Preparation for Final Portfolio

1.)    Colon

“He was a rich man: banker, merchant, manufacturer, and what not: (Dickens, 19).

Dickens, Charles. Hard Times.  Oxford University Press, 1989.

“…; yet I was not a young Wench of Seventeen and it was easie enough to be distinguish’d: There is nothing so absurd, so surfeiting, so ridiculous as a Man heated by Wine in his Head, and a wicked Gust in his Inclination together;…” (Defoe, 179).

Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2004.

“Emerson uses words like: own, mine, my, and we. Words that show ownership.”

I wrote this in a paper for my 19th Century British Literature class.

The examples above are all examples of a colon, although the third example I gave is incorrect. Do you know why?

Colon’s are used to signal information, emphasis an explanation, or shows that a long explanation lies ahead. Although the third signals information and introduces a list, it has an awkward break in the middle of an incomplete sentence. With colon’s you are not allowed to put one between a verb and its object as well as between a preposition and its object. How I would change the third sentence is to write it as a complete sentence before the colon: “Emerson uses four words to emphasis his point: own, mine, my, we…words that show ownership.” The sentence flows nicer and it is grammatically correct.

2.)    Subordinating Conjunctions

“When he is satisfied, he places the deck on the billiard table" (Morgenstern, 212).

Morgenstern, Erin. The Night Circus. Doubleday, 2011.

“If not, please step aside because I’m about to kick the shit out of life” (Semple).

Semple, Maria. Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Little, Brown and Company, 2012.

“Although English was my favorite class in High School I never thought of it as a career: until I came to college, I always found reasons why I shouldn’t teach: until I came to college and started by business classes.”

I wrote this for a blog.

The examples above are all examples of subordinating conjunctions, they are all correct. Do you know why?

Subordinating conjunctions connect independent (sentence can stand on its own) and dependent (sentence cannot stand on its own) clauses together. They connect two sentences that are not equal. We as writers use subordinating conjunctions all the time: Although, after, as, while, when, until, because, before, if, since are just some. The sentence type (independent and dependent) can be in either order, but you need them both to have the sentence make sense. You can also have a subordinating conjunction in the middle or at the beginning of the sentence. The second sentence has a subordinating conjunction in both places (not always necessary but for this sentence it works). Mary Semple could have written “If not, please step aside. I’m about to kick the shit out of life.” But because she has the “because” in between with the comma it adds emphasis and shoes that the two parts coincide. Also, having the two simple sentences makes the sentence seem more professional when that is not the tone the author wanted to emphasize.

3.)    Dash

“Oh God! what could I do? I foamed—I raved—I swore! I swung the chair …but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder—louder—louder!” (Poe 17).

Poe, Edgar Allen. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ Great American Short Stories. Dover Thirft Editions, 2002.

“I will analyze them separately then explain how they both—although similar—view the theme of nature differently."

I wrote this for a paper for my 19th Century British Literature Class.

“She was so constrained, and yet so careless; so reserved, and yet so watchful; so cold and proud, and yet so sensitively ashamed of her husband’s braggart humility—from which she shrunk as if every example of it were a cut or a blow;…”(Dickens, 121).

Dickens, Charles. Hard Times.  Oxford University Press, 1989.

  

“He also explained the levels of execution—decapitation, hanging, stake and the wheel, and to quarter—and how each level works on this art of pain.”

I wrote this for a blog.

The examples above are all examples of dashes, they are all correct. Do you know why?

Dashes are used to set off single words, phrases or clauses; they are used to emphasize, draw attention or add information; they can also be parenthetical. Dashes are informal and draw your reader into the point you are trying to get across. They also are used to show a sudden break or abrupt change, to show a side comment, to explain or add information, to show hesitation or stammering, and to show attributions. The fourth example I had used the dash for parenthetical use as well as to add information.

 For my final portfolio I plan on making a flipbook. The flipbook’s main audience will be myself. I am picking concepts that I struggle with and the flipbook with be a good tool for me when I am teaching. Also by creating the flipbook I will be able to memorize the techniques I have problems with easier.