Semicolons to me are just as confusing as trying to figure out where to place commas. When do I need one, where do I need one? It is all so confusing to me and sometimes even down right frustrating. Many people agree with me, because it stinks when you write a paper to turn in and you get it back and it is covered with a whole bunch of red marks some of it due to those semicolons.When I am writing my essays I never put any semicolon in my writing because I have no clue where I need to put one so I just rather leave it out. For example this paragraph could need some semicolons, but heck if I know.
But now I have the solution to my semicolon dilemma. I can say goodbye to not knowing where to put a semicolon and hello to knowing what the heck I am doing.
A semicolon is used to separate coordinate elements, usually independent clauses. It functions more like a weak period than like a strong comma.
Ex: You should apply for that job; you have the qualifications, and you are not happy in your present job.
They could have just simply put a period after the word job but instead they put a semicolon so that they could continue with the thouggt and make it complete.
http://www.essortment.com/all/semicolonrules_ruhi.htm
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
American Idiot!
In reading Michael Moore's essay he is very blunt on how he feels about the nation he lives in. He gets right to the point and starts criticizing most everyone in the United States. One of the conflicts i had with him was that he was saying all these defects that the United State's people have but he never said any of the ones he had. There is not one country in this world in this world that is perfect and of course that includes the United States. So in a sense Michael Moore did have a lot of good points on his essay. Many people say that the United States is one of the greatest nations in the world but sometimes they lack the knowledge of how our nation really is and Michael Moore is just letting everyone see that we are not as perfect as people think.
He has a lot of facts to back up his information and I really liked reading about all of the facts on the people of the United States. Who knew that students at Harvard, Yale and those other high performing did not know when the Civil War took place but they sure knew who Beavis and Butt Head.
He has a lot of facts to back up his information and I really liked reading about all of the facts on the people of the United States. Who knew that students at Harvard, Yale and those other high performing did not know when the Civil War took place but they sure knew who Beavis and Butt Head.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Changing American Families
In the reading of Judy Root Aulette’s paper it was actually not as bad as it was said it was going to be. It was actually interesting to read about the different types of families and social classes. Many times we read articles of writing like these and say that out families or social groups are not this way but as I was reading the essay I saw that it was very much true. I found myself wondering what group my family and I fit into and when I figured it out, it was read exactly how we were.
One can see that Judy Root Aulette’s researched a lot on this topic and was able to use what she discovered to make a well written article. She could have made her writing boring and just have made it been all about the research, but instead she was able to use it as a guide for her paper. I liked how she would write about the different social groups and then use an example of a real person to back up what she was saying. In doing so, she gave the readers more in depth about the subject and let us see that these social class differences really do exist. The research in this essay was really essential because without it the writing would have not been as effective and would she would have not been able to back up what she was saying. Some people when they use research in a paper, they just let it take over and the paper becomes fact and not them, but not this paper. Judy was able to distribute all of her research in a way that made her paper flow and transition smoothly from one subject to the next.
Also dealing with the Moynihan Report, Judy shows that this report has many flaws and that it is not correct. These reports are no truly describing the African- American families for who they really are. These reports are misleading people and saying things that aren’t actually true. Aulette did not look to write a lot about the Moynihan Report because she did not approve of what it said. Instead she goes and proves it wrong and that is what a good researcher does.
One can see that Judy Root Aulette’s researched a lot on this topic and was able to use what she discovered to make a well written article. She could have made her writing boring and just have made it been all about the research, but instead she was able to use it as a guide for her paper. I liked how she would write about the different social groups and then use an example of a real person to back up what she was saying. In doing so, she gave the readers more in depth about the subject and let us see that these social class differences really do exist. The research in this essay was really essential because without it the writing would have not been as effective and would she would have not been able to back up what she was saying. Some people when they use research in a paper, they just let it take over and the paper becomes fact and not them, but not this paper. Judy was able to distribute all of her research in a way that made her paper flow and transition smoothly from one subject to the next.
Also dealing with the Moynihan Report, Judy shows that this report has many flaws and that it is not correct. These reports are no truly describing the African- American families for who they really are. These reports are misleading people and saying things that aren’t actually true. Aulette did not look to write a lot about the Moynihan Report because she did not approve of what it said. Instead she goes and proves it wrong and that is what a good researcher does.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Lie vs. Lay
Lie and lay really frustrate me in many ways. First of all I never can remember the proper way to use them. What is the difference, they sound the same to me. Also, the words have too many rules to them like any other piece of grammar and is hard for me to remember. Often if I can't remember the rule to lay and lie, I will just put what ever word sounds good to me. Lie and lay to me sound like the same thing but in reality they are not.
The correct way to identify the ways to use lay and lie are these rules:
Lie-to recline
The present tense of lie (to recline) is lie or lying.
Ex: I am lying on the bed.
I lie on the bed.
Lay- to put or place
The present tense of lay (to put or place) is lay or laying.
Ex:I am laying the book on the table.
I lay the book on the table.
A site that is has these rules and more helpful tips is :
http://hubpages.com/hub/Grammar_Mishaps__Lie_vs_Lay
The correct way to identify the ways to use lay and lie are these rules:
Lie-to recline
The present tense of lie (to recline) is lie or lying.
Ex: I am lying on the bed.
I lie on the bed.
Lay- to put or place
The present tense of lay (to put or place) is lay or laying.
Ex:I am laying the book on the table.
I lay the book on the table.
A site that is has these rules and more helpful tips is :
http://hubpages.com/hub/Grammar_Mishaps__Lie_vs_Lay
Monday, January 19, 2009
High School Prepares you for College?
In this political cartoon it trying to show us how it is going to be like if we do not go to college after high school. We are going to be put in the same situation that this political cartoon portrays. There are some many people out there that think that there is no point in going to college. I have heard many say,” I just spent most of my life in school, why would I want to keep going?” They do not realize how hard it is going to be for them if they do not continue their education. Like this cartoon they are going to be stumped at the questions that their employers ask them.
For me this political cartoon stuck out because I know of so many people that just went to high school but they never did anything afterwards so they are stuck in the same town with minimum wage jobs and they aren’t progressing in their lives at all. This political cartoon like all the other ones I have seen is to make people realize about the real situations that people go through and that is happening to possibly people we know. In the cartoon it’s telling us that graduating high school is not going to be enough. We all need to keep going with our education if we really want to succeed in life and not end up in Human Resources like the guy in the cartoon.
The cartoon has just made me realize how lucky I am to be going forth with my higher education and not going to be in the picture like that one guy wondering how the heck high school prepared me for the real world.
Education and War
In this Political Cartoon the first thing that came out to me was that it was trying to say that after we graduate college it is going to be really hard for people to find jobs. The cartoon actually made me think because, I do know many people that have graduated college who have still not found a job in what they graduated in. It is kind of a scary thought to think that we have spent so many years in school and then graduate and have a difficult time to find a job.
Like every political cartoon, they are intended to make us laugh, but also many times it lets us reflect on what is really going on in the world. Because even though these political cartoonists are poking fun, they are also talking about real issues in our society.
The political cartoon would be really affective right now in this time that we are at in the United States with the recession. It hits right on with the issue of job storage that is affecting so many people right now. It is getting very difficult to find a job right now and there are some many others that have lost their jobs. I know this very well because it has affected both of my parents. So to me this political cartoon was not really funny, but helped me realize about the tough times that are ahead of us all.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Commas Everywhere!
For me, like I bet for everyone else as well, commas are a nightmare. I never know when it is the right time to put one in my papers. I am always sticking them in places I think is right, but that does not seem to be right. For example in that very last sentence, did i need one before the word or did i need it after or really did i need it at all? There are just so many rules to commas that i just give up and sometimes don't even place them at all.
A comma by definition is a punctuation mark used to indicate the separation of ideas or of elements within a sentence. The definition seems simple enough but still many people like myself still struggle with the rules.
Here is a site that gives you all the comma rules, and can be handy to have when writing any paper.
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
A comma by definition is a punctuation mark used to indicate the separation of ideas or of elements within a sentence. The definition seems simple enough but still many people like myself still struggle with the rules.
Here is a site that gives you all the comma rules, and can be handy to have when writing any paper.
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Life as once knew it
In Gary Soto's story called, " Looking for Work, " he uses the element of comparison to show the life of this Mexican-American child compared to the "perfect lives," that are shown on television. By using this, Soto is showing how some lives really are and that not all lives are made up of perfect families with their perfect house and perfect jobs. This style of writing is effective in the way that we, the readers, get to see the point of view of this nine-year-old Mexican American, who wishes his life could be like the one on Leave it to Beaver. If Soto had not used pop culture references like these the point of view would have been a little different. The child would have probably been okay with his life and not compare it to the ones of those on the television. Therefore the story would have just been about a child talking about his day.
Now when we look at Stephanie Cootntz passage called, " What we Miss About the 1950's," it is also comparing life of the 1950's to the life we have now. She talks about how her mother had so much respect for her when she was a child and let her make her own decisions on many things. Although as she looks back she would not let her own twelve- year-old son do whatever he wanted now in this day and age. It even said in the text that the people who said that 1950's had been the best decade did not mean in a literal sense. The 1950's might have been a good period, but really no one wants to relive it again.
My interpretation at first when i started reading was that Cootntz was going to talk about how everyone loved the 1950's and how they wished they were back in that time, but really that was not it. In the 1996 poll by Knight Rider, most people might have chosen the 1950's for the best time to raise children but really they didn't seem to mean it. It was as if they were contradicting everything they had just said. The passage maybe called, " What we Really Miss About the 1950's," but really do they miss anything at all.
Both of these authors though both convey the same message that life is not really all that it seems to be. There are not the "perfect lives that are seen on T.V. and no one really wants to go back to the 1950's. The first author uses a story so that readers can interpret it for what the true meaning of it really is and the second one states fact based on a poll so that people get the literal sense of what life was really like in the 1950's. They both really make you think and see how your life is right now.
Now when we look at Stephanie Cootntz passage called, " What we Miss About the 1950's," it is also comparing life of the 1950's to the life we have now. She talks about how her mother had so much respect for her when she was a child and let her make her own decisions on many things. Although as she looks back she would not let her own twelve- year-old son do whatever he wanted now in this day and age. It even said in the text that the people who said that 1950's had been the best decade did not mean in a literal sense. The 1950's might have been a good period, but really no one wants to relive it again.
My interpretation at first when i started reading was that Cootntz was going to talk about how everyone loved the 1950's and how they wished they were back in that time, but really that was not it. In the 1996 poll by Knight Rider, most people might have chosen the 1950's for the best time to raise children but really they didn't seem to mean it. It was as if they were contradicting everything they had just said. The passage maybe called, " What we Really Miss About the 1950's," but really do they miss anything at all.
Both of these authors though both convey the same message that life is not really all that it seems to be. There are not the "perfect lives that are seen on T.V. and no one really wants to go back to the 1950's. The first author uses a story so that readers can interpret it for what the true meaning of it really is and the second one states fact based on a poll so that people get the literal sense of what life was really like in the 1950's. They both really make you think and see how your life is right now.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Introduction to Rereading America
What does it mean to be an American citizen? To me being an American citizen is being able to live in a country where i have a freedom that may other people in other countries do not. We live in one of the best countries in the world. We have to right to express what is on our mind and what we are feeling. We may get funny looks and stares but as citizens of the United States we are able to express ourselves as freely as we would like.
There might be some books, people and many other things that may contradict what you believe as an individual. In this book Rereading American, the text in the with in these pages might challenge or complicate our opinions. We all have our different beliefs about things and may say that we stick to those beliefs, but sometimes there are many things that make us question the things we believe.
This book can change the way we view our relationships, heritage, religion and beliefs. Also, since this is a English class, we may find that this books shows us many different ways of writing that we had never thought of. I might always stayed with one way of writing a paper and maybe after i read the contents of this book i will have gotten a different perspective of how to write.
There might be some books, people and many other things that may contradict what you believe as an individual. In this book Rereading American, the text in the with in these pages might challenge or complicate our opinions. We all have our different beliefs about things and may say that we stick to those beliefs, but sometimes there are many things that make us question the things we believe.
This book can change the way we view our relationships, heritage, religion and beliefs. Also, since this is a English class, we may find that this books shows us many different ways of writing that we had never thought of. I might always stayed with one way of writing a paper and maybe after i read the contents of this book i will have gotten a different perspective of how to write.
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