Beautiful piece of writing week 6

"MAURYA: (raising her head and speaking as if she did not see the people around her) They're all gone now, and there isn't anything more the sea can do to me.... I'll have no call now to be up crying and praying when the wind breaks from the south, and you can hear the surf is in the east, and the surf is in the west, making a great stir with the two noises, and they hitting one on the other. I'll have no call now to be going down and getting Holy Water in the dark nights after Samhain, and I won't care what way the sea is when the other women will be keening. (To NORA) Give me the Holy Water, Nora; there's a small sup still on the dresser."



This passage is from "Riders to the Sea" by John Millington Synge. Maurya is a mother of three and this play is about accepting death. As a mother, Maurya does a very good job of that and I chose this passage to post because it displays her satisfaction and acceptance with the death of her son.

Word of the Week 6

Piously: religiously

"God have mercy on his soul," said my aunt piously.

Although the sentence has a form of religion in it, I didn't know what piously meant. But it makes sense that it means religously. It is used correctly in this sentence from "The Sisters" by James Joyce.

Oops! -week 5

Catching up on my celebrity gossip on Yahoo's "omg!" section, I found an error in an article discussing Kim Kardashian's future plans.

"In spite of those haters, Kim insists that she's moving forward, although she admits that she doesn't quite now what the future holds".

It should read "although she admits that she doesn't quite KNOW what the future holds".

Word of the Week 5

Fervent: having or displaying a passionate intensity.

             passionate or enthusiastic. 

"Her distress awoke a nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips in silent fervent prayer" (Joyce). 

Good Piece of Writing week 5

"Before marriage she thought herself in love; but the happiness that should have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought, have been mistaken. And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in life by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so beautiful in books" (Flaubert, 22).

This small passage is from the novel, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert which is the story of one's unhappiness in her own marriage. She was never satisfied with the love she was given from her husband and she longed for a fantasy-like marriage that she only read in books. This passage is beautifully written and perfectly explains how Emma is feeling after being married and not being as happy as she thought she would be.

Another error in class handout-week 4

On the same handout, "Writing a Compelling Profile: Interview Questions" there was another error in another question. Number 41 says "Ann Frank once said that in spite of everything, she believed people were basically good. Do you agree? Disagree? Why?"

Ann Frank is spelt incorrectly. Her name is Anne Frank. Thankfully, this is only a handout to help writers with interview questions but misspelling someone's name, especially a historical figure can be offensive.

Word of the Week 4

Tumultuous: 1. Making a loud, confused noise; uproarious: "tumultuous applause".
2. Excited, confused, or disorderly.

I've never seen this used in an article of any sort before. It could easily be used to describe a person who is feeling different kind of emotions.

Good Writing week 4

"Time passes, but neither of us speaks, as Leo's hand completely covers mine. The weight and warmth of it is the same as it was at the diner, the day all of this began, but the gesture feels completely different. This contact is not incidental to a conversation. It is the conversation. It is also an invitation. An invitation I accept with a languid turn of my wrist until my palm is up, facing his, and we are officially holding hands. I tell myself that it is the most innocent of gestures. Grade-school crushes hold hands. Parents and children hold hands. Friends hold hands. But not like this. Never like this. I listen to the sound of Leo breathing, his face close to mine, as our fingers interlock, unlace, rearrange. And we fly east that way, eventually drifting off, suspended in the sky, in time, together." (Giffin 171).

This passage is from the book "love the one you're with" by Emily Giffin. This is not the only passage from her book that has literally sent chills down my spine while reading it. Written so beautifully, this passage is relatable and explains how the character is feeling exactly.

The Art of Editing, Chapters 5-6

In Chapter 5, "Macro Editing for Legality, Ethics and Propriety", it was fun to read about what "Freedom of the Press" actually means. We have all heard it before since it was established in the First Amendment. To sum up the entire definition, it means that the government has no control over what it said in the press. I learned the different kind of meanings of "Freedom of the Press" such as it being a right, not an entitlement. I liked how the book discussed the particular and correct way to write certain libel stories. The chapter went into depth of what can happen if you as the writer makes assumptions or write the wrong facts and how you can protect yourself. Including "Invasion of Privacy" and other rules that go along with writing legality kind of stories, it was helpful to see what can and can not be put into a certain story. In Chapter 6, "Micro Editing for Precision in Language", it went over grammar, fragments and comma splices to name a few which I previously knew. It seemed rather repetitive. I guess it was good to go over pronouns, verbs, passive voice, etc. but these are things we as writers have memorized.

The Art of Editing, Chapters 3-4

Chapter 3 was a very informative chapter that discussed exactly what the editor of a paper duties are made up of along with the copy editor's responsibilities. I like how there were charts displayed that showed what the reporter does along with the copy-desk chief, city editor, etc. It was easy to understand since it was nicely laid out for me like that. I also enjoyed how a proofreading checklist was given towards the end of the chapter. In the next chapter, "Macro Editing for the Big Picture" gave some information that I previously knew but it was helpful to go over it again such as a hard-news lead. Rules for both hard-news and feature leads were helpful especially since it gave specific examples. I sometimes have difficulty remembering which numbers are supposed to be spelled out in an article and which are supposed to just have the number figure. So the part of the chapter that went over that was very helpful to me.

Word of the Week 3

truculent: fierce, cruel.

I found this word in one of my readings for another class. "The Sisters" by James Joyce. Truculent is another word for fierce or cruel which I never knew before.

It was used in the following sentence. "His face was very truculent, grey and massive with black cavernous nostrils".

Error in handout week 3

I found an error in the handout we received in class today. On "Writing A Compelling Profile: Interview Questions" in question 6 the word "the" has an extra "e". The question says "What teacher had thee greatest impact on you?" It should read "What teacher had THE greatest impact on you?"

Oops!

"Does Foot Form Explain Running Injuries?" Well written piece week 3

As a runner, this article was extremely informative. In the article, it says how most runners experience aching muscles and over-stressed bones. I was attracted to this article because I experience that same problem most times I run! Researchers found that most pain that runners experience is contributed to their running shoes. Which is something I, as a runner have never thought of. Perhaps I need to change my running shoes.




http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/why-runners-get-injured/?ref=health