Whoever said grammar couldn't be funny has never watched this series: Grammarman.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Loft Writing Center’s First Annual Essay Writing Contest
Calling all student writers attending classes at North Seattle Community College!
The Loft Writing Center Plus is now accepting submissions to its first annual student essay writing contest. If you fancy yourself a budding writer or just have a story you’re burning to share, you should consider writing an essay and submitting it to this contest. Not only will you have a chance to win a cash prize, but the first place winner will also be published in the Licton Springs Review, North Seattle Community College’s literary journal.
Content Criteria:
The essay should be a personal narrative, which means a story about something that has happened to you. It could be about learning how to drive, immigrating to America, eating a strange food, playing chess for the first time, or even shaking hands with a celebrity or politician. The topic is wide open. The most important requirement as far as content is that the essay must conform to the genre of a personal narrative.
If you’re not certain what a personal narrative essay looks like, you can always come visit the Loft and ask one of our writing tutors to help get you started.
Format Criteria:
The essay should meet the following format guidelines:
• 12 point font
• Double spaced
• Times New Roman font
• 3,000 words or less
Submission Criteria
Essays should be submitted to the Loft Writing Center by Sunday November 2, 2008 at 4:30 pm. You can drop your submissions at the greeter station as you enter the Loft.
Please remember to turn in a submission form along with your essay. You can download a PDF of the submission form by following this link.
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/dtarker/essay%20submission%20form.pdf
All entries will be judged anonymously, so please do not write your name on the essay. Only write your name on the entry form.
You may also submit electronically at dtarker@sccd.ctc.edu
Prizes
Beyond just enjoying all the praise that will be showered upon you by your peers and instructors, the top three winners will win the following prizes.
First Place = $100.00 and publication in The Licton Springs Review
Second Place = $75.00
Third Place = $50.00
Awards will be announced at a celebration during the first week of December.
We would like to thank the Education Fund and Student Government for providing funding in support of this writing contest.
Now get writing!
The Loft Writing Center Plus is now accepting submissions to its first annual student essay writing contest. If you fancy yourself a budding writer or just have a story you’re burning to share, you should consider writing an essay and submitting it to this contest. Not only will you have a chance to win a cash prize, but the first place winner will also be published in the Licton Springs Review, North Seattle Community College’s literary journal.
Content Criteria:
The essay should be a personal narrative, which means a story about something that has happened to you. It could be about learning how to drive, immigrating to America, eating a strange food, playing chess for the first time, or even shaking hands with a celebrity or politician. The topic is wide open. The most important requirement as far as content is that the essay must conform to the genre of a personal narrative.
If you’re not certain what a personal narrative essay looks like, you can always come visit the Loft and ask one of our writing tutors to help get you started.
Format Criteria:
The essay should meet the following format guidelines:
• 12 point font
• Double spaced
• Times New Roman font
• 3,000 words or less
Submission Criteria
Essays should be submitted to the Loft Writing Center by Sunday November 2, 2008 at 4:30 pm. You can drop your submissions at the greeter station as you enter the Loft.
Please remember to turn in a submission form along with your essay. You can download a PDF of the submission form by following this link.
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/dtarker/essay%20submission%20form.pdf
All entries will be judged anonymously, so please do not write your name on the essay. Only write your name on the entry form.
You may also submit electronically at dtarker@sccd.ctc.edu
Prizes
Beyond just enjoying all the praise that will be showered upon you by your peers and instructors, the top three winners will win the following prizes.
First Place = $100.00 and publication in The Licton Springs Review
Second Place = $75.00
Third Place = $50.00
Awards will be announced at a celebration during the first week of December.
We would like to thank the Education Fund and Student Government for providing funding in support of this writing contest.
Now get writing!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Happy Punctuation Day
Today is Punctuation Day!
To learn more, visit this web site:
http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/
To learn more, visit this web site:
http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/
Friday, September 12, 2008
Fall Quarter Hours
Loft Tutor Dean Wingfield
The Loft Writing Center Plus will be opening September 25th. Our hours of operation for fall quarter will be:
Mon-Th. 8:30-6:30
Fri. 8:30 – 1:30
Sun. 12:30-4:30
The Loft will be closed on November 11, 27, & 28
The Loft Writing Center Plus will be opening September 25th. Our hours of operation for fall quarter will be:
Mon-Th. 8:30-6:30
Fri. 8:30 – 1:30
Sun. 12:30-4:30
The Loft will be closed on November 11, 27, & 28
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Writer's Resources Training
Get an overview of our Writer's Resources program by following this link:
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/dtarker/writer's%20resources/writer's%20resources.htm
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/dtarker/writer's%20resources/writer's%20resources.htm
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Bad Essay Writing Tips
The next time you're preparing to write an academic essay, listen to this young college student...and do the opposite!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
What is Plagiarism?
At its core, plagiarism is intellectual theft. In academia, a plagiarist is comparable to a burglar, stealing others intellectual property and passing it off as their own for profit…in most cases a passing grade on an essay or research paper. Since college students are expected to conform to the rules of academic integrity, it is important to understand exactly what constitutes plagiarism and what the penalties are if a student is caught passing another’s work off as his or her own.
A Definition
According to Dictionary.com, plagiarism is: “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.”
In other words, if a writer borrows any words or ideas from another writer without giving proper credit, he or she has committed plagiarism.
As the Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana State University points out, plagiarism can take many forms….each with increasing degrees of severity.
At the beginning of the spectrum are students who paraphrase or summarize an author’s ideas without citing the source. This may seem like a light offense, especially if the student is only taking a small or obvious idea, but it still constitutes a violation of academic integrity. Writers and scholars invest a great deal of time formulating their ideas, theories, and research, and so deserve credit for the work they have done.
Another more egregious form of plagiarism is copying a writer’s text word for word and using it in your paper without giving proper credit. It is perfectly fine to quote a writer and cite them in your footnotes or works cited page, so there really is no reason to engage in this activity. Yet many students still get caught doing just this sort of thing.
Worse still, however, is submitting another student’s paper as your own. The purpose of academic writing is to help students learn to develop, organize, and express their own ideas. Turning in another student’s work is one of the most severe violations of academic integrity.
The penultimate form of plagiarism, however, is purchasing an essay or research paper from a friend, classmate, or online source. If any explanation is needed to answer why this is wrong, you may want to pursue a career in crime rather than a earn a college degree.
Consequences
There are few greater crimes in academia worse than plagiarism. Therefore the consequences when caught can be devastating. Receiving an F or a “No Credit” for the assignment is only the tip of the ice burg. A first offense can lead to academic probation or, at some universities, expulsion from the school.
It should be noted that professors and scholars in academia, meaning your college instructors, are held to the same standards. Many scholars have seen their reputations ruined and careers destroyed getting caught for plagiarism.
For more on this issue, visit the following links:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
http://www.wadsworth.com/english_d/special_features/plagiarism/definition.html
http://www.chem.uky.edu/Courses/common/plagiarism.html
A Definition
According to Dictionary.com, plagiarism is: “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work.”
In other words, if a writer borrows any words or ideas from another writer without giving proper credit, he or she has committed plagiarism.
As the Writing Tutorial Services at Indiana State University points out, plagiarism can take many forms….each with increasing degrees of severity.
At the beginning of the spectrum are students who paraphrase or summarize an author’s ideas without citing the source. This may seem like a light offense, especially if the student is only taking a small or obvious idea, but it still constitutes a violation of academic integrity. Writers and scholars invest a great deal of time formulating their ideas, theories, and research, and so deserve credit for the work they have done.
Another more egregious form of plagiarism is copying a writer’s text word for word and using it in your paper without giving proper credit. It is perfectly fine to quote a writer and cite them in your footnotes or works cited page, so there really is no reason to engage in this activity. Yet many students still get caught doing just this sort of thing.
Worse still, however, is submitting another student’s paper as your own. The purpose of academic writing is to help students learn to develop, organize, and express their own ideas. Turning in another student’s work is one of the most severe violations of academic integrity.
The penultimate form of plagiarism, however, is purchasing an essay or research paper from a friend, classmate, or online source. If any explanation is needed to answer why this is wrong, you may want to pursue a career in crime rather than a earn a college degree.
Consequences
There are few greater crimes in academia worse than plagiarism. Therefore the consequences when caught can be devastating. Receiving an F or a “No Credit” for the assignment is only the tip of the ice burg. A first offense can lead to academic probation or, at some universities, expulsion from the school.
It should be noted that professors and scholars in academia, meaning your college instructors, are held to the same standards. Many scholars have seen their reputations ruined and careers destroyed getting caught for plagiarism.
For more on this issue, visit the following links:
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
http://www.wadsworth.com/english_d/special_features/plagiarism/definition.html
http://www.chem.uky.edu/Courses/common/plagiarism.html
Monday, April 21, 2008
Top 5 Ways to Spice Up Your Introduction Paragraph
What makes a successful introduction paragraph in an academic essay—or any essay for that matter?
First, it must capture the reader’s attention. This is often described with the fishing metaphor “hooking the reader.” Let’s unpack this metaphor so we completely understand it.
When we go fishing, we don’t just walk up to a lake or river and cast out our line without any bait. What fish in his right mind would willingly chomp down on a pointy little hook unless there was a worm attached? Fish are busy creatures by their very nature—they’ve got to keep swimming in order to breathe after all. They’ve got no time to bother with empty hooks. They’ll just swim on by, leaving you with nothing to eat for dinner except a can of baked beans.
Thus, the metaphor “hook the reader” implies that you must use some bait to grab the reader’s attention and entice her to read your composition. After all, most people are far busier than some trout paddling around a pond. They’ve got bills to pay, yard work to do, people to talk to, and an infinite number of issues to address in their lives. If you don’t use the right bait, you won’t catch any readers.
Yet, how do we do this? What techniques or strategies can we use to “hook” our readers?
Ask a Question:
Asking a question at the beginning of an essay immediately engages the reader in the topic you want to inform them about. Look at the following example:
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in 2001, which immediately fueled the housing boom during the early part of the decade.
Vs.
What fueled the housing boom during the early part of the decade? Could Federal Reserve be to blame for lowering the interest rates so drastically?
The second example immediately engages the reader, who may or may not have her own opinion on this topic. Once the reader is engaged, you’ve just increased the odds that he or she will continue reading your paper.
Tell a Story
If there has been one constant during the evolution of mankind, it is a love of stories. From our earliest ancestors huddled around a fire spinning yarns to explain where lightning comes from to people today huddled around their television sets to watch the latest episode of “The Office”, we thrive on stories. So, why shouldn’t we use them as “bait” for our readers?
Compare these examples:
The character of Superman premiered in 1939, just as America was on the brink of entering World War II.
VS.
One can imagine a little boy peddling his bicycle up to a newsstand on a warm summer in 1939. Amidst countless newspapers featuring headlines about Nazi aggression in Europe, the boy finds a slim comic book featuring a man in red and blue spandex lifting a car over his head.
Does the latter introduction reel you in more than the first? Of course it does. Although true stories are undoubtedly more effective, you can still use a hypothetical story like the one above as long as it is reasonable. One thing to note: Effective storytelling, even in an essay, requires writers to use concrete details to help the reader visualize the events in your story.
Using a Quote
Many students misinterpret this device. They go to one of the countless boos of quotations in the library or find a nifty Web site of quotations and just cherry pick some random quote from a famous person and force it into the introduction of their paper. This does not work. The quote must have some relevance to the topic you are introducing. The best strategy is to keep an eye out for interesting or compelling quotes while you are researching your paper.
Startling Statistics
Some may say statistics are boring, but it all depends on how you use them. (Mark Twain was never more correct than when he said “There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics.”) However, I’m not encouraging you to use the statistics to bend the truth. We’ll leave that to the politicians. In academic writing, we want to use accurate statistics to help make your case. Yet, if you do find some statistics during your research that you believe will make your reader look twice, these statistics should come right at the beginning of your paper. For example:
For all the money America spends on education, the country still has a high illiteracy rate.
Vs.
Currently, one-third of Americans cannot read at the high school level.
A Surprising Statement
Once again, approach this technique with caution. You cannot just make any old surprising statement. It must lead into your topic. As a writer, I would not try and use this strategy until after I had finished a rough draft of my introduction. You can tweak your introduction during the revising stage of the writing process to find the appropriate startling statement to use. Again, an example:
America failed to act swiftly to the brutal genocide taking place in Rwanda during the late 1990s.
VS.
America was party responsible for the genocide in Rwanda.
Concluding Thoughts
Remember, you don’t need to use these right from the start. You can…and maybe sometimes should…wait until you’re revising the paper before choosing one of these strategies. Don’t let uncertainty over which method you will use keep you from actually writing your paper.
Dan Tarker
First, it must capture the reader’s attention. This is often described with the fishing metaphor “hooking the reader.” Let’s unpack this metaphor so we completely understand it.
When we go fishing, we don’t just walk up to a lake or river and cast out our line without any bait. What fish in his right mind would willingly chomp down on a pointy little hook unless there was a worm attached? Fish are busy creatures by their very nature—they’ve got to keep swimming in order to breathe after all. They’ve got no time to bother with empty hooks. They’ll just swim on by, leaving you with nothing to eat for dinner except a can of baked beans.
Thus, the metaphor “hook the reader” implies that you must use some bait to grab the reader’s attention and entice her to read your composition. After all, most people are far busier than some trout paddling around a pond. They’ve got bills to pay, yard work to do, people to talk to, and an infinite number of issues to address in their lives. If you don’t use the right bait, you won’t catch any readers.
Yet, how do we do this? What techniques or strategies can we use to “hook” our readers?
Ask a Question:
Asking a question at the beginning of an essay immediately engages the reader in the topic you want to inform them about. Look at the following example:
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates in 2001, which immediately fueled the housing boom during the early part of the decade.
Vs.
What fueled the housing boom during the early part of the decade? Could Federal Reserve be to blame for lowering the interest rates so drastically?
The second example immediately engages the reader, who may or may not have her own opinion on this topic. Once the reader is engaged, you’ve just increased the odds that he or she will continue reading your paper.
Tell a Story
If there has been one constant during the evolution of mankind, it is a love of stories. From our earliest ancestors huddled around a fire spinning yarns to explain where lightning comes from to people today huddled around their television sets to watch the latest episode of “The Office”, we thrive on stories. So, why shouldn’t we use them as “bait” for our readers?
Compare these examples:
The character of Superman premiered in 1939, just as America was on the brink of entering World War II.
VS.
One can imagine a little boy peddling his bicycle up to a newsstand on a warm summer in 1939. Amidst countless newspapers featuring headlines about Nazi aggression in Europe, the boy finds a slim comic book featuring a man in red and blue spandex lifting a car over his head.
Does the latter introduction reel you in more than the first? Of course it does. Although true stories are undoubtedly more effective, you can still use a hypothetical story like the one above as long as it is reasonable. One thing to note: Effective storytelling, even in an essay, requires writers to use concrete details to help the reader visualize the events in your story.
Using a Quote
Many students misinterpret this device. They go to one of the countless boos of quotations in the library or find a nifty Web site of quotations and just cherry pick some random quote from a famous person and force it into the introduction of their paper. This does not work. The quote must have some relevance to the topic you are introducing. The best strategy is to keep an eye out for interesting or compelling quotes while you are researching your paper.
Startling Statistics
Some may say statistics are boring, but it all depends on how you use them. (Mark Twain was never more correct than when he said “There’s lies, damn lies, and statistics.”) However, I’m not encouraging you to use the statistics to bend the truth. We’ll leave that to the politicians. In academic writing, we want to use accurate statistics to help make your case. Yet, if you do find some statistics during your research that you believe will make your reader look twice, these statistics should come right at the beginning of your paper. For example:
For all the money America spends on education, the country still has a high illiteracy rate.
Vs.
Currently, one-third of Americans cannot read at the high school level.
A Surprising Statement
Once again, approach this technique with caution. You cannot just make any old surprising statement. It must lead into your topic. As a writer, I would not try and use this strategy until after I had finished a rough draft of my introduction. You can tweak your introduction during the revising stage of the writing process to find the appropriate startling statement to use. Again, an example:
America failed to act swiftly to the brutal genocide taking place in Rwanda during the late 1990s.
VS.
America was party responsible for the genocide in Rwanda.
Concluding Thoughts
Remember, you don’t need to use these right from the start. You can…and maybe sometimes should…wait until you’re revising the paper before choosing one of these strategies. Don’t let uncertainty over which method you will use keep you from actually writing your paper.
Dan Tarker
Comma Use and Writing Style
Are you a heavy punctuator or a light punctuator?
Don’t know the difference?
Read this article http://www.startribune.com/business/17860429.html in the Star Tribune to find out which camp you belong to. You may also learn a thing or two about mandatory and optional commas…not to mention how your use of commas impacts how the reader may interpret your writing style.
Don’t know the difference?
Read this article http://www.startribune.com/business/17860429.html in the Star Tribune to find out which camp you belong to. You may also learn a thing or two about mandatory and optional commas…not to mention how your use of commas impacts how the reader may interpret your writing style.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Mortal Syntax
Unlike other disciplines, grammar should not be treated as a list of iron clad rules designed to make writers sweat every prepositional phrase or infinitive they use. As this recent National Public Radio story highlights, grammar, like all language, is creative and constantly evolving. Listen to June Casagrande, author of Mortal Syntax, share her thoughts on these and other grammar related issues by following this link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89307936
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89307936
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Truth...It's in the Eye of the Beholder
Despite the recent spate of scandals surrounding bogus memoirs, stretching the truth or even blatantly fabricating supposedly “true” events is not something new to this literary genre as this Salon.com article whimsically illustrates. http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/03/07/memoirs/
Monday, March 3, 2008
Celebrate National Grammar Day on March 4th
March 4 is the First Annual National Grammar Day. To learn more about this event, visit http://nationalgrammarday.com/ This Web site lists numerous ways you can celebrate this unusual day from policing your friends about their grammar to keeping an eye out for subtle grammar errors in newspapers and billboards.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Information Competency and Your Health
Information Competency will inevitably help your academic career, but it may also save your life---or the life of someone you love. This article on CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/21/ep.web.sites/index.html describes how a Web savvy mother found an innovative treatment for her son’s case of Cat Scratch Fever by searching .gov and .org Web sites. The article also provides some helpful hints about researching accurate medical information on the Web.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Verb Tenses and the Law
Why is grammar important? Beyond just helping us create clear sentences, it may also protect us from criminals as a recent legal case in Georgia illustrates.
Apparently, a convicted sex offender accused of killing a Georgia hiker has been set free because of a technicality in the wording of the federal sex offender registration law.
The defendant’s lawyers argued that the law is written in the present tense, implying that the sex offender must be actively moving from state to state in the present moment to be affected by the legislation, but their client traveled between state lines in the past.
A judge agreed with their argument…until Congress revises the verb tense in the law. Read more at: http://www.wfrv.com/entertainment/weirdnews/story.aspx?content_id=13438fba-cb9a-42ce-b6f6-22758e7e0d67
Apparently, a convicted sex offender accused of killing a Georgia hiker has been set free because of a technicality in the wording of the federal sex offender registration law.
The defendant’s lawyers argued that the law is written in the present tense, implying that the sex offender must be actively moving from state to state in the present moment to be affected by the legislation, but their client traveled between state lines in the past.
A judge agreed with their argument…until Congress revises the verb tense in the law. Read more at: http://www.wfrv.com/entertainment/weirdnews/story.aspx?content_id=13438fba-cb9a-42ce-b6f6-22758e7e0d67
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Lake Superior State University Releases Its Banned Words List
Lake Superior State University just released its annual list of banned words. Some of the honories included on this list include such politically loaded words as "surge" to such redundant phrases as "it is as it is". See the full story at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_on_re_us/banned_words;_ylt=AmkqbUysYKY_b86reHktamVH2ocA
What words would you liked to see banned?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_on_re_us/banned_words;_ylt=AmkqbUysYKY_b86reHktamVH2ocA
What words would you liked to see banned?
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