PB's Online Classroom, where we get down with American Lit.
3.10.2010
Punctuation Challenge.
Use a semi-colon correctly in a sentence of your own. Post your sentence as a comment below. There may be something in it for you; then again, there may not be.
5 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Ice cream is so good; in other words, it is the best dessert in the world -Michael Meline
One: Most things in literature are intentional. Even when this may not seem to be the case, it very well may be. That said, not all things mean more than what they initially seem. But again, it might. Sometimes water is just water. Other times, though, water is not just water, it's the Ocean of Notions, or the Dull Lake.Take Away: As readers, we must assume that writers are smart, know what they’re doing, and have done so with intention.
Addendum A: Rain usually means something. Always. (But not always the same thing.)
Addendum B: Names do, too. Like Esperanza, Tea Cake, Gatsby, and Daisy. Holden, too.
Addendum C: Trees always mean things, especially ones bearing fruit.
Addendum D: Mangoes and other exotic fruits always mean a very specific thing. But we’re not going to go there. Not yet…
Two: By indirection, find direction. Revision. Revision. Revision. A piece of writing is never completed, only abandoned. Take Away: Writing is a process. In other words, it's more a means than it is an end.
Three: Literature is full of contradictions, paradoxes, oxymorons, and ironies. So, too, is life. This doesn't make one thing right and the other thing wrong. Both can exist and be in simultaneous harmony and tension. Take away: Embrace multiple perspectives.
Four: Every interpretation is not correct. Without substantial textual support and a clearly articulated, rational analysis, an interpretation is only as good as a guess. Back up your opinion. Validate it. Take Away: Take us there--to the text, that is.
5 comments:
Ice cream is so good; in other words, it is the best dessert in the world
-Michael Meline
I had a hunch that he committed the murder; however, I could be wrong.
Ryan Liengswangwong
I went to the grocery store; it had apples.
-Max frenkel aka scooter
In the past, I did not know how to use semi-colons; consequently, I often used incorrect grammar in writing assignments.
-Brian Reichert
Mr. Barry's grammatical self-references make me laugh; first, it was the sentence fragment, and second, the semi-colon in the challenge description.
~ Miel Jasper
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