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. 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. (Though, these days, you may need to use something a bit more extreme to earn the cut; I offer "mother-fucking" for your consideration.) 2. Bob was really ugly hideous. When I started dating my second serious girlfriend, we quickly fell in like. 3. Shane was really tall. 4. 5.
HowStuffWorks "Structural Effects -- Poetic Meter" Put Your Feet Together: Building Meter There really is no limit to the number of syllables that can be contained in a foot. A poet could even create a meter that has ten syllables in each foot if he or she wanted to. Most feet, however, are made up of four or fewer syllables. Here are some of the most common feet you’re likely to see in poetry: An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable as in par-TAKE.A trochee is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable as in BAN-jo.A dactyl is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables as in CAP-it-al.An anapest is two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable as in sev-en-TEEN.An amphibrach is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable and then an unstressed syllable as in ar-CHA-ic.A cretic is a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable and then another stressed syllable as in TRAM-po-LINE. When you put the feet together, you get meter. In the middle.
Nuts and Bolts: “Thought” Verbs In six seconds, you’ll hate me. But in six months, you’ll be a better writer. From this point forward – at least for the next half year – you may not use “thought” verbs. These include: Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires, and a hundred others you love to use. The list should also include: Loves and Hates. And it should include: Is and Has, but we’ll get to those, later. Until some time around Christmas, you can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night…” Thinking is abstract. Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Instead of characters knowing anything, you must now present the details that allow the reader to know them. For example: Versus:
Free English Grammar Lessons and Tests Assonance Examples Many examples of assonance can be found in prose and poetry. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. It is used to reinforce the meanings of words or to set the mood. Setting the Mood with Assonance In this example by Carl Sandburg, in Early Moon, the long “o” sounds old or mysterious. “Poetry is old, ancient, goes back far. Assonance examples are sometimes hard to find, because they work subconsciously sometimes, and are subtle. Notice how the mood is set by using the long “A” in this excerpt from Cormac McCarthy's book, Outer Dark: “And stepping softly with her air of blooded ruin about the glade in a frail agony of grace she trailed her rags through dust and ashes, circling the dead fire, the charred billets and chalk bones, the little calcined ribcage.” The words "glade," "frail," "grace," and "trailed" help set the chilling mood of the work, and it is repeated and emphasized at the end with “ribcage.” Here are a few short assonance examples: Other Literary Devices
The History Place presents Abraham Lincoln Jump to: Lincoln becomes President - Emancipation Proclamation - Battle of Gettysburg - Kansas-Nebraska Act - Dred Scott Decision 1637 - Samuel Lincoln from Hingham, England, settles in Hingham, Massachusetts. 1778 - Thomas Lincoln (Abraham's father), descendant of Samuel, is born in Virginia. 1782 - Thomas and family move to Kentucky. 1786 - Thomas' father is killed by Native Americans. 1806 - Thomas marries Nancy Hanks. A daughter, Sarah, is born eight months later. 1808 - Thomas buys a farm called "Sinking Spring" near Hodgenville, Kentucky. February 12, 1809 - Abraham Lincoln is born in a one-room log cabin on Nolin Creek in Kentucky. 1811 - In spring, the Lincoln family moves to a 230-acre farm on Knob Creek ten miles from Sinking Spring. 1812 - A brother, Thomas, is born but dies in infancy. 1815 - Young Abraham attends a log school house. 1816 - Abraham briefly attends school.
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). An analysis of personality theory. 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).
Read-Aloud Books Why Use Read-Aloud Books Read-Aloud Books introduce and expose students to the sounds that different letters or combinations of letters make, help teachers provide models of fluent reading, and build oral and listening comprehension skills. Alliteration with consonants or repetition of vowel sounds in each book provides opportunities for students to demonstrate listening for particular units of sound, or phonemes, in the initial, medial, and final positions of words. How to Use Read-Aloud Books Each Read-Aloud Lesson provides suggestions for listening and comprehension skills to explore with each book focused on the target sound or set of sounds. Used in combination with Alphabet Books, Sound/Symbol Books, and Decodable Books, Read-Aloud Books provide critical practice to build foundational literacy skills. Phonological Awareness Lessons also use the Read-Aloud Books for an optional listening activity at the end of each lesson.
Itea virginica 'Sprich' LITTLE HENRY Common Name: Virginia sweetspire Type: Deciduous shrub Family: Iteaceae Zone: 5 to 9 Height: 1.50 to 2.00 feet Spread: 2.00 to 2.50 feet Bloom Time: June to July Bloom Description: White Sun: Full sun to part shade Water: Medium to wet Maintenance: Low Suggested Use: Hedge, Rain Garden Flower: Showy, Fragrant Leaf: Good Fall Tolerate: Heavy Shade, Erosion, Clay Soil, Wet Soil Culture Easily grown in average, medium to wet soil in full sun to part shade. Noteworthy Characteristics Itea virginica, commonly called Virginia sweetspire, is an erect, rounded, broad-spreading, deciduous shrub with arching branches. LITTLE HENRY is a dwarf version of the Missouri native species, with superior flowers and better fall color than the species. Problems No serious insect or disease problems. Garden Uses A versatile shrub for sun and shade.
The Science of Scientific Writing | Style for Students Online "The Science of Scientific Writing" is a thoroughly detailed and important article about scientific writing from the journal American Scientist. You will find practical advice on how (literally) to put sentences together and walk along with the authors as they methodically generate seven practical maxims for good science writing. In the article, the authors, George D. Gopen and Judith A. To open the article "The Science of Scientific Writing" within this page, click here. "The Science of Scientific Writing," by George D. This article, downloaded from Style for Students Online, originally appeared in American Scientist, journal of Sigma Xi, copyright © 1990 by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. Science is often hard to read. The fundamental purpose of scientific discourse is not the mere presentation of information and thought, but rather its actual communication. Writing with the Reader in Mind: Expectation and Context Readers do not simply read; they interpret. The Topic Position
Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories EDIS Mobile French Hydrangea for Gardens in North and Central Florida1 (EP330) Gary W. Knox2 Publication #ENH1069 French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is a shade-preferring shrub producing ball-shaped or flat clusters of white, pink, blue or purple flowers, depending on soil conditions and cultivar. Figure 1: The mophead flower of 'Decatur Blue' in its blue form. Origin and Development of French Hydrangea Two forms of Hydrangea macrophylla are native to eastern Asia. Figure 2: The lacecap flower of 'Mowe' in its pink form. French hydrangea has long been valued as a garden plant in Japan. French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) is not documented in any undisturbed natural areas in Florida. Reflowering French Hydrangeas The recent discovery and development of reflowering French hydrangeas revolutionized the market and demand for hydrangeas. The first everblooming French hydrangea to be recognized and commercially promoted was discovered by noted plantsman, Dr. Growing French Hydrangea Culture Pruning
The Universal Recipe, Or How To Get Your Manuscript Accepted By Persnickety Editors | Style for Students Online “The Universal Recipe, Or How To Get Your Manuscript Accepted By Persnickety Editors” is a detailed look at how the best writers put together and publish their scientific reports in journals. The beauty of this piece is its universality and comprehensiveness; by definition, the advice in this article crosses disciplinary lines. From the sharp mind of a seasoned editor, this article gives us an inside track on just what editors are looking for when they select scientific articles for publication. This article is the best I have seen at what it does, and is made more enjoyable by the editor’s wit, examples, and exactitude. From the entertaining title of the original article to the gracious closing acknowledgments, we see again that editors are people too (some, I suspect, even ride mountain bikes and keep pets). This article is reprinted with the kind permission of the author, Frederick A. Overview 1. The key to writing an acceptable scientific paper is organization. Title Authorship close