Arlene Miller's Blog, page 56
July 10, 2015
Apostrophe Catastrophes
Whenever anyone writes a post or article titled “The Five Biggest Grammar Mistakes” or “Three Grammar Mistakes That Will Make You Look Stupid,” apostrophe issues are always included. What makes this little “high comma” so confusing? Let’s take a look at the mighty apostrophe .
There are two main uses for this little mark: (‘)
Apostrophes are used in contractions to replace the missing letters. (Contractions are words or word combinations in which letters have been omitted: can’t for cannot, we’re for we are, etc.
Apostrophes are used to make nouns possessive: Mary’s hat; my brother’s car, etc.
Apostrophes are OCCASIONALLY used in plurals. Let me repeat: OCCASIONALLY.
Of course the most common apostrophe errors are the its versus it’s and the your versus you’re versus yours. Number 1 above says that apostrophes are used in contractions. It’s is a contraction meaning it is. You’re is a contraction meaning you are. Easy. When it’s and you’re are used as contractions, you use an apostrophe.
Notice that Number 2 above says possessive nouns, not possessive pronouns. Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes! These pronouns include ours, theirs, his, hers, yours, whose, and its. So, none of the possessive pronouns includes an apostrophe including its, when it is used as a possessive.
It’s means it is: it’s raining. Its is possessive: The cat ate its food.
You’re means you are: You’re coming with us. Your is possessive: I made your lunch. This lunch is yours. Who’s means who is: Who’s this person? Whose is possessive: Whose coat is this?
Remember: Contractions always have apostrophes to stand in for the missing letter or letters. Possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes.
Other things to remember about apostrophes:
Apostrophes are used in possessive nouns. Possessive implies ownership and is not the same as plural, which means more than one. To make a singular noun possessive, we usually add an apostrophe and an s. For example: the dog’s food. my mom’s shoes.
For plural nouns that don’t end in s, also use an apostrophe and an s for the possessive. For example: the children’s rooms, those women’s hats.
For plural nouns that end in s, just put an apostrophe after the s. For example: the dogs’ food (more than one dog), my sisters’ toys (more than one sister)
For singular nouns that end in s, usually use an apostrophe and an s, going by the way you would say the word. For example: Thomas’s room, my boss’s desk, Frederick Douglass’s speech. But you would probably say Miles’ room, because you might not pronounce it as Miles’s.
Plain old plurals generally DO NOT have an apostrophe! For example: I just posted some new photos (not photo’s). The oranges are on sale (nor orange’s).
Use an apostrophe for plurals of letters, numbers, and abbreviations only of the word is confusing without the apostrophe. For example a‘s, so it isn’t confused with the word as. Same goes for i‘s and u‘s. ABCs does not need an apostrophe, as it is not confusing as it is. Some people like to use an apostrophe with plural numbers, but is isn’t necessary: Your answer contains too many 7s. Note that when you use a word or number or letter as itself (too many 7s, all A‘s, four i’s in this word, too many ands, etc.) the letter, number, or word is in italics, but the s is not.
Sometimes people, especially in informal speech, will make a noun into a contraction: That photo’s really good. It means photo is , so it is a contraction and you do need an apostrophe; it is not a plural.
When you say 1960s, there is no apostrophe.
When you say the ’60s, there is an apostrophe because you have left out part of the year.
There are no other uses of the apostrophe that I can think of right now. Remember: contractions use apostrophes and possessives nouns use apostrophes. Possessive pronouns do not.
Comments about this post and suggestions for future posts are always welcome!
Announcements:
Come hear 18 local writers discuss their new books at the Redwood Writers book launch this Sunday from 2-5 at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, CA. Guests are FREE! I will be launching The Best Grammar Workbook Ever!
I will be speaking — about grammar, of course — at the Mill Valley Rotary this coming Tuesday, July 14.
Have a WORDwhile week!
July 1, 2015
Salute to Independence
For my annual Fourth of July blog post, I thought I would present some quotes—not about patriotism or freedom—but about independence, since that is the name of the holiday. Although the holiday signifies our country’s independence from Britain, these quotes talk more about individual freedom. I don’t agree with all of them; I think you know me well enough to spot one I don’t agree with at all, but I wanted to have an interesting sampling of quotes, so please enjoy. I hope one or more quotes resonate with you! And Happy and Safe Fourth of July!
The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence. Eddie Rickenbacker
Solitude is independence. Hermann Hesse
Without moral and intellectual independence, there is no anchor for national independence. David Ben-Gurion
It’s easy to be independent when you’ve got money. But to be independent when you haven’t got a thing — that’s the Lord’s test. M ahalia Jackson
Injustice in the end produces independence. Voltaire
Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an end. Walt Disney
The virtues of science are skepticism and independence of thought. Walter Gilbert
Independence is a heady draught, and if you drink it in your youth, it can have the same effect on the brain as young wine does. It does not matter that its taste is not always appealing. It is addictive and with each drink you want more. Maya Angelou
The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence. Denis Waitley
Self-reliance – that’s a dirty word to Democrats. They want people to believe that self-reliance means you don’t do anything with anybody. They don’t want it thought of as accepting responsibility for one’s life. Enterprise. Imagination. Independence. Entrepreneurism. Rush Limbaugh (ahem...)
Divorce is a declaration of independence with only two signers. Gerald F. Lieberman
The toddler craves independence, but he fears desertion. Dorothy Corkille Briggs
When women hold off from marrying men, we call it independence. When men hold off from marrying women, we call it fear of commitment. Warren Farrell
The Declaration of Independence was always our vision of who we wanted to be, our ideal of freedom and justice, how we were going to be different, and what the American experiment was going to be about. Marian Wright Edelman
Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence. Ambrose Bierce
Announcements:
If you have downloaded The Great Grammar Cheat Sheet during the free promotional days this past week, I hope you find it helpful! A review on Amazon is always appreciated!
We are back to grammar next week with a discussion about apostrophe problems!
Thank you to
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June 26, 2015
The Grammar Diva Meets Scientology
I met Scientology long before I was The Grammar Diva . . . however, this story does have to do with grammar, or at least writing! If you are a Scientologist, you may not want to read on.
Scientology has been in the news lately because of a recent documentary about the “religion” called Going Clear, which I did watch. It is an exposé of the Church of Scientology.
I won’t go into the details of Scientology here; and I am certainly no expert. Here is what I know; much of it I have forgotten because this story happened in the 70s.
Scientology was founded in the 50s by L. Ron Hubbard, who was a science fiction writer. He has since passed on, and the religion is now led by someone else. I believe that he became quite paranoid in his later years and that he lived on a boat. Because it is a “religion,” the Church pays no taxes. It also makes oodles of money. The basic tenet, as far as I know, is that when something bad happens to you, your reactive mind records it in detail and it comes back to haunt you and ruin your life. These records are called engrams. Getting rid of the engrams, or “getting clear” is the process Scientologists go through to become happy humans. Hubbard wrote a book called Dianetics, which explains all this in detail. I read the book in the 7os when I had my encounter with Scientology. The book is actually very interesting, and I would recommend reading it. But enough of this. Let me tell you about my encounter with Scientology.
It was the 70s, and people were experimenting with everything: Drugs, EST, Reverend Moon and his Moonies, the Hari Krishnas . . . and Scientology which lives on in tall, fancy buildings. I was in college majoring in publications, which at the time was print, rather than online.
I was taking a course called Article Writing, taught by Alden Poole, who was a reporter for the Boston Herald, a daily newspaper. The course involved writing an article for publication (possibly) in the Herald. Because this happened decades ago, I don’t promise to remember everything or even to remember accurately. But, as I recall, this is how it went down . . .
I really don’t recall why I chose to write my article about Scientology. I don’t think I read Dianetics until I was writing the article, so it wasn’t the book that got me interested. I imagine it was just the fact that I was in Boston and whenever I walked through Kenmore Square, the Scientologists were there with the other groups handing out pamphlets. And there was a big Church of Scientology building nearby.
So I did what every good journalist does: I went to the Church of Scientology building to see whom I could interview about this religion. I remember very little. I do remember talking to an older man, rather sinister looking, as I recall, with a beard and dark, piercing eyes. I believe he is the one who had me sign a contract basically saying I wouldn’t talk trash about them. Of course I signed it. (RED flag????) Then I interviewed a young man who made Scientology sound really good. No, I didn’t turn over any money. I remember that he had blue eyes that were glazed, as if he were in a Scientology trance. All the Scientologists I saw looked like that. And although he smiled, the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Armed with my information, I retreated to my dorm room—or the library—or wherever it was I did my writing, and came up with what I thought was one heck of an article. I handed it in to Professor Poole, one step closer to becoming a Scientologist myself.
I remember what Professor Poole said to me after he had read my article: “Now, go dig up the dirt.” So I did.
I went to the library where I found out that Scientology had taken thousands upon thousands of dollars from people who could ill afford it. I read that the government had confiscated their “e-machines,” which were the devices used to clear engrams from people. I rewrote the article with another side included. But then there was that paper I had signed.
Professor Poole read my new article. “Very good. You found the dirt. However, now, of course, the article is libelous and we would have a big lawsuit on our hands if we printed it.” But now that I think back: Is it libelous if it is true?
Anyhow, I never became a Scientologist. The “dirt” I discovered pretty much turned me off on the topic, where my position remains today. Scientology is obviously still around, still tax exempt, still very wealthy, more famous than ever because of the Hollywood names that ascribe to it. But it has actually lost many, many members since the glory days. The dirt has leaked out and has been documented in Going Clear—and it isn’t pretty.
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June 24, 2015
We Think You’ll Love Our Books!
We think you will love our books!
If you think the days of teaching grammar, punctuation, and word usage are gone, think again:
Colleges are still complaining that many of their entering freshmen need remedial grammar and writing.
Employees are still complaining that their employees cannot write.
Most people will not do business with a company whose website contains grammatical errors.
A person’s spoken grammar is one of the most significant first impressions that a person makes.
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is our newest product. Filled with exercises and both summative and formative quizzes, the workbook contains just about everything a student needs to know to write confidently. The workbook begins with basic grammar, and then goes into depth to solve common mistakes. Punctuation is throughly covered, as is capitalization. A chapter on word usage includes all the most commonly confused word pairs. Answers are included in one of the several appendixes, and there is a complete index. Click here for more information. Available in print, PDF (with internal links), and (coming soon) ebook.
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About the Author
Arlene Miller, also known as The Grammar Diva, is the author of five grammar books and a novel.
The Best Little Grammar Book Ever has sold thousands of copies and is being used by schools and colleges. The purpose of Ms. Miller’s books is to clear up common grammar issues. In addition to writing books, she writes a weekly blog post about grammar.
Miller has been a featured speaker at the Sonoma County (CA) Book Festival, Bay Area Independent Publishing Association (BAIPA), Sonoma County Library, Redwood Writers, Romance Writers of America, Society of Technical Communications, College of Marin, Copperfield’s book store, and several community groups.
She is a member of Redwood Writers and BAIPA.
B.A. in journalism, M.A. in humanities, California teaching & school administration credentials
11 years as a 7th grade English teacher and English department chair
Continuing education instructor in grammar at local junior colleges
Corporate trainer in grammar and writing
Freelance copyeditor for fiction and nonfiction
15 years as a technical writer, technical editor, and editing supervisor
Former newspaper reporter and editor
Please check out Arlene Miller’s books for more reviews and a look inside on Amazon.com.
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June 19, 2015
It’s Father’s Day!
Most of us have memories about our fathers. Unfortunately, I personally don’t have many good ones. But my maternal grandfather and I were very close. Way up on a shelf in my garage is a very old little rocking chair he gave me for my second or third birthday. I have always treasured it. It has a picture of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer painted on it. It needs a little reconditioning (maybe a lot), but someday I will pass it on to my grandchildren — when I get one or two!
Father
Origin: From the Middle English fader, Old English fæder; Latin pater, Greek patḗr, Sanskrit pita, Old Irish athir
Words from the Latin root pater:
paternal – fatherly
paternity- state of being a father
patron
patriarch – male head of a family or government
patriarchy – government lead by a male
patricide – killing of one’s father
patriot
patriotic
Other words people use for father: dad, daddy, father, pop, pops, papa, poppa, poppy, pappy
Phrases about fathers:
Our Father
Father time
Like father, like son
Daddy’s little girl
The sins of the father…
Wait til your father gets home!
You’re just like your father
Daddy Warbucks
Father figure
Some famous TV shows:
Father Knows Best
Make Room for Daddy
The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
Bachelor Father
Life with Father
Some Famous Songs:
Papa Was A Rolling Stone – Temptations
Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag – James Brown
Papa Don’t Preach – Madonna
Daddy Sang Bass – Johnny Cash
Color Him Father – Winstons
Hello Muddah Hello Faddah – Allen Sherman
Papa, Can You Hear Me – Barbra Streisand
(Down At) Papa Joe’s – Dixiebelles
My Dad – Paul Petersen
And finally some quotes about fathers and fatherhood:
A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. ~Author Unknown
A father carries pictures where his money used to be. ~Author Unknown
Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. ~Author Unknown
My daddy, he was somewhere between God and John Wayne. ~Hank Williams, Jr.
Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow. ~Reed Markham
My mother protected me from the world and my father threatened me with it. ~Quentin Crisp
My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys.” ~Harmon Killebrew
It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. ~Johann Schiller
Dad, you’re someone to look up to no matter how tall I’ve grown. ~Author Unknown
Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone
Quotes from The Quote Garden
Happy Father’s Day from The Grammar Diva!
June 7, 2015
The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing: No. 6 – Inconsistency
When your writing is inconsistent, you look like you don’t have it “together.” When your writing is consistent, it appears that you know what you are doing — even if you don’t. Thus, it is better to have consistency in your writing.
Consistency is adhering to the same “rules” throughout a piece of writing. It includes the following elements: format, terminology, spelling, punctuation, verb tense, point of view, audience, and audience level.
Format: Obviously you want your margins to be the same throughout a memo, a letter, a white paper, a thesis, or an entire book. No matter what the length, the format should be consistent. Paragraph indents should all be the same. Tabs should be set the same. The same type of thing should be treated the same way throughout. If you use bullet lists, make the bullets the same. That doesn’t mean you can never use numbered lists in the same price of writing; sometimes numbered lists are needed. Spacing between sentences and paragraphs should be the same throughout. Headings should be consistently in the same font and size and style if they are the same type of heading. Notes or footnotes should receive similar treatment throughout. If you are using italics or “quotes” or bold for certain types of things in your writing, use them consistently. Don’t use quotes one time and the next time use bold for the same thing. Following one specific style guide, no matter which one it might be, will help. A consistent format is pleasing to the eye and makes whatever you write easier to read. It gives the reader confidence that you know what you are doing.
Terminology: If you are going to call a spade a spade, don’t call it something else the next time you refer to it! You get my point. Even something minor can throw the reader off and make the reader wonder if you are talking about the same thing or not. The First National Bank of Boston shouldn’t be referred to as The First Bank of Boston or the First National Bank of Boston the next time you use it. Don’t use someone’s first name alone and then their last name alone; the reader may not connect them and realize it’s the same person. Acronyms should be spelled out the first time you use them with their abbreviation included; then you can use just the abbreviated form. Inconsistent terminology can quickly confuse a reader.
Spelling: Here is a big one. Obviously you want to spell everything correctly. And you want to use either American or British spelling throughout, not a combination. However, some words, particularly hyphenated and compound words, can cause a problem. Is it email? e-mail? e mail? Well, look it up, and use the same reference book for the whole piece of writing. If there are conflicting spellings, or more than one, just pick one and use it throughout. It doesn’t matter what you choose; if you are consistent you give the impression that you know what you are doing and you care about your writing. With words like email that are fairly new to the language, here is what happens: these words generally start as two words. Then they are put together with a hyphen. When they become very common, they often become one word. Here is an exception to what I just said: You would say, “She is a three-year-old girl.” However, you would say, ” The girl is a three year old.” Such compound adjectives are hyphenated when they precede the noun they modify, but they are not if they come after the noun. So it might look inconsistent, but it isn’t.
Punctuation: I put this here for one reason only. Most punctuation goes by pretty standard rules. However, the Oxford comma is optional. That doesn’t mean you can use it some times and not use it other times in the same piece of writing. Pick one. Use it or don’t. Just be consistent.
Verb Tense: Use the same tense throughout your writing if you are talking about things happening at the same time. Of course, you can switch to past tense if something happened before the rest of your writing, but don’t needlessly switch from past to present.
Point of View: If you are writing in a first person point of view (I), don’t suddenly switch and begin saying you instead. And don’t begin by using you and then suddenly throw in a random one instead.
Audience: If you are writing to an audience that isn’t familiar with legal terms, don’t begin in layman’s language and then start throwing in legal terms. Keep the audience consistent.
Audience level: You might be writing to a group of physics professors. You might be writing to 8th graders. Keep that in mind. Don’t mix simple concepts and very complex ones, or throw in words you know your audience won’t understand. If you are writing to a lower-level audience, you might want to keep your sentences shorter and simpler too.
Writing with consistency will make your readers much happier. If you are using an editor, consistency is one of the things your editor will be looking for.
Trust is built with consistency.
Lincoln Chafee
June 6, 2015
The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing: No. 7 – Slang and Jargon
Jargon: Language that is often specific to a certain group or occupation and often not understood by “outsiders.”
Slang: Current expressions, intentional misspellings, and other casual words and idioms
Neither slang nor jargon have much of a place in formal writing—especially slang. Judiciously used jargon may have a place.
Jargon: You have heard it.
Businesses use it:
We need to meet offline about this.
Our team has to ramp up our efforts.
Education uses it:
We need to use backwards planning.
I think we should common core this lesson! (Common Core is the new set of standards. A noun, it is also being used as a verb.)
You need to scaffold this lesson for some of the students.
Lawyers use it:
You have seen legalese. It tends to be wordy, unclear, convoluted, and to use certain antiquated words like herein.
Doctors use it:
Medical terminology is important and a language of its own. But the general pubic doesn’t understand much of it.
Buzzwords fit into the category of jargon. One of our teachers would lead us in Buzzword Bingo during our staff development days. He would create a buzzword board and hand it out. When we heard each buzzword, we would cross it off. I thought it was a joke until I saw one online today!
Of course acronyms are also jargon and are often overused and used without explanation. We discussed acronyms briefly in last week’s post.
Should we never use jargon? Jargon has its place. First, don’t overuse it. Second, know your audience. If you are writing to a general audience outside of your field, use it very sparingly and always define the terms you use. And always spell out acronyms and abbreviations the first time you use them, putting the acronym in parentheses. If you are writing to colleagues who understand the language, yes, you can use jargon. Well, let me clarify. Obviously, medical terms need to be used if you are writing to others in the field. That is a little bit different in terms of jargon. Something like “Let’s meet offline” should probably be avoided entirely in formal writing and reworded to less “jargonish” speech. How about “Let’s meet as a team later this week to discuss this issue before we announce anything.”
How about in education? Education has lots of buzzwords. Having listened to them, they get tiresome. Limit them!
Slang: Slang is informal. It is conversational at best. Don’t use it in formal writing:
That is a really cool idea. NO
What an awesome report that is! NO
I’m gonna get to that soon. NO
What’s up? NO
You want to use slang to make a point? Put it in quotes.
Obviously, if you are quoting someone, use the exact words whether the person uses jargon or slang. In quotes, anything is possible!
Enough said about that. We have come to the end of the 7 Deadly Sins of Writing, but I am sure we could think of more! If you have any more, please comment “online or offline”!
May 30, 2015
Plans, Platform, and Promotion
I am veering away from my usual type of posts this week to write something a bit more autobiographical — and a bit more promotional.
The last two posts in the 7 Deadly Sins of Grammar series will be coming the next two weeks. And thank you to those who have asked me what my post on plagiarism had to do with grammar. Good question. I think the series would have been more aptly titled the 7 Deadly Sins of Writing, and that is indeed what I may have had in mind in the first place. But on to this post . . .
Plans – As you may know, I am retiring this week (from teaching) after eleven years of teaching English at a junior high school. The past four years of those eleven I have been working part time–every other day–so that I could devote time to writing and marketing my books. I have managed, in the past five years, to publish three print grammar books, two of which are currently also e-books; two short grammar books only in e-book format; and a novel. I have many other books in the queue that I would like to write. Hopefully, I will now have more time. And if you are a writer, you know that writing is the easy part: promoting is forever! Perhaps I will have more time for that too. I will continue to copyedit both fiction and nonfiction, and teach workshops and give grammar/writing/language talks wherever I am invited. I may also return to teaching as a substitute next winter. And of course, the blog will continue with more grammar, language, and writing posts—along with guest posts.
Platform – If you have written and published a book (or been a contestant in the Miss America pageant), you know that you need a platform, whether you write fiction or nonfiction. A platform comprises your intent (what are you trying to say in your book) and your audience. For example, my platform is helping people communicate more effectively and feel more confident about their writing through avoiding common grammar , punctuation, and word usage errors. Let’s say I wrote a novel with child abuse, or women’s rights, or bullying in the plot. There is my platform.
It is also crucial to know your audience. Some audiences are easy. Gardening books are written for those who enjoy gardening. A book on beginning gardening might have an audience of people who think they would like to try gardening, but don’t know much about it. With a grammar book it is easy to say, “My audience is everyone. Everyone needs good grammar, right?” Well, first of all, not everyone is interested in grammar or buying a book on the topic. Often, My audience is everyone turns out to be My audience is no one. It is very difficult to market to everyone. An author might have one obvious niche, many niches, or may choose a niche (or more than one) to market to.
Promotion – Well, that was a nice lead-in to the audiences for my grammar workbook. I have had trouble focusing in on which markets to target with my grammar books because there are so many. I was thinking about the hoards of people who might rush to buy a grammar workbook at the beginning of the summer: I am going on the assumption that people like workbooks; they like taking tests and finding out how they did. Here are some of my audiences:
Students from 10 through 18: My workbook is intended for anyone older than about 10. So a student in grades 6 through 12, let’s say, could go through the workbook during the summer and enter the next grade much more prepared to write (and do grammar in whatever capacity it is taught). So, motivated junior high and high school students are a good audience.
College Students: Many college students are taking remedial writing courses when they reach college; and both colleges and businesses complain about the lack of writing ability of their students and employees. Quite a few professors have used my book for their college classes of various types, including creative writing. So, college students, whether for a class or just to brush up on their grammar (punctuation, and word usage too) are another good audience for me.
Teachers: My students have come to me with varying degrees of grammar knowledge. Although it seems, in many cases, that grammar is not being taught very much these days, the new Common Core standards are full of grammar—and quite sophisticated concepts at early grades. I think part of the reason many teachers, particularly elementary school teachers, may not teach grammar much is because they are not too sure of some of the concepts themselves. If you don’t continue to use grammar, you may still use correct grammar, but you don’t remember why. I think teachers are an excellent audience for me.
Homeschool teachers/parents: Many homeschool teachers are the parents. Once again, unless you continue to use grammar in the capacity of teaching it, or as an editor, you tend to forget the rules. The workbook is a great review for homeshool instructors.
Job Hunters: If you need to write a cover letter, redo a resume, or begin interviewing, you need good writing and good speaking skills. A grammar review would be very helpful. And once you get the job, the book will continue to be helpful as a reference. Many people write a great deal in their jobs. I once did a workshop for accountants—number people—who told me that 90 percent of their job involved writing.
Test takers: There are many types of test takers. Many people take some type of college entrance or graduate school exam including SAT, GRE, MSAT, LSAT, GMAT. They generality involve writing, and some of them may contain grammar, usage, and punctuation questions as well. But in addition to those tests, there are many occupations where you must pass a grammar test to get hired. I have heard of grammar tests for such unlikely jobs as police officer.
Paralegals: I have had paralegals in my grammar classes. That is just one occupation where the comma has to be in the right place. And apparently attorneys are pretty fussy about this.
Those who are not native English speakers: It goes without saying that nonnative speakers can use an English grammar book. And may I add that nonnative speakers generally have the best grammar and know the most about English grammar.
College professors: All types of college classes require writing, so a grammar book is helpful; it doesn’t have to be a grammar class, or even a writing class.
Schools (private, public): Public schools have restrictions on what they buy for students. Private schools have more leeway and also tend to teach more grammar. The private school market is likely a good one for my grammar workbook.
So am I asking all of you who fit into any of the above categories to buy my workbook? Just a suggestion! It helps me to actually write down my audiences and give reasons, because I do have one of those topics where I can say the audience is everyone. But of course it isn’t. (But it’s almost everyone, isn’t it?)
By the way, The Best Grammar Workbook Ever is available in print only right now. I am preparing to create an e-book, but I am wondering if perhaps just a PDF would do, since it keeps its pagination, unlike an e-book. So while I ponder this issue (and welcome comments from you), I will wish you a happy week!
For the next two weeks, I will be back with the last two installments of The 7 Deadly Sins of Grammar (much more appropriately called Writing) with Jargon and Slang, and Inconsistencies.
Remember: A grammar workbook equals summer fun!
May 23, 2015
The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing: No. 5 – Plagiarism
Plagiarism is more than a deadly sin: it is a crime. If you get caught plagiarizing in junior high, for example, the least you can expect is a zero on the project or paper and probably a meeting with your parents. Get caught in college, you will likely get expelled — and what college or company will want you after that? Many schools now require that papers be put through a plagiarism checker before they are even accepted. I have never used one, but I have caught a few students plagiarizing by entering a string of their words into a search engine — the “old fashioned” way of catching a plagiarist. I am pretty sure, however, that I missed quite a few. You can really tell when a student is writing about a certain book that he or she has read, and the writing is way above that student’s ability and likely comes from Amazon or the book jacket — or perhaps, in some cases, was simply written by a parent.
Technology has made plagiarism very easy. No longer must we diligently copy someone else’s words. Now we can simply cut and paste them . . . sometimes a student doesn’t even change the font, even when it doesn’t match the rest of the paper (how careless and lazy!) And yes, I have had students deny that they copied even when I show them a printout from the Internet that matches their paper exactly!
What is plagiarism ?
Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own without giving credit to the source. There are a number of different levels of plagiarism:
1. Copy and paste. Of course this is plagiarism. There is no attempt here to even change the wording. You can certainly copy someone’s words if you give credit to them and quote them. There are a number of ways to give credit:
Incorporate it into the writing: According to Dr. Peter Jones, in his 1980 study . . .
Use an in-text citation in parentheses next to the passage.
Use footnotes
Use notes at the end of the writing
And have a Works Cited list or Bibliography
2. Changing some words around. Still plagiarism. You cannot write basically the same thing as someone else and change every third word; this is still plagiarism, and the source needs to be cited. So you might not even bother to change the words. Just quote the original and give them credit.
3. Following the main gist of the passage, but changing the sentences. This is a bit more involved that #2. This type of plagiarism is keeping pretty much the same structure as something that is already written, but changing the sentences. It still says the same thing, and it still is not your original idea. Credit must be given. This type of plagiarism is probably the most common because people don’t think it is plagiarism. I am sure I am guilty of it myself (ouch!).
4. Paraphrasing is rewriting someone’s thoughts and ideas into your own words. Nice to do, but if it isn’t your idea, it’s plagiarism, so cite it. For example, you might read an article. You might then put it into your own words, perhaps a third of the length and completely different in paragraph and sentence structure — but not in idea. Cite it.
5. Just plain using someone’s ideas without developing your own and not giving credit to them. If it is someone else’s idea and you steal it without giving credit, you are plagiarizing.
What about common knowledge? Using common knowledge is NOT plagiarizing. For example, I do not give credit in my grammar books because grammar is common knowledge. No one person has the idea of what the subject of a sentence is. Historical facts, such as dates, are common also knowledge. Math formulae are common knowledge. However, if someone has a new idea about a historical event, or a new and novel math formula, that is an original idea and not common knowledge.
I would hate to not give credit in this article to where my information came from. Here are the links to some good information about plagiarism. And . . . be careful! Use safe text.
University of North Caroline Writing Center
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
The 7 Deadly Sins of Grammar: No. 5 – Plagiarism
Plagiarism is more than a deadly sin: it is a crime. If you get caught plagiarizing in junior high, for example, the least you can expect is a zero on the project or paper and probably a meeting with your parents. Get caught in college, you will likely get expelled — and what college or company will want you after that? Many schools now require that papers be put through a plagiarism checker before they are even accepted. I have never used one, but I have caught a few students plagiarizing by entering a string of their words into a search engine — the “old fashioned” way of catching a plagiarist. I am pretty sure, however, that I missed quite a few. You can really tell when a student is writing about a certain book that he or she has read, and the writing is way above that student’s ability and likely comes from Amazon or the book jacket — or perhaps, in some cases, was simply written by a parent.
Technology has made plagiarism very easy. No longer must we diligently copy someone else’s words. Now we can simply cut and paste them . . . sometimes a student doesn’t even change the font, even when it doesn’t match the rest of the paper (how careless and lazy!) And yes, I have had students deny that they copied even when I show them a printout from the Internet that matches their paper exactly!
What is plagiarism ?
Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own without giving credit to the source. There are a number of different levels of plagiarism:
1. Copy and paste. Of course this is plagiarism. There is no attempt here to even change the wording. You can certainly copy someone’s words if you give credit to them and quote them. There are a number of ways to give credit:
Incorporate it into the writing: According to Dr. Peter Jones, in his 1980 study . . .
Use an in-text citation in parentheses next to the passage.
Use footnotes
Use notes at the end of the writing
And have a Works Cited list or Bibliography
2. Changing some words around. Still plagiarism. You cannot write basically the same thing as someone else and change every third word; this is still plagiarism, and the source needs to be cited. So you might not even bother to change the words. Just quote the original and give them credit.
3. Following the main gist of the passage, but changing the sentences. This is a bit more involved that #2. This type of plagiarism is keeping pretty much the same structure as something that is already written, but changing the sentences. It still says the same thing, and it still is not your original idea. Credit must be given. This type of plagiarism is probably the most common because people don’t think it is plagiarism. I am sure I am guilty of it myself (ouch!).
4. Paraphrasing is rewriting someone’s thoughts and ideas into your own words. Nice to do, but if it isn’t your idea, it’s plagiarism, so cite it. For example, you might read an article. You might then put it into your own words, perhaps a third of the length and completely different in paragraph and sentence structure — but not in idea. Cite it.
5. Just plain using someone’s ideas without developing your own and not giving credit to them. If it is someone else’s idea and you steal it without giving credit, you are plagiarizing.
What about common knowledge? Using common knowledge is NOT plagiarizing. For example, I do not give credit in my grammar books because grammar is common knowledge. No one person has the idea of what the subject of a sentence is. Historical facts, such as dates, are common also knowledge. Math formulae are common knowledge. However, if someone has a new idea about a historical event, or a new and novel math formula, that is an original idea and not common knowledge.
I would hate to not give credit in this article to where my information came from. Here are the links to some good information about plagiarism. And . . . be careful! Use safe text.
University of North Caroline Writing Center
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)
