Paper 6 Conclusion Examples

Manners:

It would seem wise if we separated "procedure" and "essence." People who follow the proper "procedures" are thought of as good-mannered even if they are not good people: they might be firmly shaking your hand in order to make it easier to steal your wallet. Contrariwise, many people who behave oddly or who generally do not follow polite "procedures" well cannot immediately be dismissed as "impolite" or "bad" people. We need to reconceive what are good manners and what makes a good person, for bad people have long figured out how to use traditional good manners to hurt people.

Prejudice:

It is up to teachers to understand their students' needs and attitudes. Students also should learn more about teachers and behave more reasonably with regard to class participation and interaction with the teacher. However, teachers are by definition the more responsible group, and teachers should not use bad student behavior as an excuse not to fulfill their obligations as teachers. To treat students badly only reinforces some of the negative ideas students have about education--namely, that it is a four-year jail term that doesn't really teach students anything.

Besides, a teacher should recognize that there is more to a student's life than your class. (We can understand the vanity of a teacher thinking that students are stupid if they don't like his class, but that is still a prejudice that should be eliminated.) Teachers need to learn to be sympathetic to students, and when students do not behave appropriately, teachers need to find ways to mete the proper punishments without allowing anger and prejudice to creep in.

Yi Yi Questions

What parts of the film do you relate to? What parts of the film do you understand even if you don’t relate to it? Are there parts of the film that the think are ineffective or that make incorrect observations about people?

Is there a connection between Yang-Yang’s teacher’s young female assistant’s and Lili’s English teacher’s relationship with Lili?

If you are from a big city, does this film reflect how people feel and how people experience things in big city life? If you are not from a big city, how does the city affect people differently than a smaller place? How would Ting-Ting and Yang-Yang learn about love differently in a smaller town?

News mentions of Wen-Ho Lee and Matra

“Thunder created all life on Earth”

“How can I know what you see?”
“Can we only know half the truth?”—Yang-Yang

“Every day in life is a first time. Every morning is new. We never live the same day twice…”—Ota—How is the film hopeful? We see that Ota understands life well even when his life is difficult. We see that Ting-Ting has some sense of hope: she feels that her grandmother has forgiven her, and her plant has blossomed. Yang-Yang seems to be doing fine in his attempts to understand life. What about the other characters? Are they hopeless?

“Young people always find their own way.”—Ota. Ota says this to NJ and Sherry. How are NJ and Sherry still “young”? How does this quote reflect Ting-Ting and Yang-Yang’s experiences? They have to “find their way,” and they don’t seem to get a lot of help or support from the adults.

--What characters did you like the most? Why? What characters did you dislike the most? Why? Think of the least sympathetic characters and try to think of something positive about them that we see in the move. (Example: After A-Di’s suicide attempt, we see that Xiao Yan seems really to love A-Di.)

What scene did you most enjoy, or what scene affected you the most? Why did you enjoy it? How did it affect you?

Why does the movie have Yang-Yang learn about love in a “cute” way while Ting-Ting learns about love (and sex) in a very scary way?

Why do some people always fail to make good decisions or be good people no matter what opportunities they have? A-Di is so lucky, yet he makes so many mistakes, and he continues to act badly and lie. Can we understand why he acts the way that he does? Can we be sympathetic to him? Does he remind us of ourselves or people we know?


--Why do people imitate the behavior that upsets them? Lili is disgusted by her mother’s promiscuity, yet she shows her disgust by being promiscuous herself.

A major theme in the film is sexual awakening. Yang-Yang starts to like a girl. Ting-Ting starts to develop feelings of love and desire, and she discovers that love and sex are very complicated, painful, and disturbing things.

A lot of the movie looks at major themes—birth, death, love, pain—in very subtle ways. Yet near the end Fatty murders the English teacher out of sexual jealousy. This is very shocking, and it is very different from the rest of the movie. Why include this event in the movie? What might it mean?

Why do we learn about Fatty’s murder through a news story? What does that mean? What does it say about the media’s obsession with violence and sensation? (Contrast the news about violence and sensation to the Jians’ lives, which are not at all sensational.)

Can we understand why Fatty would murder the English teacher? Do we understand his feelings? Have we had similar feelings before ourselves? (The German writer Goethe said, “I can imagine myself committing the greatest crime. Nothing human is foreign to me.”)

The movie talks about “violent and killing videogames” early on: Mr. Ota says that video games tend to be violent not because computer technology is limited, but because humans don’t understand themselves. Later, we see Fatty’s murder of the English teacher recreated as a violent video game. Why do this?


Is it important to be happy? How can we be? What does this movie say about happiness?

--Does NJ love his wife? Why is it so hard to tell? Is it still hard to tell whether or not adults love each other?

--Can we be sympathetic to Min-Min even though she abandons her family during an important time?

Yun-Yun continues to love and support A-Di after A-Di has married someone else. What makes people carry a torch for others? Why do we continue to love someone long after they should no longer be part of our lives?

Are you too young to understand NJ and Sherry’s regret over the decisions they’ve made in their lives? What if one of your parents left the family to be with his or her “true love” from the past? Obviously, you would be upset, but could you understand why he or she might make such a decision?

Think of family members who work. How hard is their job? Are they happy? What does NJ’s unhappiness with the business world tell us about how much work can hurt our mind and soul?

A lot of the movie looks at major themes—birth, death, love, pain—in very subtle ways. For example, in most movies or television shows, a mother who does not want to attend her son’s wedding would make a very angry speech. In Yi Yi, the mother simply says that she doesn’t feel well and wants to go home. It is such a quiet event that we might forget how powerful it is for a mother to not stay at one of her children’s weddings. Why does the movie look at serious issues in such quiet ways? Is that how we learn about and experience things in real life?

The movie is “realistic” at first in the way that it shows slow and ordinary and banal events. But near the end, it has more “movie” events. There is a murder (we know this is a “movie” event because we don’t normally have a close experience with murder; also, Fatty talks about how movies “show us what it’s like to kill someone"). There is a fantasy sequence (Ting-Ting imagines that her grandmother has woken up). What’s the effect of the movie being mostly slow and quiet, yet near the end having violence and fantasies like in many other movies?

New Blog to Replace Locked Blog

I've added an addendum blog: http://ntuenglishnonmajors2.blogspot.com/. I've put some Yi Yi material there, and later you can check for some other written material that can help you prepare for the final exam. I hope this one doesn't get locked.

Sean

Film Summaries

Well, it looks like they locked my other blog because they thought it was spam. So you won't be able to access the movie summaries. I'll repost the questions and summaries on this blog, and I'll hope that they don't shut down this blog too.

Mid-Term Part 1 Re-Take

I forgot today (Thursday) to hand out the Mid-term retake after the movie. Probably I was distracted by the student who came in and started talking to some other students during the last scene of the movie! If you planned to retake the midterm, please email me.
On a related note, if you for some reason did not take the new (or old) midterm and still would like to, please let me know.

Yi Yi Summary and Commentary

Since the Friday class still hasn't seen it, and because there is a lot of material that could overwhelm the blog, I've put the Yi Yi material in a new blog.

http://frogurtalsocursed.blogspot.com/

(The name is a Simpsons reference.)

I will post questions related to Yi Yi, a summary in English, and some material from the TAs (including a summary in Chinese).

Amnesty

Those who have missed a lot of class, or those who fear that their participation grade might be low, may come to my office hour for a conversation with me.

You have to have a discussion topic ready.

We will have a short conversation. I will give you some feedback on your speaking and listening ability, and I will raise your participation grade.

Sean

Article Links

Here are the article links again. Now you have less of an excuse not to read them. :-)

This is an essay about some Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts released in 2002. Many people thought that the shirts were racist against Asians.

http://www.alternet.org/story/13294/



Here are two other links that explain the 2002 Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts.

http://modelminority.com/article21.html

http://modelminority.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22


--Please have a one-half page response to the article for this week. You may turn it in late if you need to. There are questions you can answer in an earlier post if you don't know what to say about the article.

Sean

Reminder: Midterm Part I Retake

Students:
If you scored less than 60 points on the midterm, you may retake the midterm during the third class hour next week. After the movie is finished, you will receive the test.
The maximum retake score will be 65 points.
Sean

Paper 6 Body Examples

--These are just one paragraph examples. The body should be about a page long. These examples show you how to make a single argument in the space of one paragraph.

Manners:
The traditional view is that good manners create a good person. Contemporary life seems to prove otherwise: it seems good manners are used to hide bad character. A businessman who smiles, shakes your hand firmly, and maintains eye contact does not necessarily have a good sense of business ethics. Businesses that offer "special deals"--which sound more special than they really are--rely on the persuasiveness of good manners to get people to sign up for six months of yoga or three bottles of a supplement. When I collected baseball cards, I remember one seller told me, "Look: I'm a good Christian gentleman. I would never rip anyone off." After I sold him my rare but damaged baseball card, I saw later that he was selling it for ten times more than he bought it for.

On the other hand, one can witness someone with bad manners who has a good heart. Do we dismiss someone who says, "'Sup?" instead of, "It is an honor to meet you?" without getting to know the person better first?

What are manners, then? What are they supposed to be? Do we care more about "good manners" or "good people"? And if we are looking for "good people," do we need to change the way we look for them?

Prejudice:

When I graded papers for a remedial (i.e. below the standards of college) level English exam, the teachers would write sentences that they found funny on the board. This was to provide relief from the stress of grading so many papers, and yes, often the sentences were very funny. However, it is very inappropriate to laugh at a students writing in a group situation, for it only encourages additional prejudice against students, and it fosters an "us against them" mentality. Worse, some of the things that were written on the board reflected some ignorance of what students need. One teacher wrote a sentence with the phrase, "he suicided." The school at which I worked was 40% Asian, and many of these students were immigrants. It is the teacher's responsibility to know that students who speak another first language have certain mistake tendencies. "Suicide" is a verb in Chinese, so many students will write, "He suicided" instead of "He committed suicide." Teachers should know to teach their students what mistakes they need to look out for; instead, this teacher showed ignorance of her own students' needs.

Another teacher did not write on the board, but she often read out loud students' political arguments. The teacher was liberal; she always read conservative arguments by students. This being written work from a remedial class, of course many of the arguments were bad. But some were good. It seemed that the teacher thought this was "bad writing" only because she disagreed with the political argument.

While I understand the need to relax, and I understand why teachers sometimes laugh at students' work, I think it behooves teachers to take time regularly to reflect on their attitudes toward students. Without this reflections, the teachers might be blind to a prejudice against students that affects a teacher's ability to teach and students' ability to learn.

Abercrombie and Fitch T-Shirts: Some Questions

Do you find the t-shirts offensive? Why or why not?

Could you accept someone having a different perspective on the t-shirts? (That is, if you find them offensive, do you understand why someone else might not? And vice versa.) Why or why not?

Would you support a ban on the Abercrombie and Fitch brand because of these t-shirts?

Consider this "argument": "These shirts came out six years ago. The company removed the shirts. This is no longer important." How is this a good argument? How is this a bad argument?

--Try to think of something in popular culture (an advertisement, a product, etc.) that might be offensive to certain groups of people. What is the benefit of thinking about these things? Why do some people or companies seem blind and deaf to the feelings of certain groups? Do these things reflect an inveterate prejudice in the culture?

Itinerary

Week of May 19:
--Simpsons episode "Duffless." Discussion: Is alcoholism a disease?
--Discussion: prejudice (Abercrombie and Fitch article, etc.) and abstract ideas
--Film, Yi Yi
Paper 6 Introduction Due

Week of May 26
--Simpons episode and discussion.
--Finish Yi Yi
Paper 6 Body Due

Week of June 2
--Discussion
--Logical fallacies
--Oral exams: Discuss your feelings about the film we watched in the previous two weeks.
Paper 6 Conclusion due

Paper 6 Introduction Examples

Paper 6 Example: Abstract Concept
"Manners" are an important idea in any culture. There have always been traditional codes of behavior dictating how people should behave in public and how people should behave toward one another. The last century has challenged "traditional" behavior, so it is difficult to define what "good manners" are today. Furthermore, many people behave politely, but polite behavior does not necessarily mean that the person is good or trustworthy. If good manners do not make good people, then what is the point of them? Also, what does it mean when people are offended by "bad manners"? If someone behaves badly in public, does it always indicate bad character? And if someone is offended by another's actions, to what degree is the offending person at fault, and to what degree might the offended person simply be too sensitive?

Paper 6 Example: Prejudice
It can be difficult to be a teacher. Teaching requires a commitment of long hours. The pay is usually not good. Peers and students might appreciate hard work and dedication, but that appreciation is fleeting. Students--sometimes understandably, sometimes not--make teaching difficult because they are uncomfortable with the class or with schooling in general. It is not a surprise that a teacher might become frustrated, yet it is not acceptable for a teacher to develop negative attitudes toward students. Teachers' discrimination against students might help relieve teachers' stress, but more importantly it makes teachers care less about their students, treat students with less respecct, and work less hard on their teaching. This paper will look at personal experiences with discrimination against students to try to understand how this prejudice works.

A Discussion on "Dignity"

http://www.tnr.com/story_print.html?id=d8731cf4-e87b-4d88-b7e7-f5059cd0bfbd

Here is an essay about bioethics. The author's claim is that there is too much talk about "dignity" in the discussion of bioethics. (Bioethics=a discussion of whether it is right or wrong to experiment with and change the human body. An example: should we study stem cells or cadavers [dead bodies] or etc. to look for cures for human disease, or does it violate the dignity of life to make these studies?) This is a challenging read, but if you want to try to read it, go down about 70% of the essay to the paragraph that begins with "To be fair...." At this point in the essay, the author talks about how abstract the idea of "dignity" is, how much the concept of "dignity" has changed over time, and how useless "dignity" is as an idea for discussing bioethics because of its abstractness.

This can give you a good example of how to discuss an abstract idea and how to make complex arguments. I will try to post more information to help you understand the essay, but you don't have to read it.

Paper 6

Choose one of the following two paper prompts.

1. Analyzing an abstract concept.
--Choose an idea that is important but is hard to define. Examples include things like "love," "freedom," and "honor." Love is important for all of us, but what is love?

In the introduction, show us what idea you will talk about. Briefly state why it is important. In the body, make an effort to define thoroughly what the word means; keep in mind that these ideas have many forms: there are many kinds of "love"; there are many kinds of "freedoms". Try to define all of them, and try to show why so many different ideas are contained within one word.

In the conclusion, make some general statement about the importance of abstract ideas, using the topic of your paper as a starting point.

You can use a word/concept from another language, but be sure to define that word carefully.

2. Discrimination

Discrimination is a very powerful force. Arguably all of us discriminate against some group or type of people. Choose a form of discrimination to write about. Possibilities include the following: age discrimination, gender discrimination, class discrimination (against the poor or rich), racial and/or ethnic discrimination, sexuality discrimination, etc. You are free to write about the concept within whatever scope you wish--for example, you could write about discrimination against women in general or discrimination against women in Taiwan. You may use personal observation in the paper.

The introduction should show the reader what your topic is. What will you write about? Why?

The body should analyze the extent of the discrimination you analyze. You should also make an effort to understand what the discrimination "means" and why it exists. Try to look at subtler forms of discrimination, forms that are harder to notice and harder to define as discrimination.

The conclusion should discuss why discrimination is such a powerful force in people's lives. Also, you should suggest ways in which we can deal with (bear) discrimination against ourselves and how we might reduce the amount of discrimination in the world.

The paper can take a personal bent (approach) if you'd like. Feel free to discuss personal observations or experiences with discrimination, or think about the ways in which you discriminate against others.

Vocabulary Sample Sentences

I will unveil the last section of the syllabus soon.

The teacher's grading system is diabolical.

It is hard to be happy when one sees all of the human misery in the world.

Dude, I'm trying to watch The Simpsons. Be quiet!

Every month my co-workers and I go to the union meeting to discuss work.

An embassy contains representatives of a foreign country.

She signed a contract to be a model for Chanel perfume.

He went to Macao and won a lot of money gambling. But he got too greedy, kept gambling, and lost all of the money that he won.

When my daughter was young, I would shake a rattle to make her stop crying. She was interested in the sound the rattle made.

Whoever said McDonald's made good food is a liar.

That guy is a speed freak: he always drives his car very fast.

The president of the union is a firebrand: when he gives a speech, everyone listens.

The rain thwarted my effort to take my wife out for a picnic. [Picnic: a meal eaten outside in a park.]

The bank manager is crooked; he steals money from the bank.

I wanted more money at my job, but I'm not a good negotiator, so I couldn't convince my boss to give me a raise. [raise=increase in salary]

I periodically clean the house so it won't get too dirty.

My apartment predates the three prong electrical outlet: there are only two holes in each plug.

I have decided that the girl who gets better grades on all the tests is my adversary. I have to beat her score on the final exam!

The baseball player entered into negotiation with the team to determine how much money he would make next year.

He does not seem friendly. Every time I talk to him, he is very impersonal.

He is a computer wizz. He saved my hard drive after I thought it was destroyed. He is the number one computer repair person in the country!

I know you are mad at me, but hear me out. I am sorry for what I did.

She decided she didn't like her job, so she resigned.

Some people think Asian men have girlish figures.

After the beautiful girl said she would date him, Tom proceeded to strut down the street.

I don't understand all of this foofaraw about Global Warming.

She went on a tirade about how angry she was at the way she is treated at work.

An Inconvenient Truth is a chilling look at the effects of Global Warming.

Genghis Khan was a brilliant tactician who conquered a large part of Asia with his army.

Link to Essay

This is an essay about some Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts released in 2002. Many people thought that the shirts were racist against Asians.

http://www.alternet.org/story/13294/

This essay will be very challenging to read. Do your best to try to read it this week. I will send some notes on the website to help you understand it. Try to identify the arguments that the author, Mimi Nguyen, is making.

Notice that there are two pages.

Here are two other links that explain the 2002 Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts.

http://modelminority.com/article21.html

http://modelminority.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22

Vernacular Expressions

Nice to see you: This is a formal greeting to someone you have already met.

So glad you could make it: This is a polite expression that you say to someone who has appeared at a gathering or party.

real life: A common phrase that refers to "realistic" issues and concerns. You might watch a movie and say, "In real life, that would never happen."

fair and equitable: This refers to the treatment of someone, or it refers to the value of something. "Although women have historically been treated badly, the law now tries to give women fair and equitable treatment."

Bosh, flimshaw: Both terms are old expressions that meant, "nonsense" or "ridiculous."

walling up: If you "wall up" someone, you build a wall around him while he is still alive. He will die inside the wall.

dental plan: In some countries, teeth are separate from other medical concerns. In America, we have Health Insurance AND Dental insurance. A dental plan is one's dental insurance program.

"Painless": This is a common expression used for dentists. People in America are afraid of dentists and the pain caused by work on one's teeth. Many dentists try to gain customers by promising to be "painless." Technically "painless" means "without pain."

House of lies: An idea that is formed by a lot of different lies. "Our relationship is a house of lies."

"That's enough!": This means your patience has run out (you are annoyed) or that someone is hurting you. "That's enough! The foot rub hurts too much!" "That's enough! Stop talking!"

strike: A strike is when a group of workers stop working because they feel they are treated badly at work. The idea is that the employers will meet with the workers and give them better treatment (more money, a dental plan, etc.)

equitable: Again, equal. "The punishment should be equitable with the crime." "Equity" means "value."

management: The management is the group of people that makes sure the regular workers are efficient, are given a certain amount of hours, etc. If you work at McDonald's, for example, the management assigns your work hours and makes sure that you are doing your job correctly.

"[He'll] turn up soon.": If a person is missing, you might show that you hope to see that person again by saying something like, "He'll probably turn up soon." I might say that about a student who isn't in class.

keg: A keg is a large container of beer that people have at large parties or at bars.

"So long": Good-bye.

fair shake: Again, this means that one is being treated in an acceptable way. "I work hard; I graduated from college. I deserve a fair shake in the business world."

Stainless steel: This is a type of metal that does not stain or rust.

"If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.": If you do something for me, then I will do something for you.

"Slip something into your pocket.": Give you a bribe.

"strange bedfellows": Friends or lovers who are very different. "Politics make strange bedfellows": It's common for different kinds of people to spend time together in politics.

"Let's get down to business": Let us do or talk about something important.

"You've won this round": You beat me in an argument or competition. If a student beats me in arm wrestling, I might say, "You've won this round, but I will win the next time."

"share it with the world": Show everyone what skills you have. "You are a great singer. Share it with the world by singing in the choir."

"fold like umbrellas": This is a simile that means, "Give up". "The baseball team has talent, but it they are intimidated by another team, they will fold like umbrellas."

bust heads: This means to beat people up, or it means to be tough. "He is going to bust heads in the next soccer game." "The test is in two weeks. It's time to bust heads and work hard."

"The style at the time": This means the thing that was popular. It usually refers to clothing or behavior. "In the early 2000s, it was the style at the time to say, ''Sup' to your friends." "White pants were the style at the time."

Lumbering dinosaur: This is something that is very old and awkward. "I need a new computer. Mine is a lumbering dinosaur."

folk music: This is a type of music that sings about problems in society. It is usually performed just with an acoustic guitar and a voice.

protest song: This is a song about something bad that is happening in society. It can be a general problem (e.g. the death penalty), or it can be something specific (e.g. one particular person in jail who is innocent of any crime).

Sentence Pattern Review, Day 3

Appositive After a Colon or Dash

"You need only one thing to succeed: determination."

"Christianity believes that one man redeemed humanity--Jesus Christ."


Interrupting Modifier

"George, my teacher, is often in a bad mood."

"The fruit juice one finds at the 7-11, containing a lot of added sugar, is less healthy than fresh fruit."


Participial Phrases

"Determined to do well on the test, Wendell followed all of Sean's sentence pattern reviews."

[Types of participals:
Present: -ing "Looking to succeed in school, Joe promised to himself that he would study every day."
Past: -en or -ed "Driven to succeed in school, Joe promised to himself that he would study every day."
"Determined to succeed in school, Joe...."]


Emphatic Modifier
"As a whole, people are nice."


Prepositional Phrase First

"After class, he went to lunch."


Passive Voice and "Object First"

"The ball was hit by Ichiro."
"Famous as Jay Chou Sean will never be."


Paired Constructions

"Just as Chien Ming-Wang is a hero in Taiwan, so too Ichiro is a hero in Japan."
"Not only am I a good student, but also I am a good athlete."
"Neither science nor math interests me."


Dependent Clause as Subject or Object

"I didn't know that he likes to watch baseball games." [Object is a dependent clause.]

"How he failed the test I don't understand." [Subject is a dependent clause.]

[These dependent clauses are long nouns. Each one will start with one of the following words: who, whom, which, what, why, where, when, how, that.]

"I don't know who would love such a greedy person."

"Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for you."

"She could not decide which shoes to buy."

"What he could do was go to sleep and study in the morning."

"Why he cried at the end of the soap opera I will never understand."

"He doesn't know where his roommate has been."

"Why weren't you here when the test started?"

"Can you show me how to turn on the computer?"

"That someone like you could get a job at an important company is disturbing."


Absolute Construction

"His team having lost, Ervin went home and cried."

"Ruth, her patience having been used up, quit her job at the 7-11."

--Now go ace the midterm.
S.

Sentence Pattern Review, Day 2

A Sentence With One Semicolon

"Some people dream when they sleep; other people dream when they are awake."

Semicolons With Connecting Words

"Sean has a PhD; however, he doesn't seem to be very smart."

Sentence With Omitted Verb

"Leonard likes classical music; Luda, hip-hop."
[Remember: the omitted verb has to be the same verb from the first independent clause; in the above case, the omitted verb has to be 'likes.']

Series With 'And' or 'Or'

"A doctor should be educated and dedicated and compassionate."

"After a good movie, I might cry or laugh or call my friends to tell them about it."

Balanced Pairs

"College is a time of freedom and restriction, happiness and stress, boredom and exhilaration."

Introductory Appositives

"Handsome, brilliant, funny--all of these traits are what you would want in an ideal man."

Appositives in the Middle of the Sentence

"The skills needed for basketball--shooting, passing, and dribbling--must be practiced every day."

A Single Appositive

Nike's slogan--"Just Do It"--is very famous.
[Note that you can use commas, dashes or parentheses.]

Studying Sentence Patterns for the Midterm: Day 1

Class:
Here is a three day plan for reviewing for the midterm. The Monday class should start today or early tomorrow. Look at the names and the examples of the sentence patterns. Go back to your notes if you still do not understand. Study these patterns a few times a day, a few minutes at a time. Practice writing sentences that use these patterns.

Day One Pattern Review

A Short Sentence for Effect:

“This is true.”

“All attempts failed.”

A Short Question for Effect:

“Why ask this?”

“Why be afraid?”

A Short Sentence Fragment for Effect:

"Fair enough."

"Enough already." (This means, “I am tired of listening to this idea/subject.”)


Resumptive modifier:

“White collar crime is a serious problem, a problem that doesn't get enough attention in the courts or the media.”

"Sean complements the weekly class with a blog, a blog that features review material and annoying youtube links."

A List without a Conjunction:

“He is kind, compassionate, giving.”


Multiple Semicolons in a Single Sentence:


“Joy is friendly; Roger is shy; Victor is bashful.”

Interrupting Sentence

"Sean’s education history—He has a B.A. in English, American Studies and Religious Studies at Chico State and an M.A. and PhD. in English from U.C. Davis—is impressive."

"Steve’s legal troubles (He went to jail for a year for robbery) make it difficult for him to get a job."


Emphatic Modifier

"Quickly, Steven ran to class."

"His face covered in sweat, Leonard continued the stressful workout."


Using a Colon to Go From the General to the Specific

"Confucianism has one goal in mind: social harmony."

"Football has a simple scoring system: a touchdown is worth six points; a field goal, three; a safety, two; an extra point, one." [This sentence also shows how you can “drop the verb” when you use semicolons.]

Midterm Exam

Class:
I thought we had one more week before the midterm, but I was wrong: it is next week. Next week I will test you with transcriptions and sentence patterns. I will give you an extra week to study vocabulary.

So, here is the itinerary:


Next Week's Midterm:

--Transcription: Write down a sentence that I say out loud; answer questions about the sentence (e.g. "What does this word mean?")

--Sentence Patterns: You will write sentences using the patterns learned in class.
Example: I ask you to "Write a sentence with a list that does not have a conjunction." You might write, "He is kind, intelligent, honest."

In Two Weeks:
--Vocabulary:
Write down from memory 20-30 vocabulary words or vernacular expressions. Write down the definitions of each word or expression.