1. Overview of Grammar
Blog Assignment
As explained in the
syllabus, please create a blog through blogger.com just for this course (or a
blog you share with just English 325/YAL). Once you've created your own Blogger
account for our course, email me your blog's address to my WSU email, so I can
post links to all the blogs here (please include a short note, rather than just
the link, so your email doesn't go to my junk mail). Note: Your blog address
will be something like "nameyoucreated.blogspot.com". It won't be
a random string of words and numbers (that's your Dashboard address, and not
something you can share with others). If you're new to blogging, remember
to select "New Post" each time you want to blog. If you select
"New Blog" you're actually going to have to create a new blog address
each time--and I won't be able to see your stuff. Also, please choose a background that is easy to read (a black background with white font is really hard for me to read).
Most weeks, you will
post a response to an academic article from either the Blackboard site or the
March 2011 volume of the English Journal (accessed via www.wsulibs.wsu.edu). Compose
approximately 500-750 words of text. Other weeks, you’ll post
material that you have previously written or are working on for another class.
(Give a brief introductory paragraph for context, so we know what you’re
working on and what type of feedback you might like.) Regardless of the
specific blog prompt, you’ll always experiment with the Pattern(s)-of-the-Week.
Include the pattern in bold, followed by brackets that identify the
pattern.
Like this: “Be sure
to experiment with your punctuation this semester; errors are a sign of
growth [two closely connected independent clauses joined by a
semicolon]. Consult my blog for the Pattern-of-the-Week.
Finally, most weeks
you will need to respond to two other people’s blogs. Comment on
both their content and on how effectively they incorporated
the patterns (this is the place where you practice explaining the grammar to
someone else, even if they got the pattern right). Additionally, suggest
another place in the text where they might effectively experiment with the
pattern. I’ll assign your response partners each
week. Remember, the goal is to experiment with your writing and to
practice explaining the grammar, so that you really know your stuff by the end
of the semester. I recommend you first write (and save) your blog in Word, as
you may want to use your blogs for your final portfolio.
NOTE: See current blogs for most recent assignment information!
2. Your First Blog
Assignment
Blog #1 Self Assessment Blog Due Monday, August 29th by 10am: write about 500 words (single-spaced, with line breaks between paragraphs for readability on the web) on this question: What grammar and punctuation issues do you, as a writer, want to focus on this semester?
Blog #1 Self Assessment Blog Due Monday, August 29th by 10am: write about 500 words (single-spaced, with line breaks between paragraphs for readability on the web) on this question: What grammar and punctuation issues do you, as a writer, want to focus on this semester?
Remember, you don’t just have to describe
things that you “don’t get”—you can also point to things that you’d like to
experiment with. Please, no more than three issues. Be as specific
as possible. Do cite examples from any of your written work to SHOW us what you
mean; otherwise, make up example sentences to illustrate your points.
Additionally, you may identify one or two of your favorite sentence patterns.
Pattern-of-the-Week: Not yet. Wait for next week.
Response: No response necessary for this first posting.
3. My Sample Self-Assessment Blog (your tone/approach can be different--this is just one way to approach this assignment)
This semester, I really want to work on my sentence variety in my academic and professional writing. Specifically, I need to look at my use of the complex sentence structure. Because so much of my writing is via email, where tone is often difficult to read, I think I subconsciously write complex sentences so I don’t sound too terse or upset (case in point). I need to vary my sentence structure. I need to experiment with the simple sentence. (Two more cases in point.) Most specifically, I need to make sure my points don’t get lost. (Hmmm, lots of "I need" statements--purposeful repetition or lack of word variety?) The other day, my colleague and I were drafting a grant proposal, and he verbally provided me with this great start to a sentence: “A vital missing link to these services . . .” I love the energy of "vital" to help us describe our dilemma. However, after revision, I realize that the sentence turned into this beauty: “Before the formation of CLASP, the directors of these units recognized that a vital missing link to these services was one-to-one faculty interaction.” Clearly, I need to keep revising, since the best part of the sentence is now muddled in the middle, unable to rhetorically affect any reader. Instead, it is now just part of one more complex sentence.
All long sentences aren’t necessarily complex, of course, but my tendency to write longer sentences also occasionally causes me to “misconnect” the subject and verb. For example, I just wrote this lovely sentence today as part of the grant proposal: “On their own, each of the four advising units that participate in CLASP provide comprehensive academic support services to students, . . .” Once I take the time to connect the subject with the verb, I realize that they don’t agree—and I have noticed this pattern a lot recently, so I need to pay attention. Again, email may be the culprit, as we tend to read emails as quickly as we write them, but in my example I notice that I was probably also thinking of “units” as the subject, rather than as the object of the preposition.
In terms of punctuation, I’d like to examine my love of the dash. I use the dash in nearly every email I send out. The dash signals strength, but too many again contribute to my tendency to muddle my strengths in the middle of sentences. I think if I reduced my use of the dashes to when they are really powerful, they really will be “heard.” For experimentation purposes, I’d like to start using the “pipe” ( | ), as I’ve seen it used in titles (as in “Developing a Question | Starting a Dialogue”). I like how it shows a relationship between items in a way that the semicolon doesn't allow for.
Response: No response necessary for this first posting.
3. My Sample Self-Assessment Blog (your tone/approach can be different--this is just one way to approach this assignment)
This semester, I really want to work on my sentence variety in my academic and professional writing. Specifically, I need to look at my use of the complex sentence structure. Because so much of my writing is via email, where tone is often difficult to read, I think I subconsciously write complex sentences so I don’t sound too terse or upset (case in point). I need to vary my sentence structure. I need to experiment with the simple sentence. (Two more cases in point.) Most specifically, I need to make sure my points don’t get lost. (Hmmm, lots of "I need" statements--purposeful repetition or lack of word variety?) The other day, my colleague and I were drafting a grant proposal, and he verbally provided me with this great start to a sentence: “A vital missing link to these services . . .” I love the energy of "vital" to help us describe our dilemma. However, after revision, I realize that the sentence turned into this beauty: “Before the formation of CLASP, the directors of these units recognized that a vital missing link to these services was one-to-one faculty interaction.” Clearly, I need to keep revising, since the best part of the sentence is now muddled in the middle, unable to rhetorically affect any reader. Instead, it is now just part of one more complex sentence.
All long sentences aren’t necessarily complex, of course, but my tendency to write longer sentences also occasionally causes me to “misconnect” the subject and verb. For example, I just wrote this lovely sentence today as part of the grant proposal: “On their own, each of the four advising units that participate in CLASP provide comprehensive academic support services to students, . . .” Once I take the time to connect the subject with the verb, I realize that they don’t agree—and I have noticed this pattern a lot recently, so I need to pay attention. Again, email may be the culprit, as we tend to read emails as quickly as we write them, but in my example I notice that I was probably also thinking of “units” as the subject, rather than as the object of the preposition.
In terms of punctuation, I’d like to examine my love of the dash. I use the dash in nearly every email I send out. The dash signals strength, but too many again contribute to my tendency to muddle my strengths in the middle of sentences. I think if I reduced my use of the dashes to when they are really powerful, they really will be “heard.” For experimentation purposes, I’d like to start using the “pipe” ( | ), as I’ve seen it used in titles (as in “Developing a Question | Starting a Dialogue”). I like how it shows a relationship between items in a way that the semicolon doesn't allow for.
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