Write to Learn

Get help with punctuating your sentences correctly.

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Keep up with the blogging challenges by checking out this link.

I know you will be busy with your paper revisions, but if you need to take a break, get busy with your blogging. I will check your first three challenges next Tuesday, October 14.

category: Blogging Competition    

English 100
Vocabulary Week Five
Goode-Peoples
Quiz: Friday, October 3, 2008

smite
1) to strike or hit hard 2) to charm or impress favorably; also smote an smitten
It used frequently in the Bible for various reasons; “Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: / And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.”

condemn
to express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure.
read in an article of Shape magazine

avarice
excessive or insatiable desire or greed; cupidity
dad said to sister in relation to candy

sanguine
1.cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident a sanguine disposition; sanguine expectations.
2.reddish; ruddy: a sanguine complexion.
used by friend when student started laughing really hard in dance class

gas
a person or thing that is very entertaining, pleasing or successful
used in “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones; used in the context that everything is a gas–
I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at my ma in the driving rain,
But its all right now, in fact, its a gas!
But its all right. Im jumpin jack flash,
Its a gas! gas! gas!

ephemeral
lasting a very short time; short-lived; temporary
word used in the book Midnight Sun by Stephanie Myers to describe a character named Bella

acute
1.sharp or severe in effect; intense: acute sorrow; an acute pain.
2.Geometry. a.(of an angle) less than 90°. b.(of a triangle) containing only acute angles.
used in math class about angles

meritorious
deserving praise, reward, esteem
found on a certificate received for completing a leadership conference

jaded
worn out or wearied, as by overwork or overuse
used in Charlie Bartlett about a girl who Charlie doesn’t understand, who seems to be really passive

incorrigible
1.not corrigible; bad beyond correction or reform: incorrigible behavior; an incorrigible liar.
2. impervious to constraints or punishment; willful; unruly; uncontrollable: an incorrigible child; incorrigible hair.
Was used in young frankenstein the play ” O your just incorrigible you old zipperneck”

founder
1.To sink below the surface of the water: The ship struck a reef and foundered.
2.To fail utterly; collapse: a marriage that soon foundered.
“‘She wrote me a poem,” Clare says, again, in wonder. Tears are streaking down her cheeks. I put my arms around her, and she’s back, my wife, Clare, safe and sound on the shore at last after the shipwreck, weeping like a little girl whose mother is waving to her from the deck of the foundering boat.”
from The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger pg. 342

cobble
1.to mend (shoes, boots, etc.); patch.
2.to put together roughly or clumsily.
“Opponents said the bill was cobbled together in too much haste and might amount to throwing good money from taxpayers after bad investments from Wall Street gamblers.”
NyTimes “House Rejects Bailout Package,” 228-205; Stocks Plunge

bonhomie
frank and simple good-heartedness; a good-natured manner; friendliness; geniality.
“It was not the prospect of the funeral that had unsettled him. Nor Bob dying. To be honest he had always found Bob’s locker-room bonhomie slightly tiring and he was secretly relieved that they would not be playing squash again.”
from A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

porous
1. Admitting the passage of gas or liquid through pores or interstices.
2. Easily crossed or penetrated.
“Quarterback Marc Bulger lacks mobility and was a standing target behind a porous offensive line before losing his starting job to Trent Green. Offensively, the Rams have been a disaster.”
- ESPN.com “Linehan doomed by aging offense, lack of respect from players”

pundit
1.a learned person, expert, or authority.
2. a person who makes comments or judgments, esp. in an authoritative manner; critic or commentator.

category: Vocabulary    

It’s week one of the blogging competition. Complete the one of the activities listed. I’m going to do #1.

Make sure that you check out the links in the activity you choose to do. The links are marked with red type. Reading the linked posts/pages will give you a fuller understanding of what you are doing and what other people are doing with blogs.

Each weekly blogging challenge will count as a weekly grade in my gradebook (the same as a vocabulary quiz), so work hard and have fun!

PS. Remember to write stubc08 somewhere in your post!

category: Blogging Competition     tags: stubc08

English 100
Vocabulary Week Five
Goode-Peoples
Quiz: Friday, September 26, 2008

boast
to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself
mom said to brother

crucible
1.a severe, searching test or trial
2.a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures on the board in English class; a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne

lutein
a chemical found in flowers , egg yolk, and algea
from a Vitamin Water bottle

enact
1.to make into an act or statute: Congress has enacted a new tax law.
2.to represent on or as on the stage; act the part of: to enact Hamlet.
from a Latin worksheet

lethargic
1.of, pertaining to, or affected with lethargy, which is the quality or state of being drowsy and dull, listless and unenergetic, or indifferent and lazy; apathetic or sluggish inactivity
used by friend when she didn’t want to move

garrulous
talkative, wordy, babbling
used in “Araby” to describe an older woman

depreciation
to decrease in value due to wear and tear; decay
used when talking to dad about cars and how they decrease in value even if they are vintage if they are rusty or show other signs of wear

analogous
the same or similar; having analogy; corresponding in some particular: A brain and a computer are analogous.
used by dad

amanuensis
secretary; one who copies something
It comes from the Latin manus (“hand”) and ensis (“relating to”). In ancient times a scribe was known as an amanuensis.

charlatan
a quack; one who is not what he claims to be

Adonis
an exceptionally handsome yound man; a plant with solitary red or yellow flowers
Adonis was loved by both Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Persephone, the queen of the dead. he was killed by a boar in a hunting expedition and from his life’s blood sprang up a red flower.

aegis
sponsorship; protection
In Greek mythology, the aegis was the shield of Zeus, lent to him by Athena

cornucopia
abundance; horn of plenty
Named after the horn of the goat Amalthea that suckled the infant Zeus, the horn is always full of food and drink in endless supply.

narcissism
excessive admiration of oneself; egocentrism
Narcissus was a youth who, having spurned the love of Echo, fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool, and after wasting away from unsatisfied desire was transformed into the flower that bears his name.

cupidity
excessive desire for wealth
Cupid was the god of love, represented by a winged boy with a bow and arrow. It has come to mean “avarice.”

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The following are some good comments posted on student blogs:

your language is generally so frank and to-the-point that the sporadic forays into elevated language(“one might think I lack a domicile to store my possessions in”) get a little distracting. My rhetoric professor aunt tells me using “one” as a pronoun is a bad idea. it “distances the reader or somesuch. i can tell you’ve cleaned this up a lot, though. it’s much easier to read. you might consider adding some sort of topic sentence type of thing in the 1st and 3rd p. to establish that you’re breaking up your investigation into apparel, gadgets (you did have topic sentence here), and physical attributes. i like the utility pen bit. i think you could easily have written a whole ‘nother essay with this metaphor.
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What color is the plastic, upholstered chair? It feels green in my head. Mentioning Archie comics is always a good idea, and you’ve definitely got a handle on using specific examples and descriptive adjectives.

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I am thinking of how we go through waves of popularity for certain names. When I was in grade school, there were a million Heathers, Jennifers and Erins. Do a whole bunch of people with the same name change the nature of a generation? Maybe generation x or y should really be generation Jessica or Zoe. I think you need to tie what you wrote to a greater purpose. A comment on society in some specific way? How your name is important to you and why? Your relationship to your family? I want “you” in your essay. I like reacting to the Shakespeare line and you’ve done a good job giving the reader solid, vivid images of your grandparent, but then your point needs to be more clearly made.
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The beginning of the peace when you begin with “What is in a name” it was a very clever rhetorical questioning (I think that is how you would word it I became immersed in the many different names I could think of it was engaging. The details of Mildred, Arvis, Elizabeth, and Merlin were all quite insightful and gave me a look into your family, an opportunity I most likely would not have and I thank you for it. It made me appreciate those dear to me in my family and sometimes the forgotten grandparents. I like that you are able to not say too many details of your grandparent’s pasts but also say so much. For example when you described Elizabeth I could not only see you in her trailer home and holding her beanie babies I could look past even that much and see more. I could just imagine her with ornaments and baubles from Guam, even an ornate frame for a faded picture of Merlin. And I do think he may have wanted to disappear When you wrote this piece I cant help but wonder how much you might have thought about other occurrences in their lives. I only wish I could have seen Arvis hit his fellow patient in the shins, sounds like quite an animated man. Thanks for such a fun piece. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I wish I could write as well!
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That first little thing at the beginning confused me at first but it did relate at the end. Is it necessary though? Otherwise, I thought this was a very good essay outlining not only the obvious disadvantages to war, but also noting the not-so-common ones. I really liked your reference to the war on terrorism as terrorism itself. If you clarify this point a little more that would be very strong. I thought this was especiallly good because it relates to our times and may actually convince some of our not-so-peaceful classmates of a universal truth.
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Interesting opening, it draws the reader in right away. I like the “mock wilderness” of the park – very true. Good job of personifying the grass. I wasn’t sure what the “curvy white currents” of the sea of grass were, so maybe you could make that a little clearer. I like how you add a little side note of yourself (your allergies.) Maybe I’m reading wrong, but you kind of contradict yourself by saying that “All is still” and “All is not silent.”

Your essay provided a nice visual of a calm city park, and I enjoyed reading it!

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Today in class I would like you to work on two things:

1. Read my post about commenting and then write three strong and helpful comments about the introductions and genre outlines of your peers.

2. Write and post a draft of the first genre in your multi-genre essay. This is the section that will follow the introduction.

Whatever you do not complete in class, please complete for homework.

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I read through the comments that you all left each other yesterday, and I want you to go back and create more substantive comments. The comments you created yesterday are mostly fluff. Pretty words without any meat. Go back today and really take your time with commenting. Take this seriously.

Reading and commenting on each other’s work can be fun, encouraging and very useful. We want our comments to stay positive and help each other develop our writing abilities. Writing comments like “Great work!!!” or “You’re so awesome!” are nice but will not help your peer to improve his/her writing. Take time to really read and consider the draft or post and then to craft a constructive response. Think small paragraphs, not small words.

Consider the following when writing a feedback comment:
1. Does the post fulfill the requirements of the assignment?
2. What is the main point of the piece? Is that main point clear?
3. What sentences or sections of the piece do you find strong or effective?
4. What sections or sentences did you have to read more than once to understand?
5. Are there major spelling, punctuation, or grammar issues?
6. What is the best thing about this piece?

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1. Create a blog.

2. Leave a comment on my blog with your blog url so I can link to you.

3. Sign up for the blog contest using your fake name and new blog.

4. Write a post on your blog that has the introduction that you’ve written to your multi-genre essay as well as an outline of the five genres you intend to use in your essay along with an explanation of why you believe each genre that you’ve chosen is appropriate in the context of your essay. Remember, this is the actual introduction of your essay, not just a quick note. Follow the model provided in the sample multi-genres essay that you read. So far, Zhone and Lucy Carlyle meeting the requirements of this assignment, so check out their blogs to get idea of what you should be doing.

5. When you have finished all of the above, start reading the introductions and outlines of your classmates. You can find their blogs by clicking on the links located in the sidebar of my blog. You must comment on at least three blogs. Maximum credit will be awarded for comments that are well-thought out and detailed. What works and what might not work in his/her proposed essay? What other genres do you think might work really well and why? Don’t just say, “Hey, that’s super cool!” Give them something meaty that will actually help them approach their writing.

category: Multi-Genre Essay    

English 100
Vocabulary Week Three
Goode-Peoples
Quiz on Friday, September 12, 2008

grandiloquent
pompous; using a lot of big, fancy words in an attempt to sound impressive

almanac
1. an annual publication containing a calendar for the coming year, the times of such events and phenomena as anniversaries, sunrises and sunsets, phases of the moon, tides, etc., and other statistical information and related topics
2.an annual reference book of useful and interesting facts relating to countries of the world, sports entertainment, etc.
history class

tincture
1.a solution of alcohol and water
2.a slight infusion, as of some element or quality: A tincture of education had softened his rude manners.
used in the song “Corduroy” by Pearl Jam

orator
a person who delivers a oration; a public speaker, esp. one of great eloquence: Demosthenes was one of the great orators of ancient Greece.
history class

primarily
in the first instance; at first; originally
dad talking

vulgar
1.characterized by ignorance of or lack of good breeding or taste: vulgar ostentation.
2.indecent; obscene; lewd: a vulgar work; a vulgar gesture.
3.crude; coarse; unrefined: a vulgar peasant.

cohering
to stick together; be united
Drama class handout

cosmopolite
1.a person who is cosmopolitan in his or her ideas, life, etc.; citizen of the world.
word of the day

immolate
to sacrifice, kill, or destroy, usually by fire
word of the day

jingoist
one who boasts about his patriotism and favors a warlike policy
In 1877, British Prime Minister Disraeli sent the feel to Gallipoli to slow up the Russians. A singer wrote a ditty called “By Jingo” in honor of that action.

lothario
rake; seducer; lover
Lothario was an amorous character in an eighteenth-century play, The Fair Penitent.

maverick
one who acts independently
Samuel Maverick was a Texas rancher who refused to brand his cattle as others were doing.

nemesis
agent of retribution; just punishment
In Greek mythology, the goddess Nemesis punished pretentiousness with her sword and avenging wings.

saturnine
sluggish; gloomy; grave
The planet Saturn is so far from the sun that it was through of as cold and dismal.

sybarite
one who is fond of luxury and soft living
Sybaris was a fabulously wealthy Italian city, symbolic of the good life.

category: Vocabulary