Week 8

  

Welcome back.   Hope you had a wonderful week.

Today we will address the essay practice involving comparison and contrast, which may include adopting a hypothetical stance so that we get some practice in using the subjunctive mood and conditional verb forms. There will be time to work in class, and to review grammar and punctuation and summary works.  We may then watch one or two of the films from Alain de Botton'sThe School of Life, on YouTube, time permitting.

     The last essay (#6) before the class final will require you to present a summary and response view of a Botton film short, including the main ideas of the work and description of how it is illustrated or animated.  There are many from which to choose, so I leave the final selection to you, knowing that a personal sense of connection to the topic is important to your sense of engagement.  Botton is an Englishman and speaks in a teacherly way throughout the films.  I hope you will not be put off by his voice or approach.  Every one of the works contains English subtitles, which makes it easier to follow the "lesson."  However, in reading along, it is that much easier to miss the animated illustrations meant to make the ideas visual. To form an adequate impression, you must watch, listen, read–several times over, pausing and jotting notes as you work through. You will work as you did with the other texts summarized, stating early on the title and author of the work you are addressing. Your opening sentence might run as follows:

  I have been watching videos from Alain de Botton's The School of Life on YouTube and one in particular struck a chord:  How to Keep Growing Up, published April 26, 2017. Can it be that in middle age I am still growing up? Yes, or at least I hope so. Botton makes the point  . . .

The following URL links provide examples of about 5 minutes duration, which to my mind is an ideal length for a short writing assignment:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4IeNGE2qX8

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brpk26Oq4aE

The final exam happens week 11.  Next week is a holiday week for us, no class on Monday.  You will be expected to write the film response. Week 10 we will have presentations of some of the essays you have written and review grammar and punctuation. Any rewrites must be submitted by week 11.

Please check the grades posted at Brightspace to see what you may be missing and that my record is consistent with yours.

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Make-up and Extra Credit

The following essay description, if you need to make up an assignment or want extra credit, will serve:

Essay Makeup: In 350-500 words address an idea that you hold as an article of faith or philosophical belief, using narrative or descriptive examples to support and flesh out the basis of that belief.  Examples can be found (some 125,000) at thisibelieve.org.  There you can explore topics and examples going all the way back to the 1950s, when the project itself first began.The site supports an international forum of sorts on core values, and offers opportunity to upload your essay for publication.

The guidelines for writing the essay are much like those we have been following in class, keeping to 350-500 words in a voice that is personal and original. The following URL within the site describes in detail what the editors want in terms of style and development: http://thisibelieve.org/guidelines/. You may summarize and quote from any one of the published essays as a lead-in to your piece, though neither summary nor response is a required element of the essay. The topic you address should reflect your particular experience and corresponding beliefs or concerns–whether of religion, money, virtue, vice, growing up, growing old, love, death, sickness, health, the meaning of life, the nature of existence, the human condition, pleasure, pain, the fate of life on this planet, etcetera. Your statement of belief should be articulated in a sentence or two.

I have posted below material from an earlier post to allow for review of English syntax and basic punctuation principles. I also include the following link to an article featuring discussion and review of the use of commas: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/the-most-comma-mistakes/
and an exercise on verbs, reposted: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_category_id=1&article_id=39 , and to clarify, voice and mood:  https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/07/

Sentence Type 1: The simple sentence has one subject and one predicate, the base of which is always a verb or verb phrase. And in English, the subject usually comes up front, followed by the verb and other predicate elements such as direct and indirect objects. This subject-verb combo is called a clause, an independent clause, because it expresses a grammatically complete, stand-alone thought. Examples follow here:

Jesus wept.

Style has meaning.

Choices resonate.

What is the subject in each of the three preceding sentences? Jesus. Style. Choices. And the verbs?Wept and has and resonate, and some form of the "be" verb": is, was, are, were . . .

And in the following?

The house is surrounded by razor wire.

He and I fight too often. We cannot be good for one another.

After spring sunset, mist rises from the river, spreading like a flood.

From a bough, floating down river, insect song. (Sentence fragment here . . . no verb).

They slept on the floor.

The girl raised the flag.

Note: inverted syntax order: Subject follows the verb instead of preceding it. Lovable he isn't. Tall grow the pines on the hills.

Normal order: A fly is in my soup. With an expletive (which delays the subject) it looks like this: There is a fly in my soup.

Sentence type 2: The compound sentence has at least two independent subject and verb combinations or clauses, and no dependent clauses. Each independent clause is joined by means of some conjunction or coordinating punctuation:

Autumn is a sad season, but I love it anyway. (coordinating conjunction but preceded by a comma)
Name the baby Huey, or I'll cut you out of my will.
The class was young, eager, and intelligent, and the teacher delighted in their presence.
The sky grew black, and the wind died; an ominous quiet hung over the whole city. (semi-colon used, no coordinating conjunction required)
My mind is made up; however, I do want to discuss the decision with you. (semi-colon required with adverbial conjunction however)

Any of the seven short coordinating conjunctions can be used before the comma to join independent clauses: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so: they can be remembered as FANBOYS.

*A semi-colon (;) must be used before adverbial conjunctions joining independent clauses: however, indeed, therefore, thus, in fact, moreover, in addition, consequently, still, etcetera.

Sentence Type 3: The complex sentence is composed of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.

My man left me, though it was I who begged him to go.

Those who live in glass houses should not cast stones.

Many people believe that God does not exist.

Sentence Type 4: The compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause.

As I waited for the bus, the sun beat down all around me, and I shivered in my thoughts.

Because she said nothing, we assumed that she wanted nothing, but her mother knew better.

She and her sister Amina are dancers, and they work at parties around town when they can.

While John shopped for groceries, two armed men forced their way into his home; fortunately, his wife and children were away.

Examples of subordinating conjunctions––those used in from of dependent clauses–– include the following: because, that, which, who, when, while, where, wherever, though, as though, although, since, as, if, as if, unless, et al .

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Exercises: Place commas, semi-colons, and conjunctions if needed in the following sentences. Be on the lookout for occasional run-ons and comma-splice errors.

1. Today is Monday May 21 2018.

2. Students and teachers will be busy in the coming weeks many will be taking or administering final exams and projects.

3. The lab teachers including Mr. Fish and Mrs. Bird have seen an influx of students in recent weeks.

4. Many of the students particularly those concerned about performance on upcoming finals have been eager to review coursework.

5. Mr. Fish a math teacher is working as hard as he can to keep up with requests for tutoring which tend to rise during the weeks leading up to finals.

6. Introduction to Math and Introduction to Composition are two courses many students must take each course is designed to build basic skills needed in general college courses.

7. Schools across the nation have seen an increasing demand for courses that prepare students for upper level work, school administrators have responded by increasing the number and range of preparatory courses.

8. To facilitate student success they have also increased the number of hours tutors are available to help students with work.

9. Students today are often time-pressed as a matter of fact, many hold full-time jobs in addition to their course loads and get overwhelmed by the various pressures and demands they face.

10. Fortunately, the Internet is being used as a platform for teaching sharing and showcasing the work and ideas of people around the world it offers students means of connecting with and learning from others wherever they may be living and at whatever hour of the day or night.