Magnetic FANBOYS

This week, we really started getting into the technical aspects of grammar, but this did not mean our lessons were boring. The opportunity to use the magnetic poetry kits to better understand sentence structure was a lot of fun! Not only did it give us the opportunity to be creative and funny with our sentences, but we learned with them as well. I’ve long been a fan of magnetic poetry and it was great to see it used in the classroom as an educational tool too. 

I’m also really happy that I now have a clear sense of the differences between transitive and intransitive verbs. They seem easy to identify and the concept was easily taught to the class as well. I wonder though, how does this information affect native English speakers? I’ve gone a majority of my life without knowing this information, so what affect will this have on my writing? Perhaps I can use this to identify personal trends or writing patterns and put more variety into my sentence structure. 

Finally, I also have a “rule” that can help me identify the correct placement of a comma. Commas, as I mentioned in an earlier post, are something that I have struggled with because they seem so fluid; oftentimes, I would just place them wherever I felt it was right without actually knowing why I did it. By learning about the coordinating conjunctions (also known as the FANBOYS) I now have an understanding of why a comma needs to go between the connection of two sentences. I also really appreciated the idea that the “co” in coordinating represents equality, and as such, the two halves of the sentence need to be of equal complete sentence status. This kind of memory trick will really help me in my proofreading. 

Related to this note of compound sentences is the semi-colon. I have long been a fan of the semi-colon and it is one of my favorite things to teach students about in my English 102 classes. The thing I have to remind myself though is to not overuse it. Because the semi-colon is a slightly more advanced convention, it has the opportunity to seem pretentious if it is overused or used in a style of writing that does not require formality. For me, the semi-colon is like a coordinating conjunction because it represents cooperation and a strong relationship between the sentences. I look forward to seeing how other people view the semi-colon in class next week. 

Question: Is there an easy trick to identify what a linking verb is? I’m still having a bit of difficulty with this concept. 

Teachable Techniques

Our blog topic for this week was to address what we’ve learned so far about grammar and punctuation in class, but to be entirely honest, I’ve understood the concepts taught in class for quite a while now. Ever since I started doing mad-libs as a child, I’ve understood the basic parts of speech. These building blocks then helped me learn more complicated things like prepositions. When it came time to learn about the larger structure of a sentence incorporating the terms noun phrase, and direct object became a natural step of progression for me.

            The things I have loved the most are the activities I have done. The grammar scrapbook is becoming almost an obsession of mine. I scour the newspaper and magazine for interesting words, creative punctuation, or the rare mistake in print. I force my roommates to watch classic musicals (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story) with me while I cut and glue examples. If I ever have a class that focuses specifically on grammar, I can say with confidence that I would incorporate this project into my plan. Even if my class doesn’t revolve around grammar, I may consider using it anyway.

            The other technique I’ve really enjoyed is the use of newspapers in class. This allows us to use real examples and do a physical kinesthetic activity that helps us learn the parts of speech. AND it’s fun. We’re able to work in groups and have active discussions about why an author may have chosen to construct a sentence in a particular way and because there is such a diversity in sentence structure in newspaper headlines, we are able to have more of an authentic experience and connect our learning to “the real world” instead of just filling out answer sheets or doing worksheets. Thanks for the great ideas Barbara!

Question: I know what the direct object of a sentence is, but I remember learning about the indirect object in high school. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what it is. Does anyone else know?  

Learning So Far

We have not covered many grammatical concepts in class as of yet, but my favorite so far has been our discussion of the many uses of apostrophes. I’ve always felt as though I had a fairly solid grasp on the use of the apostrophe, and after hearing that there were no mistakes made in our first set of blogs, I feel that it is safe to assume that many of my peers do too.

Before our discussion, I never realized there were so many gray areas regarding apostrophes. This explains why there is no cute rhyme or saying to remember apostrophe usage like the “i before e except after c” rule. Perhaps the most interesting gray area for me was using an apostrophe to denote a pluralized letter such as “the M’s” as a nickname for the Seattle Mariners. While an apostrophe in this situation would normally suggest that the M is in possession of something, in this case, it differentiates the pronunciation as “emms” as opposed to the title for an unmarried woman. This breaking of the rules on purpose defies the standard logic for apostrophe usage, but is used for clarity.

The least favorite thing I have learned is that a list does not always require a conjunction to conclude it. The example given in class is “You are kind, generous, thoughtful”. My instinct is to insert an “and” between generous and thoughtful. While the list without “and” is technically proper, I dislike it for several reasons. The first of which is that it does not sound proper. People do not speak this way and as such, it throws of the rhythm of reading. Secondly, it is vague and unspecific. The example comes from a love letter in which the mood is supposed to be wistful and longing, but if this were any other piece of writing, I would find it vague and unspecific. When I write, I write to communicate clearly and effectively. This format leaves too much interpretation up to the audience and I feel like I have failed the reader. ULTIMATELY, I FEEL THAT IT IS LAZY, GENERIC, UNSPECIFIC. Just because this format is correct, doesn’t mean I will be able to accept and use it in my own personal writings.

Of everything we’ve learned so far, my biggest questions still lie in the differences between lay and lie. With the present tense forms, I can usually figure out which one to use, but getting into “lain” and “laid” threw me off a bit. Any suggestions?