Grammar #13

The Numbers' Rule!

The rules of numbers in English can be very confusing. Presonally, I was not even aware that these rules were established. Some rules and exmaples are as follows:

Spell out numbers from 1 to 9, and write out numerically all numbers 10 and above.
"There were nine chickens, but only one rooster."
"There are a total of 10 birds in the yard."

Do not start a sentence with a numeral, unless it is a year.
"1984 was the year I was born."
"Twenty fish were in the pond."

Always use numerals with a percent, but write out the word "percent". Only use the percent symbol, "%", when using graphs, charts, etc.
"97 percent of the time I am right. I'm only wrong the other 4 percent."

http://www.cmu.edu/styleguide/dates_numbers.html

The Crucible

"Hurry up or we'll be late," Erin said to me as I gave myself one last look in the mirror. With tickets in-hand we were on our way to "The Crucible"; a play where we attended school at Dixie State College. The theatre air was warm, and our spirits were excited. Having no trouble finding our seats in such an intimate and small set-up, we prepared ourselves for a night of being taken away to another time. Opening with "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing", an old hymn, a few actors slowly walked on stage. We felt peace settle in around us. Suddenly, the lights turned blood red, and screaming and drums were heard all around us. Just as suddenly as it had come, it stopped. Then a man carrying a young women in his arms came on stage, and gently placed her on a prop bed. Captivated, we watched the story unfold.
I felt this play is a very well-presented form of expressing the tragedies that befell Salem, Pennsylvania in the early days of our country. But being shown in its conventional, noisy atmosphere, I found it hard to concentrate on their interpretation of the play. Eighty percent of the actors that came on stage shouted, screamed, or yelled their lines to the point of incoherence. Already being in tightly-nit spacing, we could hear a pin drop. Adding such a strong volume of voice, only amplified the noise. I understand this seems to be the gerenal interpretation of this play, but there are borders not to cross. I would recommend the experience of this play to anyone I know, purely for educational pruposes, but not this particular showing of it. The actors had talent. They just had to squeeze it out until they screamed.

Venice

The oil painting "Venice" by Leslie Twiggs drew me in the moment I saw it. Its oils present a warm and silky texture. The color scheme moves from a mysteriously dark sky, to a lamp-lite canal, and then down to a murky, dark-blue water. Its theme is set in a water canal in Venice, Italy. Only occupied by a few boats, the city's canal is ominously empty. Using darker colors along the outsides of the painting, the artist is able to draw attention towards the canal's center, where the night lamps have been lite. These colors in the center are brightly shown. In hues of red and yellow the lamps' reflection in the water helps to widen your view of the city's canal.
This painting speaks peacefully of a clam summer night in a distant land.

Captain's Log - Psychology - Day 1

Today we met as a group in the library at 11:30 to discuss our game plan for our final project. We've decided to talk about the schizophrenia side of pyschology. This is both a blessing and a challenge, since it is such a broad topic. We're asking what the different types of schizophrenia are, and what are their affects on the human. So we've decided to bring in many different cases of the several different types of schizophrenia, and discuss each as a group. Plus we'll have video clips of each of these things. To open into this, we'll have a game with the class using inkblots. As part of the power points presentation we'll have inkblots projected onto the screen, and have each of the students take the inkblot test. This test is used as part of a diagnosis of the mind.
For our individual research we are going after the different types of schizophrenia, so we can then compare our notes. This will be a fun little project that, with proper participation on all parts, will be both rewarding and fun.

Grammar #12

Run-on sentences and comma splices.

These are two of the most common grammatical errors in writing. I know this because my Microsoft Word always points mine out to me. A run-on sentence is a sentence with two different independent clauses that aren't conjoined by the proper conjunction, or aren't separated with the proper punctuation. Similarly, a comma splice is a basically a run-on sentence that was attempted to be conjoined by a comma, but failed. The best way to fix either is to either separate the run-on sentence with a period, or add the appropriate conjunction; but, or, nor, for, and, yet, so. A comma splice can be fixed similarly, or can be fixed by adding a semicolon.
Adding things like adverbs and adjectives to try and fix a run-on sentence or comma splice do nothing to fix it. Only the approriate words, punctuations, and conjuntions can fix them.

Here are a few examples.

Run-un sentence.
Incorrect: I study hard, I like to study up to eight hours a day.
Correct: I study hard. I like to study either hours a day. (Seperated with a period)

Comma splice.
Incorrect: I study hard, I like to study up to eight hours a day.
Correct: I study hard; I like to study up to eight hours a day.

This website gave me great, and yet, simple insight into the use of these two very complex grammatical tools.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/5-most-common.html

Psychology

There are many different aspects of psychology. They span in many different directions, and can be divided into many different fields. So in brainstorming for this assignment I have formulated a few questions to help shed some light on this intense and curious subject.
What would drive someone to go into the field of Psychology, and what makes them decide which branch of it to study?
What are some of the most common challenges of a pyschologist both academically and in the field? How many new studies in psychology are done each year? Who are the most common patients for a pyschologist? When do pyschologists retire? Where do most of a pyschologists studies occur?
These are but a few of the many questions about pyschology. I'd like to try and identify one of these and work with it

A Night At Cambridge

Settling myself on the hard benches at the Tabernacle, I prepared myself for a dull evening of tuning myself out. A professor from University of Cambridge, England was making a special appearance to speak to the community, and any college or staff members from Dixie State College. Imagining a boring lecture, from a dried-up old prune, I was expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised when one of our English professors started to host the Event. He was so entertainingly scatter-brained, that it set the humour for the whole evening. Expecting a much more serious and uptight event, it was a nice surprise to see laughter in the audience. The first part, and my favorite part, was a back to back recital by two professors of music. One, a master of the violin, and the other, a master of the piano, two of my favorite instruments. Introducing a piece from Beethoven, I was able to close my eyes and picture myself at 18th centuary orchestra. The music was amazing.
We had a beauiful look through a slideshow of the Enlgish country surrounding Cambridge. Marvelous shades of green, and hues of different flowers amazed me. Followed by a humurous presentation by the main event Professor from Cambridge. Quirky and funny, he displayed a cast amount of knowledge, coupled with an English accent that only augmented his intellect and mystery. It was a fun night for many of all ages. I won't forgt this night ever, and the University of Cambridge is looking a lot more interseting.

Grammar #11

Allusion vs. Illusion.

I never understood what an allusion could mean, so I have not ever used in English, or in any of my writings. I know an Illusion can be thought of as misleading, false, or more commonly understood to me, as a magic trick. An allusion, on the other hand, is a hint or a reference to something.

Illusion: "He though he saw an oasis in the distance, but mirages are only illusions."

Allusion: "Speaking about hunger, and non-violent protest, the news anchor made an allusion to Ghandi."

This site helped me understand more about what the difference between the two is.

http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/allusionterm.htm

Remember, "an allusion which is explained no longer has the charm of allusion. . . . In divulging the mystery, you withdraw its virtue."(Jean Paulhan)

Grammar #10

Commas are an essential tool for any writer. They are both useful in the flow, and help to show the bodies of a sentence. Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these conjunctions: but, or, nor, for, and, yet, so. I like to think of them in this order as saying "bonfires". Also, use commas after an introductory phrase or clause.
Clause: "While I was studying, someone knocked on my door."
A good way to help remember when to use a comma after a clause, is looking for their common starter words; after, although, as, because, if, since, when, while.
Introductory phrase: "Having finished eating, I got up and left."
There are also a list of common starter words. To name a few; although, well, however.
The use of commas is essential in English, as well as Latin based languages.

This site was fun and easy to understand, and really helped me to understand a lot about how a comma works

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_comma.html