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Tag Archives: SDAŠ
Language Note of the Week 38
As I have already mentioned in many of my classes and in Writing Short Literature Essays, you want each paragraph of your essay to look forward. Let’s try that again. As mentioned in Writing Short Literature Essays, you want… When … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 37
Colons cause problems. In 101 English Tips, I wrote: a) a colon “shouts out that an example or summary is about to follow.” b) “Another colon tip: when continuing to write after a colon in your sentence, it is often … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 36
Two short and simple ones this week: 1) 1970s. Not: a) 1970ies (wrong) b) 1970’s (wrong; what can a decade own?) c) in the 70s of the previous decade (too long) d) 70s (fine if the WHEN is clear. In … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 34
“Just” is a useful and slippery term. It can be an intensifier (“Just stop it!”) or a synonym for “fair-minded” (“He’s a just man, but a pain to deal with”). “Just” can often sound dismissive – as in “It was … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 33
The first sentence is crucial for setting the tone (see “Reminder” at http://www2.arnes.si/~bjason/LNW.pdf). Consider the tone set by these first sentences from real (but slightly changed) motivation letters: 1) “I would like take a chance and participate in study program … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 32
Two short ones: 1) “This is because the 13th-century Italy was unusual.” Nope. “This is because 13th-century Italy was unusual.” Drop the definite article when you use AS A NOUN PHRASE “13th-century Italy” or “19th-century France” or “x-th-century whatever.” 2) … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 31
1) You may blithely pile up adverbs when describing an action: “My sister scampered slowly, clumsily, hungrily, ridiculously towards the cookie jar.” That example is clear, fine and mean. Here, the two -ly adverbs are dissonant and mildly confusing: “Hemingway’s … Continue reading
Calls for papers for forthcoming issues of EJES
The call for papers for volume 19 is available: – Mendacity in Early Modern Literature and Culture – Modern Creatures – Poetics and Partition Please note that the deadline for proposals for all of the issues is 31 October 2013, with delivery of … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 30
Take three seconds and shorten this sentence: “What Ralph evokes in Randy is something new.” “_______ evokes in Randy __ something new.” Or: “Ralph evokes something new in Randy.” Unless you need time to think, or unless you want to … Continue reading
Language Note of the Week 29
Some sneaky adjectives look like they should be adverbs because they end in -ly. “We piled our dishes DISORDERLY” is wrong. “She passed him a cup of tea MOTHERLY” is equally wrong. There are a few solutions here: 1) opt … Continue reading