Blog 9

    Are you getting tired of my blogs about my cats? SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING DIFFERENT THIS TIME? (Rhetorical question). I GUESS I WILL WRITE ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE POSSESIONS-MY GUITAR. (Dash to emphasize the last element of the sentence). My seven string guitar to be specific, since I have a handful of different guitars.

   I bought this guitar during the fall of my senior year of high school. I was jamming with a friend of mine, and we decided to take a break and go to Sam Ash, a music store. WE WANDERED AROUND, MESSING AROUND ON DIFFERENT PIANOS AND GUITARS. THEN I SAW IT. A SEVEN STRING IBANEZ ON SALE, CHEAPER THAN I HAD EVER SEEN ONE BEFORE. (Then and than).

   I PICKED IT UP AND LOOKED AT IT FROM ALL ANGLES AND PLAYED IT FOR AWHILE. (Simple sentence with compound verbs connected by ands). After a few minutes I decided that I needed it. I had been working at Arby's for about a year at this point so I had some money saved up. I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE A GREAT USE FOR MY MONEY, HOWEVER MY MOTHER DISAGREED. (However).

   SHE TRIED TO CONVINCE ME TO TAKE IT BACK AND GET MY MONEY BACK, BUT I WAS STUBBORN (SOMETHING I AM VERY GOOD AT DOING), AND INSISTED ON KEEPING THE GUITAR. I AM GLAD I DID. (Long sentence followed by short sentence). This particular guitar has gone all over the country with me and I have written many songs on it.

   A few years ago I decided the guitar needed a paint job. I took the guitar back to Indiana over Christmas break (I was living in Miami at the time), and painted candy cane stripes on it. It was originally black, but now it is black and bright red candy cane striped.

   BY PAINTING IT, I MADE IT MORE UNIQUE AND MORE A PART OF ME. (One sentence paragraph).

   DO YOU HAVE ANY POSSESIONS THAT HAVE BECOME AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR LIFE? (Real question).

Blog 8

    Here is yet another blog about my cats. I don't have much else to write about since I'm usually at work or doing homework. And my cats are always nearby to be inspiration, RASCALLY, MISCHEVIOUS, AND AWESOME. (adjectives out of order).

   As soon as I sit down they come charging over towards me, FLYING THROUGH THE AIR WITH EACH LEAP, ready to jump upon my keyboard. (Participle). They curl up on my laptop, LITTLE BUNDLES OF FUZZ, and refuse to budge. (Appositive with commas). As soon as I move them, they immediately return (THE LITTLE BRATS). (Appositive with parentheses). If I try to run with my laptop into the other room, they charge after me: FLUFFY MISSILES OF DESTRUCTION AND CHAOS. (Appositive with a colon). As difficult as they make my homework-something I am not fond of doing in the first place-they are still awesome.   

7

   This blog is basically just going to be me babbling BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER WRITINGS IN PROGRESS AT THE MOMENT. (End sentence with because clause). I don't have much to talk about now that my busiest week of the year is over. Right now I'm just sitting on my couch trying to relax, THOUGH IT'S HARD TO RELAX WITH MY CAT JUMPING ON MY LAPTOP AND CHEWING ON MY FINGERS. (Use though to interrupt main sentence).

   BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REALLY WRITE ABOUT, this blog is just stream of consciousness. (Start sentence with because clause). I do have an essay due on Shakespeare due later this week, but I haven't started to work on it yet. NOR HAVE I REALLY STARTED PLANNING IT YET EITHER. (Start a sentence with nor).

   I KNOW THIS BLOG IS NOT MY MOST EXCITING; IT'S DOWN RIGHT BORING. (Long sentence connected to short by semi-colon). AS A WRITER, I'M NOT VERY PROUD OF THIS BLOG; AS A STUDENT, I'M PROUD THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WORK IN ALL THE PATTERNS. (A compound sentence using a semicolon, the two sentences mirroring each other, with repeated parallel structures).

   IT'S ACTUALLY KIND OF FUN, IT'S ALMOST LIKE A PUZZLE, TRYING TO WORK IN ALL THE PATTERNS; NOW I NEED TO GO STOP MY CATS FROM DESTROYING MY TEXT BOOK THOUGH, SO THAT'S ALL FOR THIS TIME. (Semi-colon as a super coma).

(I did not have any “so's” to edit out).

Compound sentences

    I am fairly used to writing; Over the past few years I have written ESSAYS, IMMITATIVE PAPERS, AND SOME FICTION. [series of nouns connected by commas]. Looking through some of my past writing this evening I found a few areas in which I would like to improve over the course of this semester.

   The first issue I have is with semicolons. For some reason no matter how often I learn about how to use them, and when to use them, I can never seem to remember the rules. Since I can never remember the rules for using a semicolon, I tend to just avoid them in my papers altogether.

   Sometimes I use parentheses in places I could use a semicolon instead. For example, when writing about a list of characters I might say: “In the room was Steven (a guitarist), Murphy (a writer), and Ryan (a surfer).” If I took the time to work out how to use semicolons properly I could make that sentence look a lot more professional by writing like this: “In the room was Steven, a guitarist; Murphy, a writer; and Ryan, a surfer.” If I took the time to learn how to correctly use semicolons I could make my papers look neater, and use fewer parentheses. Which brings me to my next issue.

   I OVERUSE PARENTHESES; I HAVE MOST LIKELY UTITILIZED EVERY POSSIBLE USE OF PARENTHESES IN MY ESSAYS OVER the PAST FEW YEARS. (Compound sentence separated by a semicolon). There are two main uses I have for parentheses, though. I use them to avoid using semicolons and as side notes to my main point. By side note, I mean either just a fun extra fact or an aside to the reader. I HAVE ALREADY GIVEN AN EXAMPLE OF USING PARENTHESES TO AVOID SEMICOLONS, SO I'LL JUST SHOW AN EXAMPLE OF USING THEM FOR SIDE NOTES HERE. (Compound sentence with a fanboy). “While Kurt Vonnegut (who is also from Indianapolis) was mainly known for satire, he also was an author of science fiction.”

   While using this every once in a while isn't much of a problem, it is a problem when I use them as much as I do. Looking through some of my past papers I see areas in which I use parentheses every other paragraph. I need to eliminate some of these. This can be done by using semicolons properly, finding other ways to make my side comments, or just cutting the side comments out completely.

   The last issue I want to change is another overuse problem. I think that I overuse commas. Maybe I use them a normal amount, but when looking at one of my past essays, the majority of sentences in that essay have commas in them. If it is not normal to have this many commas then I need to figure out a way to restructure my sentences. FOR NOW, I WILL JUST KEEP WRITING MY SENTENCES THE SAME WAY I HAVE BEEN. (Sentence that begins with fanboys). Even in this blog right now I am using quite a few commas.

   So to recap, the areas I need to work on are SEMICOLONS AND PARENTHESES AND COMMA OVERUSE. [series of nouns connected by and with no commas]. The comma problem I am not too worried about, as long as I fix my problems with semicolons and parentheses I will be happy.

Blog 5

     When reading “DORA LEARNS TO WRITE”, my first thought was: “There has to be a better way to teach punctuation.”[Originally I had the title in italics] The author of this article talks about how some children she has taught still put periods in between every word by the time they are in third grade. I have never known a child who still thought they should do that after first grade. I think it is a serious problem that by that age, children do not know how to use punctuation in this story.

     I do not have much experience with teaching this age group, most of my experience has been with middle schoolers and high schoolers, so I am no expert on teaching punctuation to someone who is just learning to write. The only experience I have had with teaching this age group punctuation has been with my little brother. He and I used to work on his homework together. (compound subject with 2 personal pronouns.) If someone else has had more experience, I would be glad to hear about yours. Whoever has a good strategy should share it. (Sentence using whoever.) I think a possible helpful tool for teaching punctuation might be worksheets with sentences, and students could have contests to see who could fill in the punctuation correctly.

     In the story, to help Dora figure out where to put punctuation the teacher suggests to her to put the periods where “...we let our voice drop down, like this.” I think THIS IS a good strategy. (I think using suggestions is a good strategy.) It helps children get on the right path to learning where to put periods.

Dora and her teacher have a unique strategy for working with punctuation. (Compound subject.) Dora's teacher does not correct Dora when she puts periods in between clauses. I think THIS IS a good strategy for when you are just beginning to teach punctuation. (I think letting students make their own theories at the beginning is a good strategy.) It lets the student begin to form their own theories on punctuation, but I think after a few weeks, the teacher should start correcting problems she sees. It is hard to break a pattern when it is already a habit of theirs. It would be simpler to correct issues during the beginning, instead of trying to undo years of bad habits.

     I think it takes Dora so long to apply the concept of end of the sentence punctuation because she was not corrected along the way. Since she was allowed to come up with her own theories she spent lots of time struggling with different strategies for using periods. I think that if the teacher had gently corrected her from the beginning, they could have saved time.   

Dora

      When reading “DORA LEARNS TO WRITE”, my first thought was: “There has to be a better way to teach punctuation.”[Originally I had the title in italics] The author of this article talks about how some children she has taught still put periods in between every word by the time they are in third grade. I have never known a child who still thought they should do that after first grade. I think it is a serious problem that by that age, children do not know how to use punctuation in this story.

       I do not have much experience with teaching this age group, most of my experience has been with middle schoolers and high schoolers, so I am no expert on teaching punctuation to someone who is just learning to write. The only experience I have had with teaching this age group punctuation has been with my little brother. If someone else has had more experience, I would be glad to hear about yours. I think a possible helpful tool for teaching punctuation might be worksheets with sentences, and students could have contests to see who could fill in the punctuation correctly.

       In the story, to help Dora figure out where to put punctuation the teacher suggests to her to put the periods where “...we let our voice drop down, like this.” I think this is a good strategy. It helps children get on the right path to learning where to put periods.

        Dora's teacher does not correct Dora when she puts periods in between clauses. I think this is a good strategy for when you are just beginning to teach punctuation. It lets the student begin to form their own theories on punctuation, but I think after a few weeks, the teacher should start correcting problems she sees. It is hard to break a pattern when it is already a habit of theirs. It would be simpler to correct issues during the beginning, instead of trying to undo years of bad habits.

        I think it takes Dora so long to apply the concept of end of the sentence punctuation because she was not corrected along the way. Since she was allowed to come up with her own theories she spent lots of time struggling with different strategies for using periods. I think that if the teacher had gently corrected her from the beginning, they could have saved time.   

My goals and such

 Issues

I am fairly used to writing. Over the past few years I have written ESSAYS, IMMITATIVE PAPERS, AND SOME FICTION. [series of nouns connected by commas]. Looking through some of my past writing this evening I found a few areas in which I would like to improve over the course of this semester.

The first issue I have is with semicolons. For some reason no matter how often I learn about how to use them, and when to use them, I can never seem to remember the rules. Since I can never remember the rules for using a semicolon, I tend to just avoid them in my papers altogether.

Sometimes I use parentheses in places I could use a semicolon instead. For example, when writing about a list of characters I might say: “In the room was Steven (a guitarist), Murphy (a writer), and Ryan (a surfer).” If I took the time to work out how to use semicolons properly I could make that sentence look a lot more professional by writing like this: “In the room was Steven, a guitarist; Murphy, a writer; and Ryan, a surfer.” If I took the time to learn how to correctly use semicolons I could make my papers look neater, and use fewer parentheses. Which brings me to my next issue.

I overuse parentheses. I have most likely utilized every possible use of parentheses in my essays over the past few years. There are two main uses I have for parentheses, though. I use them to avoid using semicolons and as side notes to my main point. By side note, I mean either just a fun extra fact or an aside to the reader. I have already given an example of using parentheses to avoid semicolons, so I'll just show an example of using them for side notes here. “While Kurt Vonnegut (who is also from Indianapolis) was mainly known for satire, he also was an author of science fiction.”

While using this every once in a while isn't much of a problem, it is a problem when I use them as much as I do. Looking through some of my past papers I see areas in which I use parentheses every other paragraph. I need to eliminate some of these. This can be done by using semicolons properly, finding other ways to make my side comments, or just cutting the side comments out completely.

The last issue I want to change is another overuse problem. I think that I overuse commas. Maybe I use them a normal amount, but when looking at one of my past essays, the majority of sentences in that essay have commas in them. If it is not normal to have this many commas then I need to figure out a way to restructure my sentences. Even in this blog right now I am using quite a few commas.

So to recap, the areas I need to work on are SEMICOLONS AND PARENTHESE AND COMMA OVERUSE. [series of nouns connected by and with no commas]. The comma problem I am not too worried about, as long as I fix my problems with semicolons and parentheses I will be happy.