Original:
In her article Lisa Delpit touches on some very interesting points in her article. In particular, the cases of code switching, Ebonics, and accented workers being considered less intelligent. All of these things are brought forward with a background based, at least somewhat, on race. This is what makes this issue difficult. There is close ties to racism in Delpit's article, and really serves as a lightning rod for controversy. For example, the issue of Ebonics targeted specifically what is called "African American English". Is it a surprise that many people were upset? Not at all. In my opinion it may be difficult to understand someone who speaks with what Delpit calls a "ghetto" or "chetto" accent, but it also can be difficult to understand a deeply southern drawl type accent regardless of color. This I think is an important idea. Anytime a problem is labeled with a race or color, regardless of whether or not it is true, the issue becomes more controversial. However, Delpit is right in saying that more proper English can help many be more successful. I also believe Delpit is correct when she talks about code switching. In reality it is nearly impossible to force a style of language on kids; they will often ignore this as Delpit said. This is where code switching can be stressed. Kids learning when and where to speak a certain way can be very important to success, regardless of where they are from and what accent they may or may not have.
Revised:
Lisa Delpit touches on some very interesting points in her article. In particular, the ideas of code switching, Ebonics, and accented workers being considered less intelligent. All of these things are brought forward with a background based, at least somewhat, on race. Race makes this issue difficult [simple]. There is close ties to racism in Delpit's article, and this really serves as a lightning rod for controversy [compound/coordinating conjunction]. For example, the issue of Ebonics targeted specifically what is called "African American English". Is it a surprise that many people were upset? No [one word sentence]. In my opinion it may be difficult to understand someone who speaks with what Delpit calls a "ghetto" or "chetto" accent, but it also can be difficult to understand a deeply southern drawl type accent regardless of color. This is a critical idea [long+short sentence for emphasis]. Anytime a problem is labeled with a race or color, regardless of whether or not it is true, the issue becomes more controversial. However, Delpit is right in saying that more proper English can help many be more successful [complex]. I also believe Delpit is correct when she talks about code switching. In reality it is nearly impossible to force a style of language on kids; they will often ignore this as Delpit said [compound/semicolon]. This is where code switching can be stressed. Kids learning when and where to speak a certain way can be very important to success, regardless of where they are from and what accent they may or may not have.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Blog 5
This week I will be illustrating the use of a complex sentence, with the dependent clause and subordinating conjunction first, and then followed by a comma before the independent clause. This is a grammatical pattern I am aware of and know how to use, but it is not one I use very often. I really have no particular for this I just don't use it much. However, this really is a decently common usage, and is fairly simple to learn.
To help show this pattern I used examples from a paper I wrote on Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I was only able to find one example of this throughout my entire paper. The paper was only two pages long, but I still expected to find more examples of this.
Example:
Before the cops arrive, Christopher hides himself in the baggage closet.[Pattern 2]
This is actually not the exact way I originally used this sentence. In my first attempt I used the opposite pattern of a complex sentence with a dependent clause following the independent clause, and without a comma.
Original Example:
Christopher hides himself in the baggage closet before the cops arrive. [Pattern 3]
As you can see this example features all of the same parts as the first, only without a comma and with a slightly different order. I personally prefer this way of using complex sentences. I feel as if this style just fits better in my writing, or possibly I am just more comfortable with it. I also understand, partially, why this pattern does not often appear in my writing. For me, these patterns work very well to summarize something, and in most of my papers I am not supposed to summarize excessively. This is not to say that these patterns are meant only for this use, but it is how I prefer to use them. Since, I do not summarize often I believe I do not consider using this pattern quite as much as maybe I should. Looking through my other I really stick to the trend of using this pattern in a summary. Because of this I don't use the pattern as often as I could. I believe this should change simply to add something different to my writing, and I plan on using this pattern more.
To help show this pattern I used examples from a paper I wrote on Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I was only able to find one example of this throughout my entire paper. The paper was only two pages long, but I still expected to find more examples of this.
Example:
Before the cops arrive, Christopher hides himself in the baggage closet.[Pattern 2]
This is actually not the exact way I originally used this sentence. In my first attempt I used the opposite pattern of a complex sentence with a dependent clause following the independent clause, and without a comma.
Original Example:
Christopher hides himself in the baggage closet before the cops arrive. [Pattern 3]
As you can see this example features all of the same parts as the first, only without a comma and with a slightly different order. I personally prefer this way of using complex sentences. I feel as if this style just fits better in my writing, or possibly I am just more comfortable with it. I also understand, partially, why this pattern does not often appear in my writing. For me, these patterns work very well to summarize something, and in most of my papers I am not supposed to summarize excessively. This is not to say that these patterns are meant only for this use, but it is how I prefer to use them. Since, I do not summarize often I believe I do not consider using this pattern quite as much as maybe I should. Looking through my other I really stick to the trend of using this pattern in a summary. Because of this I don't use the pattern as often as I could. I believe this should change simply to add something different to my writing, and I plan on using this pattern more.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Blog 4
This week I am working with some punctuation that I am much more familiar with. The rule is compound sentences punctuated with a comma appearing before the coordinating conjunction.This is something I that I incorporate often into my writing without really thinking about. However, I did not previously have much of a grasp on the rules and concepts behind the two. For example, I had never heard the FANBOYS acronym. I did know how to use these conjunctions correctly, but I usually stick to the words and, or, and but when using this rule. To show the use of this rule I have found examples from a recent paper of mine on Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In this paper I used a comma before a coordinating conjunction 11 times, but 10 of these times used the words and or but. This actually annoys a little after noticing this. It feels repetitive. Now I will simply try and use more of the FANBOYS to help avoid this repetition, and hopefully give my work a better flow overall. (Yes I am aware that I just used a ,and again)
As I have already said my topic is compound sentences punctuated with a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction can be defined simply as a connecting word. However, you must know that there are only a few words that apply here. They are the words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. Many of these words can be used without a comma and still be correct. A comma before a coordinating conjunction is used only to connect two ideas relating to the same topic or idea. These are usually in the form of independent clause, but this is not requirement.
Example 1 and 2
Sam and Patrick are both critical to Charlie’s overall growth in the story, but in entirely different fashions. (Comma and a coordinating conjunction)
Sam and Patrick actually have several poor qualities, yet these are nearly erased by their overwhelming positive ones. (Comma and a coordinating conjunction)
This is actually a rule I understood, and already often use in my writing. I chose to work on this merely because on my review of this rule I noticed that I really only utilized a small portion of the options I could have used. For me it is something that I decided to fix, and not necessarily something that needed fixing.
As I have already said my topic is compound sentences punctuated with a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction. A coordinating conjunction can be defined simply as a connecting word. However, you must know that there are only a few words that apply here. They are the words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. Many of these words can be used without a comma and still be correct. A comma before a coordinating conjunction is used only to connect two ideas relating to the same topic or idea. These are usually in the form of independent clause, but this is not requirement.
Example 1 and 2
Sam and Patrick are both critical to Charlie’s overall growth in the story, but in entirely different fashions. (Comma and a coordinating conjunction)
Sam and Patrick actually have several poor qualities, yet these are nearly erased by their overwhelming positive ones. (Comma and a coordinating conjunction)
This is actually a rule I understood, and already often use in my writing. I chose to work on this merely because on my review of this rule I noticed that I really only utilized a small portion of the options I could have used. For me it is something that I decided to fix, and not necessarily something that needed fixing.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
A list of ands
This week I am going over using or not using and in a list. The authors I have been assigned to read in my classes often toy with using and in list form. Using ands instead of commas seems to give the next word in the sentence added emphasis. This also can slow pace down in order to cause the reader to focus more on the list. The alternative is also true as a list without an and seems less emphasized and often, but not always, comes with a faster pace. I used examples from my own article on Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.
Using all ands instead of commas:
Readers learn early on in the story that protagonist Katniss does nearly everything for her family. She does nearly all of the housework and gets the food and clothes her family and still has time for school.
In this sentence I was attempting to draw focus to what this character does, and the overall impressiveness of these actions. However, i'll admit this was not an intentional usage, but looking back at this paper I prefer this way over the more normal alternative.
Using a list with no commas:
These Hunger Games are used by this totalitarian government as a means of reminding the people who is in charge, and why rebellion is a bad idea. Because forcing people to witness children essentially being kidnapped, forced into an arena, followed by forcing them to kill each other is a great to show how much a government cares.
In this case I did intend to use this grammatical rule. I was attempting to put the focus on what follows the list and not on the actual list itself. This is of course the exact opposite of what I wanted in the first example.
Using all ands instead of commas:
Readers learn early on in the story that protagonist Katniss does nearly everything for her family. She does nearly all of the housework and gets the food and clothes her family and still has time for school.
In this sentence I was attempting to draw focus to what this character does, and the overall impressiveness of these actions. However, i'll admit this was not an intentional usage, but looking back at this paper I prefer this way over the more normal alternative.
Using a list with no commas:
These Hunger Games are used by this totalitarian government as a means of reminding the people who is in charge, and why rebellion is a bad idea. Because forcing people to witness children essentially being kidnapped, forced into an arena, followed by forcing them to kill each other is a great to show how much a government cares.
In this case I did intend to use this grammatical rule. I was attempting to put the focus on what follows the list and not on the actual list itself. This is of course the exact opposite of what I wanted in the first example.
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