Arrivederci!

It's time to say a partial goodbye, at least where this blog is concerned. I've enjoyed reading your posts though I may not post comments all the time. I have never done blogging before with any of my classes and I'm glad to have started with your class, 5 Belian of 2012. I hope that you will keep blogging when you're free. It's a great way to keep a journal of your journey in life. To the people who persevered and kept up their entries week after week, BRAVO! I really appreciate your effort.

Before we end this chapter of our life, please do go to the link below and fill up the survey I created. I'd like to know your opinion of blogging and how it has helped you grow as a writer and a person. to those who didn't keep up with their blogs, I'd like to know your opinion too. Thanks! =D


Good Luck in your exams and your future undertakings!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHozclNhVUd3SFZrNTV3VnpRWFdNalE6MQ#gid=0

Prepositional Phrases

Hi 5 Belian,

The "Prepositional Phrase" exercises can be found here:

1. Exercise in identifying prepositional phrases

http://grammar.about.com/od/sentencestructures/a/Exercise-In-Identifying-Prepositional-Phrases.htm


2. Exercise on expanding sentences with prepositional phrases

http://grammar.about.com/od/sentencestructures/a/ExpandingWithPrepositionalPhrases.htm


3. To see how good you are are combining sentences

http://grammar.about.com/od/sentencecombining/a/SBprepphrases.htm



Some notes and important pointers:

Arranging Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase often appears after the word it modifies:

A spaceship from Venus landed in my back yard.

However, like adverbs, prepositional phrases that modify verbs can also be found at the very beginning or very end of a sentence:

In the morning, the Venusians mowed my lawn.
The Venusians mowed my lawn in the morning.

In both versions, the prepositional phrase in the morning modifies the verb mowed.

Not all phrases are this flexible, and so we need to be careful not to confuse our readers by misplacing a prepositional phrase:

The Venusians swam for two hours after lunch in my pool.

This arrangement gives the idea that the visitors from Venus enjoyed lunch in the pool. If this is not the case, shift the prepositional phrase:

After lunch, the Venusians swam for two hours in my pool.

The best arrangement is one that is both clear and uncluttered.

Although several prepositional phrases may appear in the same sentence, avoid packing in so many phrases that you confuse the reader. The sentence below, for example, is cluttered and awkward:

On a rickety stool in one corner of the crowded honky tonk, the folk singer sits playing lonesome songs on his battered old guitar about warm beer, cold women, and long nights on the road.

In this case, the best way to break up the string of phrases is to make two sentences:

On a rickety stool in one corner of the crowded honky tonk, the folk singer sits hunched over his battered old guitar. He plays lonesome songs about warm beer, cold women, and long nights on the road.

A long sentence is not necessarily an effectivesentence.

Eliminating Needless Modifiers

We can improve our writing by using adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases that addto the meaning of sentences. We can also improve our writing by eliminating modifiers that add nothing to the meaning. A good writer does not waste words, so let's cut the clutter.

The following sentence is wordy because some of the modifiers are repetitious or insignificant:

Wordy: The steward was really a very friendly and agreeable man, quite round, rotund, and sleek, with a very costly set of dimples around his terribly pleasant smile.

We can make this sentence more concise (and thus more effective) by cutting out the repetitious and overworked modifiers:

Revised: The steward was an agreeable man, rotund, and sleek, with a costly set of dimples around his smile.
(Lawrence Durrell, Bitter Lemons)

Opening Ceremony - London 2012 Olympic Games

Task for the day:
1. Go to each partner's essay on discrimination
2. Read the essay thoroughly
3. Answer "Which sentence/sentences did you think was/were the strongest and why?"
4. Identify 2 words that need to be stronger. Think of a word to replace the weak words if possible.
5. What exactly do you like about that piece of writing?
6. Are there any parts of the essay which seems to drag?
7. Are there any places where you lose interest or drift off?
8. Give suggestions how the essay could be made better.

Do this for each partner. if your partner does not have a blog, ask (pester him/her) for his written journal.

"Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love."

-- Rainer Maria Rilke 

Very apt quotation i think to use for the "prejudice issue"

Sorry for the delay in posting up the topic for our essay. Here it is:-
               
                "Discrimination Lives Within Everyone"

Give your take and insight on this issue, which has plagued mankind since time immemorial. Here are some cartoons to help you. Discuss how prejudices come about and acts of discrimination, stereotypes and scapegoating. Do research if you're still not too sure of the examples. Give a good conclusion to your discussion to wrap up your essay.

Happy holiday everyone! Hope you have a great one. Anyway, get plenty of rest and fresh air to charge up for the days ahead =)