Inkygirl is one of my favorite reads…in case that wasn’t obvious!
Nov 202008
Nov 152007
Copyblogger had a great post the other day on common punctuation errors that keep people’s writing from looking as polished as it could be. Master these few tips to keep your work looking good.
He’s given his advice on each one, but I’d like to add my own thoughts on what to watch for with each one.
1. Apostrophe for plurals- Ask yourself is you’re talking about an owner or if you’ve created a contraction. If you haven’t done either, leave the apostrophe out.
2. The Comma Splice- Ask yourself if you’re joining two related clauses or two independent full thoughts. If it’s the second, make them separate sentences. (A number of my students commit this error because they know long complicated sentences are supposed to be the sign of better writing. They learn fairly quickly that this doesn’t help.)
3. Quotation marks for emphasis- I’ve never seen this one happen, but if you feel compelled to use quotation marks, then ask yourself who you are quoting. If you aren’t quoting anybody, leave out the quotation marks.
4. Multiple exclamation marks- Your words should convey the emotion of your sentence, not your marks. Keep that in mind.
5. Punctuation outside the quotation marks- I wrestle with this one. It’s really a matter of where you live whether or not this is true. That said, if you’re writing a sentence inside the quotation marks, then the punctuation must go inside as part of the sentence.
6. The missing comma after introductory elements- Ask yourself if part of your sentence could just as easily come at the end of the sentence. If it can, put a comma behind it to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
He gives some great examples of the right and wrong way to approach these.
If you’d like to learn more about punctuation, read Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss.
Jan 222007
John Scalzi admits these tips are useful, even for those who do write.
I found his list great, and am probably going to be sending it to a few people I know who could use a little something to get through their school writing projects this week. I may even share it with some work colleagues.
My favorite part of the list is the quick bit on punctuation. I’ve been trying to beat into my students’ heads that you use a comma somewhere you want to let the reader take a breath. I’ll often make them read a sentence out loud as it’s punctuated. They can’t do it, and then I have them go back, read the sentence, note where they pause, and add a comma. Amazingly, the paper become far more readable.
I also like the section on punctuation because it reflects part of why we punctuate. Originally, if one is to believe Lynne Truss, punctuation existed solely as marks that told actors when and how to breathe as they were performing lines. You can imagine how those ancient Greek tragedies might have gone without these breathing marks if the Greeks were as prone to writing long-winded sentences as today’s high schoolers.
Found via WWdN: In Exile
Nov 172006
There are people who seek me out in my teaching and personal life because I have a higher-than-average grasp on the proper use of grammar, and even actively practice it myself. Sadly, thanks to one of the best books in the world, I can even give you a brief history on how punctuation came into being. I can’t explain the history of dangling participles, though, so I guess I’m not a true Grammar Geek.
Some would say I’m a grammar snob, but I say I’m just trying to preserve a dying language. Then I found this manifesto (PDF) and realized that I really am something of a grammar snob.
You must read it. It’s simply wonderful!
Aug 252006
A friend was kind enough to give me Eats, Shoots and Leaves for my birthday this year, and I finally found time to read it!
If you have not read this little gem yet, you must. No, seriously! Go out right this minute and obtain a copy (or if you’re more patient, click on the link above and order it). It is one of the most entertaining books I’ve read this year. Not bad given that it’s a book on punctuation (complete with its own punctuation repair kit)!
She not only discusses how to properly use various punctuation marks, but also includes examples of common misuse with an explanation of the problem. She also includes a history of the punctuation marks. Did you know punctuation marks originally were to instruct actors on how to read lines? It wasn’t until society became more literate that they became important to the general populace. It’s another connection between writing and acting!
It’s informative. It’s charming. It’s worth the read, and you’ll come away smarter!
May 222006
I spend an unwholesome amount of my day editing or guiding others in editing activities. As such, I have to remember all those lovely grammar rules drilled into my head in middle school. Now that I’m considering writing my own writing guide and grammar book, I really have to be on top of these things.
I found these non-rules very interesting. Especially the one about conjunctions. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was taught that you never start a sentence with a conjunction because they are connecting words. At the beginning of a sentence, you aren’t really connecting anything. The rule about split infinitives is interesting, too. I’d never really thought to connect it to Latin.
The next time you go to scold someone about a grammar rule, consider the concept behind it. Is it still a valid style preference?
May 052006
I’ve come to two rather horrifying discoveries this week:
- Fractions were not covered on the state’s graduating exam.
- It’s acceptable for a seventh grader to have no grammar knowledge.
The first was perhaps the worst, because I confirmed it with three different students. This test is being prepared as the one that controls whether or not a student graduates from high school in this state, and there were no fractions on it. One of my colleagues suggested marching on the state capital in protest, and I had to agree with him wholeheartedly. Fractions are one of those things that you really can’t get by in life without knowing. Ranks right up there with proportions.
The second was a bit more tolerable, if only because I suspect, “No, they really never taught us what a noun is,” actually translates to, “I don’t pay attention in class, and never have.” I was actually confronted with a twelve year old who had no earthly idea what a noun was. He honestly thought an adjective was an action word. I almost started crying right there, and the student felt badly that he’d driven me to near tears. He never once said he’d been joking with me, which made it worse. (He’s the kind of kid who loves to pull silly pranks.)
I was actually furious after he walked out and I thought about our conversation. When I was twelve, I was diagramming sentences in both English and Latin. For those who have never known the sheer joy of diagramming a sentence in English, it involves putting words into a graphic organizer; the placement is determined by the part of speech. For Latin, we had to create a chart where each line had one word from the sentence, and we had to fill in the line with part of speech, case/tense, gender, number, and special notes, before we were allowed to translate the word.
I just really can’t wrap my mind around not having fractions on a high school exit test or being a junior high student with no clue about grammar.
Apr 272006
I don’t know if I shared it here, but I have become known as “Dead Bunny” by a writing student in my center.
It all began with a lesson on prepositions. I was using the bunny and the box to demonstrate what a preposition is. I used my hands to form said bunny and box. For the most part, the student got it, despite the fact the teacher was afraid she wouldn’t.
Recently, the same student was presented with an activity on compound predicates. She called me over and told me she didn’t know what to do. I started by asking her what a predicate was, and she looked at me blankly.
So, I gave her the brief explanation of what a subject and predicate are. She still seemed lost, so I reminded her of our dear dead bunny. The sentence, “The bunny fell off the box,” quickly became the means by which she understood subject and predicate. Since she seemed to have that concept well in hand, I changed the sentence to, “The bunny fell off the box and died,” bringing compound predicates into the conversation.
Amazingly, she got it immediately, and the teacher and I just looked at each other. We couldn’t believe how much grammar could be taught from a dead bunny.
Mar 272006
I’ve always considered myself to have a pretty strong grasp on grammar, and English language arts in general. Lately, though, I think some terms have come into confusion.
I teach at a tutoring center, which baffled me the other day. I have to teach homonyms and multiple meaning words. One problem- they’re the same thing.
I looked up homonym and got the following definition: “one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning (as the noun quail and the verb quail)”
This matches with what I think a homonym is. It’s the same word with a different meaning.
What I’m being asked to teach as “homonyms” are actually homophones- words that sound alike but are spelled differently. The same handy dictionary had the following to say on the matter: “one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as the words to, too, and two)”.
How did these two terms not only become confused, but become synonymous. (The dictionary actually suggested that “homonym” is a synonym for “synonym”. I was beside myself!)
