background preloader

Common English usage misconceptions

Common English usage misconceptions
Related:  Academic Writing Sources & Support

Sentence Variety Summary: This resource presents methods for adding sentence variety and complexity to writing that may sound repetitive or boring. Sections are divided into general tips for varying structure, a discussion of sentence types, and specific parts of speech which can aid in sentence variety. Contributors:Ryan Weber, Allen BrizeeLast Edited: 2013-03-01 10:33:29 Adding sentence variety to prose can give it life and rhythm. Too many sentences with the same structure and length can grow monotonous for readers. 1. Several sentences of the same length can make for bland writing. Example: The Winslow family visited Canada and Alaska last summer to find some native American art. Revision: The Winslow family visited Canada and Alaska last summer to find some native American art, such as soapstone carvings and wall hangings. Many really good blues guitarists have all had the last name King. What makes a good bluesman? 2. Possible Revisions:

Patterns in nature Natural patterns form as wind blows sand in the dunes of the Namib Desert. The crescent shaped dunes and the ripples on their surfaces repeat wherever there are suitable conditions. Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modelled mathematically. Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, arrays, cracks and stripes.[1] Early Greek philosophers studied pattern, with Plato, Pythagoras and Empedocles attempting to explain order in nature. The modern understanding of visible patterns developed gradually over time. In the 19th century, Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau examined soap films, leading him to formulate the concept of a minimal surface. Mathematics, physics and chemistry can explain patterns in nature at different levels. History[edit] The American photographer Wilson Bentley (1865–1931) took the first micrograph of a snowflake in 1885.[10]

Citing Yourself - Citations - Academic Guides at Center for Student Success If you cite or quote your previous work, treat yourself as the author and your own previous course work as an unpublished paper, as shown in the APA publication manual. For example, if Marie Briggs wanted to cite a paper she wrote at Walden in 2012, her in-text citation might look like this: Briggs (2012) asserted that previous literature on the psychology of tightrope walkers was faulty in that it "presumed that risk-taking behaviors align neatly with certain personality traits or disorders" (p. 4). And in the reference list: Briggs, M. (2012). If your original work contained citations from other sources, you will need to include those same citations in the new work as well, per APA. According to Briggs (2012), recent psychologists such as "Presley and Johnson (2009) too quickly attributed risk-taking to genetic factors, ignoring the social family issues that often influence the decision to explore pursuits such as tightrope walking" (p. 5).

List of common misconceptions From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Each entry on this list of common misconceptions is worded as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated. These entries are concise summaries; the main subject articles can be consulted for more detail. A common misconception is a viewpoint or factoid that is often accepted as true but which is actually false. They generally arise from conventional wisdom (such as old wives' tales), stereotypes, superstitions, fallacies, a misunderstanding of science, or the popularization of pseudoscience. Arts and culture[edit] Business[edit] Federal legal tender laws in the United States do not require that private businesses, persons, or organizations accept cash for payment, though it must be treated as valid payment for debts when tendered to a creditor.[1] Food and cooking[edit] Food and drink history[edit] Microwave ovens[edit] Film and television[edit] Language[edit] English language[edit] Law, crime, and military[edit] Literature[edit]

Active Voice Versus Passive Voice Today's topic is active voice versus passive voice. Here's a question from Brian in Iowa. He writes, “It drives me crazy when people write in passive voice. How can I teach people how to tell the difference between passive and active voice and to stay away from passive voice?” Well, Brian is right, the first step is to help people understand the difference between active and passive voice, because many people believe they should avoid the passive voice, but fewer people can define it or recognize it. What Is Active Voice? I'll start with active voice because it's simpler. Another example is the title of the Marvin Gaye song “I Heard It through the Grapevine.” What Is Passive Voice? In passive voice, the target of the action gets promoted to the subject position. If you wanted to make the title of the Marvin Gaye song passive, you would say “It was heard by me through the grapevine,” not such a catchy title anymore. Next: Is "To Be" a Sign of Passive Voice? Is Passive Voice Always Wrong? 1.

Wrap rage An example of wrap rage with a plastic light bulb package. Background[edit] Packaging sometimes must be made difficult to open. Hard plastic blister packs also protect the products while they are being shipped.[2] In addition, using transparent plastic allows consumers to view products directly before purchasing them.[3] The term wrap rage itself came about as a result of media attention to the phenomenon. Frustration and injuries[edit] A survey in Yours, a magazine aimed at people over 50, found that 99% of the 2,000 respondents said packaging had become harder to open over the last 10 years, 97% said there was "too much excess packaging", and 60% said they had bought a product designed with more easily-opened packaging.[10] In a survey conducted at the Cox School of Business, almost 80 percent of households "expressed anger, frustration or outright rage" with plastic packaging.[11] Consumers also tend to use words such as "hate" and "difficult" when describing these products.[12]

5 Ways to Get Rid of Your Damn Empty Modifiers I discussed the need to get rid of empty emphatics when I gave you 8 words to seek and destroy in your writing, but just saying that you should get rid of a thing doesn't say much about the right way to do so. Today I'm going to show you a few of my favorite ways to get rid of your empty modifiers. What exactly is an empty modifier? It's any word whose only role is to intensify the word it's modifying. The prime candidates here are "very" and "really," but "extremely," "intensely," "totally," "absolutely," "quite," and many other emphatic modifiers make the list. Further, many emphatics that shift meaning slightly or add some flavor (e.g., "just" or "damn") should be approached with skepticism, and it's easy to find flimsy "-ly" words that show us why the road to hell is paved with adverbs. I'm not saying that empty modifiers should never be used. 1. Sylvia was very crazy. This is the easiest and often the best solution. 2. Bob was really ugly hideous. 3. Shane was really tall. 4. 5.

Dokkōdō The "Dokkōdō" [ (Japanese: 独行道?); "The Path of Aloneness", "The Way to Go Forth Alone", or "The Way of Walking Alone"] is a short work written by Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵) a week before he died in 1645. It consists of either nineteen or twenty-one precepts; precepts 4 and 20 are omitted from the former version. "Dokkodo" was largely composed on the occasion of Musashi giving away his possessions in preparation for death, and was dedicated to his favorite disciple, Terao Magonojō (to whom the earlier Go rin no sho [The Book of Five Rings] had also been dedicated), who took them to heart. Precepts[edit] References[edit]

Free English Grammar Lessons and Tests List of symbols This is a list of graphical signs, icons, and symbols. Languages[edit] Many (but not all) graphemes that are part of a writing system that encodes a full spoken language are included in the Unicode standard, which also includes graphical symbols. See: The remainder of this list focuses on graphemes not part of spoken language-encoding systems. Basic communication[edit] Scientific and engineering symbols[edit] Consumer symbols[edit] Various currency signs (sublist) [edit] Hazards[edit] Consumer products[edit] Certifications[edit] Property and pricing[edit] Food symbols[edit] Technology symbols[edit] [edit] Jolly Roger - "this ship is controlled by pirates" Religious and mystical symbols[edit] A subset has been used as United States Department of Veterans Affairs emblems for headstones and markers. A[edit] B[edit] C[edit] D[edit] E[edit] F[edit] G[edit] H[edit] I[edit] K[edit] L[edit] M[edit] N[edit] Ner tamid O[edit] Ouroboros P[edit] Q[edit] Quincunx R[edit] S[edit] T[edit] U[edit] Urantia symbols V[edit] W[edit] Y[edit]

APA Formatting and Style Guide Summary: APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing). Contributors:Joshua M. Please use the example at the bottom of this page to cite the Purdue OWL in APA. To see a side-by-side comparison of the three most widely used citation styles, including a chart of all APA citation guidelines, see the Citation Style Chart. You can also watch our APA vidcast series on the Purdue OWL YouTube Channel. General APA Guidelines Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides. Major Paper Sections Title Page Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER

Self-concept One's self-perception is defined by one's self-concept, self-knowledge, self-esteem, and social self. One's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, or self-perspective) is a collection of beliefs about oneself[1][2] that includes elements such as academic performance,[3][4][5][6][7] gender roles and sexuality,[8][9][10] and racial identity.[11] Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to "Who am I?".[12] One's self-concept is made up of self-schemas, and their past, present, and future selves. Self-concept is made up of one's self-schemas, and interacts with self-esteem, self-knowledge, and the social self to form the self as whole. The perception people have about their past or future selves is related to the perception of their current selves. History[edit] Psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were the first to establish the notion of self-concept. Model[edit] Development[edit] Researchers debate over when self-concept development begins. Media[edit]

How to Cite Something You Found on a Website in APA Style by Chelsea Lee Perhaps the most common question we get about APA Style is “How do I cite a website?” or “How do I cite something I found on a website?” First, to cite a website in general, but not a specific document on that website, see this FAQ. Once you’re at the level of citing a particular page or document, the key to writing the reference list entry is to determine what kind of content the page has. What seems to flummox our readers is what to do when the content doesn’t fall into an easily defined area. Content in that egg white area may seem confusing to cite, but the template for references from this area is actually very simple, with only four pieces (author, date, title, and source): That format description in brackets is used only when the format is something out of the ordinary, such as a blog post or lecture notes; otherwise, it's not necessary. Examples of Online References Here’s an example where no author is identified in this online news article:

Related: