. . . . . . .
.Copyright, Terry Gibson, BA, MEd
Be Grammar-Confident
Leisurely Crash Course in Written English
An oxymoron of course.
.
Welcome to
Grefs
Course A-7
Open GLOSSARY in Course C-1
. . . . . . . .A Senior Course. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ..Serious Writing
. . . . . . Start . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . Task. . . . .
. . . . . A7 a) . Essays, Editorials and
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Social Issues. . .. . . . . .. .. . . A7a
. .. . . A7 b).Discussion / Debate dialogue . . A7b
. . . . A7 c) .Metaphor and the prose-poem:. . . ..... . ... .......................How-to Method in Three Steps.. A7c
.... . . Rhythm, Rhyme and the Sortasonnet. .A7cc.. . . . . . . . Minimum Any 2, Bonus for extras. .
.
Click to Move Within This Course
Active when red
Click to Find Other Courses
Swan's Practical English Usage, published by Oxford is the 1995 text that serves as reference. It is recent but will be replaced within
the next few years as we get more and more muddled.
. . . . . .Both British and American Forms are updated. e.g. dialog, US
.
An essay is a piece of serious writing, similar to what we see in journalism, or as articles in magazines where columnists make a good living this way, under contract to provide a--daily, weekly, or monthly piece for a particular publication. Generally developing a personality through humour or style, they still must have the facts right.
Whenever it is formal a piece of writing on a particular subject, be
it for publication or for an examination in school, or part of a résumé for employment, it is an essay. The language in it is more formal, with grammatically correct use of language, spelling and punctuation.Editorials are a special kind of essay where the Editor writes an opinion piece, expressing own and Publisher's views. It is not restricted to a need to be balanced in its view of local politics or social issues. (Subscribers can unsubscribe if they disagree.)
Social Issues include local politics, projects, personalities, pet control, poverty, pollution and more widely, anything affecting the quality of life in a community, commerce, or country. Education, Law, and so-called "special interests" important to groups rather than the whole fall into this category. Wide open.Organization should have an "interest-grabber sentence"or two at the beginning, and an ending that leaves no threads untied.
Subheads as you see in this essay, sometimes sort out the meat in the middle which should flow consecutively, and appear to be logical at least at first glance. Most of all, it should be edited to avoid error, cliché, unnecessary repetition or clumsy length, even if they do pay by the word.Sources (Opinion, An Authority, Polls)
Those who work hard to sell the results develop a keen sense--
"a nose for news"--and bring to it, not only their own opinions but they survey to find others, seek out persons who are known to have solid information--those who work in the job or profession, those who have been personally affected by an event, those who have worked to organize it, those who took part in it or attended it--people who have reason to add interesting details. If polls are used they should indicate who were polled, preferably a large number to get reasonable accuracy.Research
There are two kinds of research. The more time-consuming is personal experience with "hands-on" research, travelling, working in the industry, or experiencing the medical procedure.Research can also be done second-hand through print-media and searches on Internet. Some caution exists with this, because there is no guarantee of accuracy. Generally safe are the websites of universities. Caution lights blink around websites by pharmaceutical companies, and those that are really thinly-disguised advertising. Caveat emptor (buyer beware) is a cliché on the web, and gullible people keep them in business.
An article on this danger would make a good essay.Slant vs Balance...
Generally, a well-balanced essay, giving several views about a contentious issue, is far preferable to one that annoys enough to be followed by a flood of aggrieved letters of protest. Slant, on the other hand is a subtle device that makes its point leaving readers nodding in agreement.EXAMPLE: This item is an expository essay, teaching by example, designed to explain the subtle art of essay-writing.
. .
. A7 b REFERENCES Discussion / Debate dialogue
. . . .Pointing to the word 'dialogue' the teacher said, "When we worked with this before, we--"
. . . ."Is that the same as d-i-a-l-o-g?" Jared, new in Canada and recently from Detroit, asked. With the word on the chalkboard, he was not being silly.
. . . . She knew what he meant. "For Canadians, yes, and several other countries spell it with a silent 'ue'." Her eyes went to the class clown as she continued, " is-- um-- talking together, jokes, discussion...."
. . . ."Lecturing...?" Bozo's grin warned of more to come.
. . . ."Answering, disputing, arguing, explaining, conversation, telling, even yelling--" Taking a quick breath, to cut off Bozo's eagerness she continued, "Anything that can be quoted."
. . . ."That wasn't a complete sentence, Ma'am."
. . . ."Does it have to be?"
. . . ."Last year it did."
. . . ."That was last year when some of you were still learning what a sentence is. What is our rule for writing dialogue?"
. . . .Silence.
. . . ."Well?"
. . . .A timid voice from the back: "Quotation marks?"
. . . ."And?" The nod and smile had answered it. She glanced at the clock and had to abandon the Socratic Method. "OK, what is the only thing we put into quotation marks?"
. . . ."Words?"
. . . ."Thank you Bozo. Any special kind of words?" She was surprised when he did not say 'beep' words.
. . . ."Only the words we hear."
. . . .BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING! Soft bang of closing books, scrape of chairs, shuffling of feet, and her silent smile told them class was over.
. . . .She had covered all the rules in this anecdote.. . . .Did we get the answer to the question about complete sentences? Punctuation? Spacing of lines when indented? Unspoken words and sounds? Paragraphing?
(About intrusive software that collapses blank spaces:
. . . .Indentation is easy with html; colour the dots to match the background. (Color in US) Otherwise, paste some dots. . . .
. . . .In what ways does debate differ from discussion?
Challenge: Show a portion of debate dialog that shows how debate is different: (goal? method? attitudes? topics?),
. . . . . .
ASSIGNMENT A7b Do any ten of twelve.
......From the "English Class" save time by copy-pasting the answers. (Number carefully)
1. How do you punctuate an interruption?
2. How do you punctuate a quote within a quote?
[The Oxford Dictionary of Current English, published 2001 now accepts the verb "quote" in its use as a noun.]
3. . ."That wasn't a complete sentence, Ma'am."
. . . ."Does it have to be?"
. . . ."Last year it did."
Those are all complete sentences; they contain verbs. (use of semicolon.) Find two that are not.
4. . . . ."And?" The nod and smile had answered it.
What answer was not needed and to whom ?
5. Give a different use of the single-apostrophe quote.
6. . . . .BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRING! Soft bang of closing books, scrape of chairs, shuffling of feet, and his silent smile told them class was over.
We hear this. Why are there no quotation marks?
7. Did we get the answer to the question about complete sentences?8. Was there other punctuation?
9. Spacing of lines when indented?
10 Paragraphing? What needs to be included?
11. In what ways does debate differ from discussion?
12 OR, Challenge: Show a portion of debate dialog that shows how debate is different: (goal? method? attitudes? topics?).
.
. .
. . . .AND FOR OUR POETS. . . . A7 c .Metaphor and the prose-poem:. . . ..... . ... .......................How-to Method in Three Steps A7c
A7cc..Rhythm, Rhyme and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................ Three.Sortasonnets
.........Choose two for the entire site.
.. . .. . A prose poem, by definition, starts with a paragraph.
. . .There was no intention to write a poem when this item was . . .. . .. . started, none whatever. Yet it shows how even an unlikely bit. . .
........A7 c Metaphor and the prose-poem:
............How-to Method in Three StepsE........
. . .of writing can become at least a mediocre poem.
Because we have been writing paragraphs forever, we can give our full attention to richness of content. In prose, unless they sneak in unnoticed, rhythm and rhyme are not involved.
However an ordinary paragraph will give a pedestrian effort that is simply a peculiar shape. Put another way it will lack the quality of language, lacking the richness of metaphor. This is the time to inject the magic elixir if it wasn't already there. Personifications, Similes, Metaphor of all kinds. It may be possible to invigorate the patient.
Ah, it starts! Poem is a patient! Two different things that are considered to be same thing, we have our first metaphor. From there the temptation is to work at finding all possible medical words to include and then wrestle them in.
No.
OK to find some words, but don't force it. Sleep on it.
Let the subconscious mind in to do what it does best, play with it, sort it out, stir it with a big spoon, put in a long-distance call to your Muse and leave a message.Do not look at the first try yet--if ever. Find a place without distractions, and preferably on keyboard let the words appear on the screen. As you write, do not judge, just let it flow. Ready? Moment of truth. Still not judging, use the enter enter enter enter method to get shorter lines at the ends of phrases or pairs of phrases and related sets of words.
Keep the best parts, edit.
It works for me. After a while they start to come complete with rhymes if you are not concerned with rhyme schemes and rhythms that match the meaning. The best ones need no editing at all.. . . . .
. . . . .
Take a deep breath.
(For you if you have not written much poetry.)
This could change your life
Using the Paragraphs Above
. . step 1 . .step 2
. .......... . . Verse 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...Edited
Because we have been
writing paragraphs forever,
we can give our full attention
to richness of content. In prose,
unless they sneak in unnoticed,
rhythm abnd rhyme are not involved.Having written paragraphs forever,
we can give our full attention
to richness of content. In prose,
unless they sneak in unnoticed,
rhythm and rhyme are not involved.
......... . . . . Verse 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Edited However an ordinary paragraph
will give an pedestrian effort
that is simply a peculiar shape.
Put another way it will lack
the quality of language,
lacking the richness of metaphor.
This is the time to inject the magic elixir if it wasn't already there. Personifications, Similes,
Metaphor of all kinds.It may be
possible to invigorate the patient.We have a pedestrian effort,
a peculiar shape for a paragraph.
It will lack the quality of language;
lack the richness of metaphor.
Inject the magic elixir if not
already there. It may be possible
to invigorate the patient
....... . . . . .Verse 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Edited .
Ah, it starts! Poem is a patient!
Two different things that are
considered to be same thing,
we have our first metaphor.
From there the temptation
is to work at finding all
possible medical words to include
and to wrestle them in.
OK to find some but don't do that.
Sleep on it.
Let subconscious mind in
to do what it does best,
play with it, sort it out,
stir it with a big spoon,
put in a long-distance call
to your Muse, leave a message.Ah, Poem is a patient!
we have our first metaphors.
From there the temptation
is to find all medical words
and to wrestle them in.
but no, sleep on it.
Let subconscious mind in
to do what it does best,
to play with it, to sort it out,
to stir it with a big spoon,
put in a long-distance call
to your Muse, leave message
......... . . . Verse 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Edited Do not look at the first try yet--if ever.
Find a place without distractions,
and preferably on keyboard
let the words appear on the screen.
As you write, do not judge,
just let it flow. Ready?
Moment of truth. Still not judging,
use the enter enter enter method
to get shorter lines at the ends
of phrases or pairs of phrases
and related sets of words.
Keep the best parts, edit.Without distractions,
preferably on keyboard
let it appear on the screen.
As you write,
do not judge,
just let it flow.
Ready? Moment of truth.
Still not judging, use
the enter enter method
for shorter lines
at the ends of phrases
and related sets of words.
......... . . . Verse 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Edited Keep the best parts, edit.
It works for me.
After a while
they start to come
complete with rhymes
if you are not concerned
with schemes and rhythms
that match the meaning.
the best ones need
no editing at all.Keep the best parts,
edit. It works for me.
After a while
they start to come
complete with rhymes
if not concerned
with rhythms or schemes
that match the meaning.
The best ones need
no editing at all.
. . . . . .. . .Polishing
Verses 1 and 2 from Step 2 . . . . . . . step 3 Edited
Having written paragraphs forever,
we can give our full attention
to richness of content. In prose,
unless they sneak in unnoticed,
rhythm and rhyme are not involved.
We have a pedestrian effort,
a peculiar shape for a paragraph.
It will lack the quality of language;
lack the richness of metaphor.
Inject the magic elixir if not
already there. It may be possible
to invigorate the patient.Giving attention to richness
of content, in prose--unless
they sneak in unnoticed--
rhythm, rhyme not involved,
it lacks the quality of word,
the richness of metaphor . . .
Inject magic elixir. Content
may invigorate the patient.
[Those rhymes were in there.
Is it still PROSE poetry?]
Verses 3 to END . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edited No Change Ah, Poem is a patient!
we have our first metaphor
From there the temptation
is to find all medical words
and to wrestle them in.
but no, sleep on it.
Let subconscious mind in
to do what it does best,
to play with it, to sort it out,
to stir it with a big spoon,
put in a long-distance call
to your Muse, leave message.
Without distractions,
preferably on keyboard
let it appear on the screen.
As you write,
do not judge,
just let it flow.
Ready? Moment of truth.
Still not judging, use
the enter enter method
for shorter lines
at the ends of phrases
and related sets of words.
Keep the best parts,
edit. It works for me.
After a while
they start to come
complete with rhymes
if not concerned
with rhythms or schemes
that match the meaning.
The best ones need
no editing at all.Ah, our Poem is the patient!
Sleep and wait for the Moment
of Truth. Don't wrestle words in.
Ride the metaphor, letting in
Subconscious mind and all
to put in a long-distance call
to your Muse, and leave the rest,
for her to do what she does best.
After a while they start
to come complete with rhymes,
though not concerned with rhythms
or schemes that match meaning.
The best ones need
no editing at all.
Verses 5 and 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Change Keep the best parts,
edit. It works for me.
After a while
they start to come
complete with rhymes
if not concerned
with rhythms or schemes
that match the meaning.
The best ones need
no editing at all.
.Keep the best parts,
edit. It works for me.
After a while
they start to come
complete with rhymes
if not concerned
with rhythms or schemes
that match the meaning.
The best ones need
no editing at all.. . . .Note, metaphor and creative thought of all kinds provides what other poems give. Not all poetry rhymes and neither is all poetry metric -- but--. consider the next, with perhaps too much relentless rhyme?
.
. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .or
. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .A7 cc.Sortasonnet (below)Not to expect one like this from you, but as a . . . . Further example of radical Sortasonnets:
. . . . . . . . . . . . ..Your challenge, to invent a NEW Sortasonnet.
Playing with Form: Inner Rhymes
(with 'book' and 'from' in sets of two.)DOUBLE VlSlON
I'm writing a book: task which inspires
to see things from new points of view.
At first to look at dark quagmires
to try to fathom what crooks might do...
perhaps my rebuke inspects desires
to find the bottom, their thoughts askew?
A diff'rent outlook will share their fires
of wiser freedom; they value virtue?
Big task I undertook, to kick the tires
for hidden wisdom from the bit I knew.
Imagination shook to life, the amplifier
to solve conundrum: Change of them for you!
They live, they give, so why not take a look
at end result when Char'cters write the book!
(Regret, some trochées intrude, elbowing iambs aside.
Easy to find, hard to repair. )
Author notes
l hear a lot of complaints from beginning poets about how tough it is
to fit big thoughts into tight packages. Here just for fun, we have a
new form invented in 2005: Midline rhyme scheme until the final couplet, is ab ab ab ab ab ab rhyming 'book,' and 'from.'
Ends of lines: cd cd cd cd cd cd, rhyming 'inspires,' and 'view.'
The content was not sacrificed, but needed another edit Dec.3 2007.
Written March 18th, 2005
. . . . . . ...
. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . ... Assignment part 3 A7cc
. . . . . . . . . . . Open choice of three assignments: --See end.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bonus points for extras.
.
. . . . . . ..Rhythm, Rhyme and the Sortasonnet
. . . . . . . . . . . . . "So, What is a Sortasonnet?"
A maverick form that many of us think we invented.
Entirely free-wheeling sonnet form, innovative, unabashed.
Like any sonnet, it is a rhyming, rhythmic 14-lined poem, but with
no real restrictions beyond the number of lines. This gives great freedom in line-length, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, hexameter, and heptameter and off-beat rhyme schemes, preferably ending in a rhymed couplet.
Further, the meter need not be iambic; all of the four are permitted.
A pattern of mixed meters is not unusual.The next, below, is quite disciplined.
Choose one of three ways to have fun writing a sortasonnet.
Other than the last two lines, can you spot the rhyme scheme in this?
Clue: It is a mirror-rhyme.It's about a writers' group that got closed down with its ISP.
OWN REWARD
"Prose" Sortasonnet
Ruined is too hard a word,
rather too permanent. It
simply lost the purpose--
for a set of friends to keep
in touch, and to continue
growing of a special skill.
He who still rhymes easy will
show what they can do.
Anyhow, loss won't weep.
We continue to compose
whatever will our verses fit--
Practice has its own reward.
You might think that this is prose,
yet it rhymes, yes one of those!
......... . . .Written with the enter enter enter method,
...... . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . Mixed meter
. . . . . . . . . with the first 6 lines not rhymed at all.
...... . . . ...... . . last six,.with minimal edits, rhymed
... . . . . . . . . . . a b c d e f (skill, will) f e d c b a gg
. . OR have fun with this
. . . . . . . .And off the top of your head toward total wanton irresponsibility so long as it rhymes and has a meter to match the first stanza.
Put that "nonsense word repeater" to work!Sortasonnet's fun to write,
with rhyme and even meter,
It gives freedom overnight:
a nonsense word repeater...Another choice of assignment, to complete this nonsense sortasonnet!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ENJOY! ENJOY! The End of #7
(Suggestion, check out Random.htm from the GURU page, and cross your fingers. It would be great if we got that. )
. .
.
Updated April 28 2008
Please submit graded answers to AP Class box if
not placed by Teacher, advancing to a higher level.
We have had trouble in the submit-box in AP toward the trophy when ungraded work has been submitted. By submitting graded works into the box, they cannot be lost!
Your five best assignments are now the minimum for a trophy. That means the pressure is off as you do the advanced #6, #7 and #8 worth a percentage of 60 bonus points dependent on your results.
For students achieving at least 90% and expecting to continue to complete all 8, after the first and last four,
there are two trophies.An evaluation form will be sent to get five submissions demanded by the software.
For full feedback, please send your E-mail address.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Back to Top or onward to Part A8
. . . . . . . .. . Copyright: Tiled wallpaper drawn by Terry Gibson 1996