.
E-ex 12-3 Dangling modifiers: This exercise was not helpful because I already knew that the subject should be named right away.
E-ex 12-4 Dangling modifiers (edit and compare): This exercise tricked me, and was very helpful. Even when I thought the sentence was not right, it was and only needed little revising, where as I thought it needed a lot.
E-ex 13-1 Shifts: person and number: This exercise was not helpful because I already knew that the subject needs to only be singular or plural throughout the sentence.
E-ex 13-2 Shifts: tense: This exercise was not helpful because I understand that the tenses or words cannot change in a sentence. They need to be the same.
E-ex 13-3 Shifts: This exercise was not helpful, I already knew that the tense needs to be the same, and the voice needs to be either direct or indirect. A person should not ever use the word "you" either.
E-ex 13-4 Shifts (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful because a few times I had my words mixed up and not how they should have been. I noticed again that using the word "you" is incorrect.
E-ex 14-1 Choppy sentences: This exercise was helpful because I had a review of dangling modifiers and also when and where to add commas.
E-ex 14-2 Choppy sentences (edit and compare): This exercise was helpful because I learned how to combine similar topics and make the sentence run smoother.
E-ex 14-3 Subordination: This exercise was helpful, because I didn't understand that when a writer adds "which" it takes away the emphasis on the next information.
What makes a story good, our class list.
As a class we made groups and talked about what we thought would make a story good. We presented in class about what our findings were, and from that we all regrouped and decided what our top 2 findings were in our own groups.
We had to place them on a spreadsheet, and this was our findings for our whole class. I prioritized them into what I thought was most to least important:
--Grammar and Structure
-- Introduction: Needs to catch your attention and make you want to keep reading to find out what happens.
-- When it is made for the reader to understand. Target audience.
--Pace: How fast the story moves shouldn't be to fast or to slow.
--Be logical: a story should make sense.
--Emotion: The ability to connect to the emotions of what is happening.
--Creative: Should be something new that makes story more interested and different.
--Imagination: Being creative makes it more interesting to read, and more engaging.
--Using good resources to find legit information.
--Good choice of words but has to make sense.
--Conclusion that summarizes main points of the story.
--Has a good hook in the beginning.
--Creative body could make readers not loose their interests in your story.
--Transition from one point to another.
--Clear and interesting ending.
--Attractive clues that makes you want to read more.
--Put facts from least to most important.
--Mystery: don't make the topic be extremely obvious. allow the reader to actually think about it and try to figure things out for themselves.
--Personalized stories with your own words and ideas are more meaningful and interesting.
We had to place them on a spreadsheet, and this was our findings for our whole class. I prioritized them into what I thought was most to least important:
--Grammar and Structure
-- Introduction: Needs to catch your attention and make you want to keep reading to find out what happens.
-- When it is made for the reader to understand. Target audience.
--Pace: How fast the story moves shouldn't be to fast or to slow.
--Be logical: a story should make sense.
--Emotion: The ability to connect to the emotions of what is happening.
--Creative: Should be something new that makes story more interested and different.
--Imagination: Being creative makes it more interesting to read, and more engaging.
--Using good resources to find legit information.
--Good choice of words but has to make sense.
--Conclusion that summarizes main points of the story.
--Has a good hook in the beginning.
--Creative body could make readers not loose their interests in your story.
--Transition from one point to another.
--Clear and interesting ending.
--Attractive clues that makes you want to read more.
--Put facts from least to most important.
--Mystery: don't make the topic be extremely obvious. allow the reader to actually think about it and try to figure things out for themselves.
--Personalized stories with your own words and ideas are more meaningful and interesting.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Bedford Handbook
13-1 Shifts: Person and Number
Using pronouns, (such as we, are, they, them, us) the writer needs to stay within the same point of view. Keep the sentence singular or plural.
Examples:
Every year I go to the beach, and they find a new species!
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
Every year I go to the beach, and I find a new species!
----------------------------------------------------------------
My rabbit loves to eat, but they don't like carrots.
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
My rabbit loves to eat, but he doesn't like carrots.
----------------------------------------------------------------
When babies have hunger, it cries a lot.
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
When babies have hunger, they cry a lot.
Never use "you" to describe anyone in general.
Example:
When we drove through the city, you began see lots of homeless people.
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
When we drove through the city, we began to see lots of homeless people.
Using pronouns, (such as we, are, they, them, us) the writer needs to stay within the same point of view. Keep the sentence singular or plural.
Examples:
Every year I go to the beach, and they find a new species!
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
Every year I go to the beach, and I find a new species!
----------------------------------------------------------------
My rabbit loves to eat, but they don't like carrots.
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
My rabbit loves to eat, but he doesn't like carrots.
----------------------------------------------------------------
When babies have hunger, it cries a lot.
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
When babies have hunger, they cry a lot.
Never use "you" to describe anyone in general.
Example:
When we drove through the city, you began see lots of homeless people.
This is not correct, the writer should have said,
When we drove through the city, we began to see lots of homeless people.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Comma Usage
The topic I decided to study is comma usage. Many people do not know how to use them properly, and I do not always understand, either. I have found a few simple guidelines that make knowing when to use commas a little bit simpler. If a person has a base knowledge, using commas becomes second nature, and a person will understand how we use them in our daily life.
· Commas are used to separate two independent clauses and are placed before a coordinating conjunction such as but, nor, so, and yet.
Example:
I love going to the library, but I never check out any books.
Commas are used after any introductory words, phrase, or clause. Commas can also be used to tie in any words that are not necessary for the sentence.
Example:
In fact, most books at the library are free, however, I still do not check them out.
Commas are needed in a series of items, and before any quotations.
Example:
My father said that I needed books, pens, and pencils. He made sure to tell me, “if you forget anything we are not coming back!”
Commas are also used in dates, titles, and places.
Examples:
Today is January 21, 2012.
Our family is in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.
Today I received a letter of recommendation from the hospital; it is from Samuel Adams, Ph.D.
Cogdill, Sharon, and Judith Kilborn. "LEO Comma Rules." Welcome to LEO: Literacy Education Online. Write Place. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/punct/comma.html>.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
When is a story "good?"
When is a story “good?”
1. When it is made for the reader to understand. Target audience.
2. Pictures to help explain the situation or storyline.
3. Based on a life experience.
4. Examples or details to back up what the topic is about.
5. Rich imagination. Extensive details.
6. Easy for the reader to follow.
7. Unexpected ending.
8. Using good resources to find legit information.
9. Bring reader into the story or article.
10. Keeps the reader’s attention.
11. Has a good hook in the beginning.
Parameters: Make sure to stay on topic. Only write about what you know about.
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