Sunday, July 7, 2013
Friday, October 21, 2011
Run-ons
Run-ons - Comma Splices - Fused Sentences
Run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences are all names given to compound sentences that are not punctuated correctly. The best way to avoid such errors is to punctuate compound sentences correctly by using one or the other of these rules.1. Join the two independent clauses with one of the coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet), and use a comma before the connecting word.
_________________________, and _________________________.
He enjoys walking through the country, and he often goes backpacking on his vacations.
__________________________;_____________________________.
He often watched TV when there were only reruns; she preferred to read instead.
or__________________________; however,____________________.
He often watched TV when there were only reruns; however, she preferred to read instead.
So, run-ons and fused sentences are terms describing two independent clauses which are joined together with no connecting word or punctuation to separate the clauses.Incorrect: They weren't dangerous criminals they were detectives in disguise.
Correct: They weren't dangerous criminals; they were detectives in disguise.
Incorrect: I didn't know which job I wanted I was too confused to decide.
Correct: I didn't know which job I wanted, and I was too confused to decide.
Argument
Argument
An argument is a connected series of statements or propositions, some of which are intended to provide support, justification or evidence for the truth of another statement or proposition. Arguments consist of one or more premises and a conclusion. The premises are those statements that are taken to provide the support or evidence; the conclusion is that which the premises allegedly support. For example, the following is an argument:The death penalty should be adopted only if it deters murder. However, it could only do this if murderers understood the consequences of their actions before acting, and since this is not so, we must reject adopting the death penalty.The conclusion of this argument is the final statement: “we must reject reject adopting the death penalty.” The other statements are the premises; they are offered as reasons or justification for this claim. The premises of an argument are sometimes also called the “data,” the “grounds” or the “backup” given for accepting the conclusion.
Because arguments are attempts to provide evidence or support for a certain claim, they often contain words such as “therefore,” “thus,” “hence,” “consequently,” or “so” before their conclusions. Similarly, words or expressions such as “because,” “inasmuch as,” “since,” “for the reason that,” etc., are often found accompanying the premises of an argument. Such “indicators” can aid in the task of identifying the conclusion of the argument, which often comes last in the series of statements making up the argument, as in the example above, but can also come first, or even in the middle, such as in these examples:
Councilwoman Radcliffe is the best person for the job. This is because she has the most legislative experience of all the candidates, and she will not place the interests of corporations above those of the people.
Callisto orbits Jupiter. Hence, it is not a planet, because something must orbit a star in order to be a planet.In the examples above, the italicized statements are the conclusions. The other statements are offered as reasons or justifications for these claims.
In everyday life, we often use the word “argument” to mean a verbal dispute or disagreement. This is not the way this word is usually used in philosophy. However, the two uses are related. Normally, when two people verbally disagree with each other, each person attempts to convince the other that his or her viewpoint is the right one. Unless he or she merely results to name calling or threats, he or she typically presents an argument for his or her position, in the sense described above. In philosophy, “arguments” are those statements a person makes in the attempt to convince someone of something, or present reasons for accepting a given conclusion.
In normal conversation, certain important elements of an argument might be left implicit or unstated. In the last example given above, the person advancing the argument most likely takes it for granted that his or her audience understands that if something orbits Jupiter, then it does not orbit a star. This supposition is a vital part of the evidence or support that the author intends the stated premises to provide for the conclusion. Here, the statement “if something orbits Jupiter, then it does not orbit a star” is operating as an implicit or unstated premise. Therefore, the above argument is best understood as an abbreviated form of the full argument:
Callisto orbits Jupiter. Something must orbit a star in order to be a planet. If something orbits Jupiter, then it does not orbit a star. Therefore, Callisto is not a planet.Even the conclusion of an argument can be left unstated if it is obvious enough from context that the speaker intends his or her words to provide evidence for a certain proposition. Consider, for instance:
Only children are allowed on the swingset, and Ms. Peabody, you are no child, are you?Here, the speaker is obviously inviting Ms. Peabody to draw the conclusion that she is not allowed on the swingset.
Normally, a single statement in isolation does not constitute an argument, but simply a declaration or assertion. For example, if a teacher simply announces at the beginning of a class “Councilwoman Radcliffe voted in favor of the tax increase,” she is not arguing for a given conclusion; she simply intends her students to accept her assertion on its own. However, in the right context, a single statement can abbreviate a whole argument if the other implicit pieces of the argument are clear from the context. In a discussion among conservative politicians discussing whom they’d like to see as the next candidate for Senator, where it is agreed by all participants that no one who supports increased taxes is a desirable candidate, someone might implicitly be arguing against Radcliffe’s candidacy with the simple statement, “Councilwoman Radcliffe voted in favor of the tax increase.” When the implicit premise and implicit conclusion are filled in, the argument in its entirety could be stated in this way:
Councilwoman Radcliffe voted in favor of the tax increase. No one who voted in favor of the tax increase is a desirable candidate. Therefore, Councilwoman Radcliffe is not a desirable candidate.In an argument, the premises are almost always put forth or claimed to provide support for the conclusion; however, the premises do not always actually provide support. If we take as our example the following argument:
The roulette wheel has landed on red the last five spins. Therefore, since black is “due,” the next spin will probably be black.The person stating this argument probably thinks that the conclusion is justified by the premise, but he or she would be mistaken. The reasoning here is fallacious. The premise could be true without the conclusion being definitely or even probably true. However, this is still an argument, because the premise is at least intended to provide support or evidence for the conclusion, even if it does not.
Logicians study the criteria to be used in evaluating arguments, i.e., the criteria for determining under what conditions a certain set of premises actually guarantees the truth or likely truth of the conclusion.
Arguments are related to inference and reasoning: i.e., the psychological process through which a person forms a new belief on the basis other beliefs. A course of reasoning can usually be recast or reconstructed as an argument. For example, if someone already believed that all Romance languages were derived from Latin, and then learned that Rumanian was a Romance language, she or he would likely form the new belief that Rumanian was derived from Latin. If this person were to express her or his train of thought out loud or write it down, it would take the form of this argument:
All Romance Languages are derived from Latin. Rumanian is a Romance Language. Therefore, Rumanian is derived from Latin.However, it should not be thought that the psychological process of inference or the nature of cognition are relevant to the evaluation of arguments. Regardless of whether or not the argument above corresponds to anyone’s psychological process or cognitive behavior, it can be analyed by logicians as valid, because the premises do provide support for the conclusion.
Arguments must be separated off from other uses of language, such as to explain something, give an example, or tell a story. In these cases, one might find a connected series of statements, but the author or speaker does not intend it to be the case that some of them provide support or evidence in favor of one of the others. So they are not arguments. Consequently, one must distinguish arguments fromreports of arguments. If a newspaper journalist includes in her article a description of an argument given by Senator Feingold in favor of campaign finance reform, the reporter is not herself arguing in favor of campaign finance reform nor anything else. She is merely making a report.
There are other uses of language that may appear at first blush to be arguments, but are not. Such is the case with explanations. Sometimes it is agreed by participants in a conversation that a certain event has taken place, or that a certain thing is true. Suppose, for example, it is agreed that Alex is late for his job. Someone might explain this fact as follows:
Alex’s car broke down yesterday, and without it he cannot get to work on time. Therefore, he is late for work today.The above may appear to be an argument. In fact, it has the same structure as an argument, and even includes the indicator “therefore.” However, notice that the person speaking these words is not attempting to provide support or evidence for the truth of the claim that “Alex is late for work today:” that is already accepted as true in this context by everyone involved. Properly speaking, the above example is an explanation, not an argument. However, in another context, in which it was not generally known that Alex is late for work today, these very words could be used as an argument. Consequently, it is impossible to ascertain whether or not a certain utterance is an argument without ascertaining the speaker’s intentions within the given context. (For more on the relationship between arguments and explanation, see the article on “Scientific Explanation.”)
Much of philosophy consists in the evaluation of particular arguments, some simple, some complicated. Descartes’s famous three word saying, “cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am) represents an extremely compact argument, with a single premise, that he is thinking, to the conclusion that he exists. Other philosophical arguments are more complicated and elaborate. Consider the following argument from Plato’s Apology:
Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good, for one of two things: — either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by the sight of dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king, will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death is like this, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this? If indeed when the pilgrim arrives in the world below, he is delivered from the professors of justice in this world, and finds the true judges who are said to give judgment there, Minos and Rhadamanthus and Aeacus and Triptolemus, and other sons of God who were righteous in their own life, that pilgrimage will be worth making. What would not a man give if he might converse with Orpheus and Musaeus and Hesiod and Homer? Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again.Here the character Socrates argues for the conclusion that death is a good. The justification he offers for the conclusion, however, is rather elaborate; he offers quite a few premises, which, taken together, are thought to provide support for the conclusion.
Note: There is another, completely distinct, use of the word “argument,” that can also be relevant to logic, specifically, to the logic of functions and relations. An argument to a function is contrasted with the value of that function. Loosely speaking, the argument is the input, the value is the output. When the square root function takes 9 “as argument,” the value is 3. When it takes 16 “as argument,” the value is 4. Different functions take a different number of arguments. The square root function takes a single argument; whereas addition and multiplication require two arguments to yield a value. I.e., in the equation, x + y = z, x and y are the arguments to the addition function, and z is the value. Sometimes, logicians also speak of predicates and relations as having a certain number of “argument-places.” For example, the relation expression “___ is taller than …” is said to have two argument places, because it requires completion by two terms to form a complete proposition.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/argument/
Meta-Writing
What is meta-writing?
Metawriting, a.k.a. metadiscourse, is writing about writing. Of course the real challenge of metawriting is the fact that in order to write about writing you must also think about writing.
The purpose of metawriting is to help the writer more fully understand what happens when writing so as to better manage future writing tasks and understand the writer's individual strengths and weaknesses.
Many struggling writers think the only way they can improve is for someone else to help them become a better writer, but in truth a good writing teacher is more of a coach or guide and knows when to get out of the writer's way. The path to better writing begins with metawriting. Even if you have the best writing teacher in the world there will come a day when you need to leave that teacher behind and write on your own. That is why good writing teachers prepare you for that day by helping you become a self-regulated writer. Key to this process is metawriting -- your intensive, thoughtful study of your own writing.
Meta is a Greek word with interesting contextual meaning. I like the “transcending” definition (http://www.answers.com/meta): more comprehension. In my line of work, I deal in metadata. This is data describing other data. For example, for a database table, metadata would be a description of what kind of data a particular field collects. “Numbers of Impressions paid for in advance per 1000 views needy by the BAs for quarterly analysis.” Tags are a type of metadata, same for JPG properties.
Meta-writing, then, is thinking about writing in order to understand writing. For today, I am going to narrow the definition: meta-writing is thinking about the writing industry in order to understand how to obtain an audience for telling stories. In other words, thinking about writing in order to become a published writer.
And some people really suck at this. “Really suck” being a technical term.
Before I go on, let me apologize in advance for sticking together three separate and related, but not equal, systems to illustrate my point. Let’s talk about these:
Writing: The actual process of storytelling as it pertains to writing a story for a reader to consume.
Industry: The system in which consumes writing and exchanges monies (via publishers) and readers for writing (via authors).
Meta: Meta-writing, the process of thinking about the writing industry in order to understand its underlying motivations.
Follow me so far? Swear to God, I am sober here. I have not even had sugar this evening (yet)!
Why would you want to engage in meta-writing? Understanding the underlying workings of the writing industry can make you a better writer.
Metawriting, a.k.a. metadiscourse, is writing about writing. Of course the real challenge of metawriting is the fact that in order to write about writing you must also think about writing.
The purpose of metawriting is to help the writer more fully understand what happens when writing so as to better manage future writing tasks and understand the writer's individual strengths and weaknesses.
Many struggling writers think the only way they can improve is for someone else to help them become a better writer, but in truth a good writing teacher is more of a coach or guide and knows when to get out of the writer's way. The path to better writing begins with metawriting. Even if you have the best writing teacher in the world there will come a day when you need to leave that teacher behind and write on your own. That is why good writing teachers prepare you for that day by helping you become a self-regulated writer. Key to this process is metawriting -- your intensive, thoughtful study of your own writing.
Meta is a Greek word with interesting contextual meaning. I like the “transcending” definition (http://www.answers.com/meta): more comprehension. In my line of work, I deal in metadata. This is data describing other data. For example, for a database table, metadata would be a description of what kind of data a particular field collects. “Numbers of Impressions paid for in advance per 1000 views needy by the BAs for quarterly analysis.” Tags are a type of metadata, same for JPG properties.
Meta-writing, then, is thinking about writing in order to understand writing. For today, I am going to narrow the definition: meta-writing is thinking about the writing industry in order to understand how to obtain an audience for telling stories. In other words, thinking about writing in order to become a published writer.
And some people really suck at this. “Really suck” being a technical term.
Before I go on, let me apologize in advance for sticking together three separate and related, but not equal, systems to illustrate my point. Let’s talk about these:
Writing: The actual process of storytelling as it pertains to writing a story for a reader to consume.
Industry: The system in which consumes writing and exchanges monies (via publishers) and readers for writing (via authors).
Meta: Meta-writing, the process of thinking about the writing industry in order to understand its underlying motivations.
Follow me so far? Swear to God, I am sober here. I have not even had sugar this evening (yet)!
Why would you want to engage in meta-writing? Understanding the underlying workings of the writing industry can make you a better writer.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Reflective Entry 2
On Sunday the 8 May 2011, I went to church. I met a kiwi lady and talked with her. We talked about 10 minutes. Our conversation is about the background of me and the events happened recently.
We had a relaxed and informed conversation. This lady is about 60-year-old and her name is Jenny who is very kind. When we were talking, she kept her speed slow and made me understand easily. We had eye contact when we were speaking, and she was smiling. We use some body language and gesture for encourage the conversation Such as nodding. She used a lot words to encourage the conversation, such as “yes”, “right”. As a result, I could understand well and we had nice conversation. The conversation began when the church finished the service; the lady came to me and said, “Hello, Emmet. It is lovely to see you here. How is your study going?” I replied back, “It is lovely to meet you too. I am doing alright, and I still work hard on my English. How are you?” To that she replied, “Very well, thank you”. Our conversation ended with hoping to meet again on next Sunday. I said,” I am very happy to be here.” She said to me,” keep coming to the church, and you are important for us, hope to see you next time.”
When we were talking, she used a lot question tag sentences. Such as what a beautiful day today, is it? The weather becomes chilly, does it? She also used the “um” “well” during the conversation. When I said something, she always nod and said “yes”. She used “fortunately” when we talked about the storm and tornado. She used “could” “could be” a lot when we talked. Sometimes she talked a bit unclear. During our conversation when I found something difficult to follow, I guessed the main idea and repeated again. If I was right, she would say “yes” and then she explained, otherwise she would say “not really” and then she repeated it. Also, if I did not catch the main idea, I would say” sorry, could you repeat the last sentence, please?” As for me, I used some phrases to flow the conversation well, such as “is it?” Also, I asked questions after she talked to show I understand what she talked about. She always uses “yes” to keep the conversation flow, and also encourage me to talk. In addition, during the conversation, I used the common words which I used to use. I did not use a lot new vocabulary. I tried to use new words, such as “terrific” which I learnt in English movies. I used fillers and hesitation devices during the conversation. I used “um” “ah” “well” to show to others that I was not finish, and also it gave me more time to think about the words that I was going to use. Also, I used the fillers such as “I mean” “you Know” “I guess” to help me to speak my opinion. Sometimes, when I unsure about the word, I used “you know” to make the conversation flow.
In the further study, I need to extend my vocabulary and also I need to focus on my grammar and pronunciation.
Reflective Entry 1
On Saturday the 31 April 2011, I had a conversation with a kiwi girl who is the sale of Health 2000 in Saint Lukes shopping mall. The conversation lasted for about 10 minutes. Recently I could not sleep well, so I went there for some instructions.
I think most of this conversation was clear and friendly, even though I had a little bit nervous in the beginning. During the conversation, she was nice and patience. It really helped me relax. Sometimes I could not express clearly, she can help me work it out. She always kept smiling and faced to me to talk. We talked very happily. Also, at the beginning, we talked a bit slow and after a while we talked smoothly. When we were speaking, we looked at each other sometimes and we also used some body language to help us communicate. Both of us made encouraging/constructive comments to show that we are listening to each other - ‘Right’; ‘Uh-huh’; ‘OK’, ‘Yes’.
During we were talking about the medical products, she used many “probably” in her speaking. I heard of some new words such as melatonin, hormone, and single serve sachet. Some chunks of vocabulary I noticed while having conversation with her –‘a little bit of ‘, ‘a kind of’,’ ‘before bed time’, ’all the time’. Sometimes she talked a bit fast. During our conversation wherever I found something difficult to understand, I used statement like “Sorry, I did not get you. Can you repeat it?” There were some medical words I could understand .I would say,” sorry, can you explain this words for me, please?” For instance, one of the words is “melatonin”. Sometimes I repeated the sentence for making sure I understood her. In addition, I did some wrong grammar mistakes in this conversation. For example, I use past simple tense to describe some actions happening now. I needed time to think what I should say so that my speak speed was slower that that girl. Sometimes, I could not express what I actually want to say, although she can guess my words.
In the future, when I have conversation with a native speaker, I should do some preparation about the topic. Also, I should pay more attention to their pronunciation, accents and flow of their dialogue delivery. I should make those observations into practice. In addition, I should use the new vocabulary acquired during the course of the study as well as during various conversations with the native speakers. Finally, I should overcome my nervous when I talk to a stranger, although it is hard for me.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Speaking protfolio( entry4)
Context of the conversation
On Saturday the 21 May 2011, I had a conversation with a kiwi handsome tall guy in a café in the Ponsonby. I used to work there as a coffee maker. The name of the guy is Daniel who always come for drinking coffee. We know each other. The conversation lasted for about 10 minutes. We talked about our current life.
Cultural aspects or cultural differences noticed
Drinking coffee is an important part of New Zealander’s life. It is already become a kind of culture. I notice that most adults are crazy for the coffee. It is different from China. In china , we have various tea and tea culture. Before I come to New Zealand, I seldom drink coffee and I know a little bit of coffee information. However, I gradually get used to drink coffee and I love making coffees.
On Saturday the 21 May 2011, I had a conversation with a kiwi handsome tall guy in a café in the Ponsonby. I used to work there as a coffee maker. The name of the guy is Daniel who always come for drinking coffee. We know each other. The conversation lasted for about 10 minutes. We talked about our current life.
Cultural aspects or cultural differences noticed
Drinking coffee is an important part of New Zealander’s life. It is already become a kind of culture. I notice that most adults are crazy for the coffee. It is different from China. In china , we have various tea and tea culture. Before I come to New Zealand, I seldom drink coffee and I know a little bit of coffee information. However, I gradually get used to drink coffee and I love making coffees.
Beginning and ending of conversation
The conversation began when he came into the cafe, I saw him and said, “Hi, buddy. Long time no see. How are you? How is going on? ” He replied back, “very good. Thank you .How are you?” To that I replied, “I am good , thank you”.
Our conversation end with we say goodbye to each other . I said ,” It is nice to talk to you, maybe I will see you next time, take care !” he said to me, “cool, see you next time, take care , my friend.”
Vocabulary features noticed
when we were talking ,he used some words I was not familiar with. However, I can guess the meaning according to the context. I do not want to stop him and let him explain all the words. It is unrealistic .However, I got one word “fussy” for describing his friends. I checked on the dictionary ,it means not easily satisfied. For example, he is so fussy about the house – everything has to be absolutely perfect.
when we were talking ,he used some words I was not familiar with. However, I can guess the meaning according to the context. I do not want to stop him and let him explain all the words. It is unrealistic .However, I got one word “fussy” for describing his friends. I checked on the dictionary ,it means not easily satisfied. For example, he is so fussy about the house – everything has to be absolutely perfect.
Strategy used
He is a nice guy and he always speak slowly because he know my speaking is not well. During our conversation wherever I found something difficult to understand, I used statement like “Sorry, I did not get you, bro. Can you repeat it ?”.He will change another way or use simple words to explain to me.
When we talked about the boat fishing , I used some vague words because I do not know how to say .For example, “something like that.” “A kind of stuff”.
Conversation Flow
When we are speaking , we look at each other sometimes and we also use some body language to help us communicate. Both of us made encouraging/constructive comments to show that we are listening to each other - ‘Right’; ‘Uh-huh’; ‘OK’, ‘Yes’.
When we are speaking , we look at each other sometimes and we also use some body language to help us communicate. Both of us made encouraging/constructive comments to show that we are listening to each other - ‘Right’; ‘Uh-huh’; ‘OK’, ‘Yes’.
Some of the phrases I used during the conversation to keep the flow of the conversation well were, “this sounds good”. Some of the phrases used by him to keep the conversation flows smoothly, “yap”; “that’s right”” sweet as”.
Vocabulary used
I did not use any new vocabulary because I did have time to think about the new words. Some of the hesitation devices I used such as 'um', 'ah', 'er', etc. I think that I used the hesitation devices too much although it gave me more time to think about what to say in a conversation without the awkward silence. Some of the fillers used were ‘I think’, ‘You know’, ‘I mean’.
Linguistic Features
During the conversation, I noticed my grammar mistakes when I spoke out . For example, I mix past simple tense and present simple tense to tell him my story. Also, I need time to think what I should say so that my speak speed is slower
I did not use any new vocabulary because I did have time to think about the new words. Some of the hesitation devices I used such as 'um', 'ah', 'er', etc. I think that I used the hesitation devices too much although it gave me more time to think about what to say in a conversation without the awkward silence. Some of the fillers used were ‘I think’, ‘You know’, ‘I mean’.
Linguistic Features
During the conversation, I noticed my grammar mistakes when I spoke out . For example, I mix past simple tense and present simple tense to tell him my story. Also, I need time to think what I should say so that my speak speed is slower
In my future conversation with the native speakers, I should pay more attention to their pronunciation and accents and flow of their dialogue delivery. I should make those observations into practice. In addition, I should use the new vocabulary acquired during the course of the study as well as during various conversations with the native speakers. Finally, I should take notes if I think some words are very useful.
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