Confused and Mixed Up Words

What I Am Getting At
     The English language is super confusing and rather annoying.  There are several words that sound alike and/or are spelled alike (a.k.a. homonyms, homophones, homographs), and it is easy to use them incorrectly or even misspell them. If you are aware of these words, you are more likely to recognize when you are trying to use them, and, hopefully, you can figure out which is the correct one to use.

For Your Information
     Instead of trying to recreate my own ways to introduce these words to you (wich would probably fail miserably anyway!), I have found other blogs and websites that have already found decent and interesting ways to share this same topic and have decided to compile them for you.  I hope you are able to put them to some use (:

Grammar-Monster.com

• Easily Confused Words
• This page offers a rather large list of words that are confused with each other. There is a link for each of the word pairs that gives definitions and examples of how to use the words correctly.
• Easily confused words grammar test
• In case you want to test your knowledge in this area, here is a small quiz (: This is the link to the main confused words test; there are also more focused tests that relate to the specific word pairs.

Grammar Girl

• These posts give the basic definition of usage and then show how to put them into a sentence and the context for each. The three links I have included are just a few of the posts that Grammar Girl has made; I definitely encourage you to look for more (:
• In to or Into
• Affect Versus Effect
• Faze or Phase
  
  
  
• If you are interested, Grammar Girl has written a book titled Grammar Girl's 101 Misused Words You Will Never Confuse Again; it is available on both Amazon and at Barnes & Noble (:
• B&N
• Amazon

Grammarbook.com

• List of Confusing Words and Homonyms
• Many (if not all) of the confused word pairs are listed here--you can find them alphabetically. In each section you can see the basic definition of the words, examples and a small pop quiz on the use of the words...these are a great resource for review!

ELearnEnglishLanguage.com

• This site's “Mistakes + Difficulties” page lists quite a few of the confused words and phrases. I am pretty impressed with the fact that when a word has multiple definitions or ways to be used, both definitions are given and then demonstrated.  This gets rid of quite a bit of confusion.

Other

• Dr. Grammar is a page associated with the University of Northern Iowa and is a decent resource for grammar questions.  On the Frequently Asked Questions page, several of these confused words are their own questions (:
• ToTooTwo.com is a super simple page that shows the differences between “to”, “too” and “two” (if you had not already guessed that!).

There are so many resources available when you find that you have messed up a word! (I was amazed in all honesty--I am used to searching an actual physical dictionary for the correct word!) Hopefully my very small list is helpful (: 
Let me know what you think,

Amanda

Introduction and Conclusion

What I Am Getting At

            We talked last time about the need for some sort of organization of your thoughts—was this at all helpful in getting your paper started and/or flowing??   Anyway, this time, I would like to share some information on the opening and closing of a paper. 

My main point: introduction and conclusion paragraphs can make or break an essay.

Introduction Paragraph

            The introduction paragraph is pretty important in that it sets up the rest of your paper.  In this paragraph, you introduce your topic and what you are trying to say about that topic.  To do this, two things are recommended: 1) include a thesis statement and 2) open in a way that will attract the audience.

Thesis statements tell your audience what your main point is. This statement can be somewhat difficult to write, because it should encompass the base of your paper’s purpose.  However, it is a great tool for keeping a focus (and as a part of your introduction paragraph, half of the writing is already done!) Here is a guide as to what different parts are included in the thesis statement and here is a video that demonstrates how to write a thesis statement.

As a part of your thesis statement, you should tell your audience the specifics of what you will tell them.  If you are explaining why pistachio ice cream is the best ice cream, then you need to write something to the effect of “Pistachio ice cream is the best flavor for such and such reasons”.  These reasons in turn become the subjects of your respective body paragraphs.

An introduction is only truly effective if you are able to catch your audience’s attention and keep it. There are a few ways to do so: you can begin with a story, a statistic, a definition, etc.  The Introductory Paragraph: Start With a Great First Sentence goes into more detail about the different ways to start and keep your audience hooked.  With this hook, you can then move forward and make your case.

Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion paragraph is almost as important as the introduction.  Don’t you hate when someone is telling a story and it just ends? There is no closure or anything that resembles an ending (or at least something that we would consider an ending) and you are left unsatisfied, right?  This is what you want to avoid when writing your conclusion. 

In the conclusion, you are not restating everything you have said in the paper—you have already said it and don’t need to again.  Instead, you are emphasizing what you said and why it is relevant.  Why is what you said supportive of your main idea? What makes your thoughts and ideas and information valid?  This should be where the brunt of your opinion is located; you need to be straight with your audience and say “hey, I wrote this paper for a reason and this is the reason.” Check out these strategies if you need some more guidance.

My Take

            Of course the research and the content of your essay are extremely important—what would be the point without them??—but no one wants to read or recommend something that has no hook or an attention-grabbing opener, and no one wants to finish something only to be left hanging or feeling that something could have been different. 

            Hopefully with these tools, you can approach your opening and closing remarks with a greater understanding of their importance to your paper (:

For Your Information

Here is an additional link to information about introduction paragraphs:

·         Introductory Paragraphs.htm

Again, I hope you are able to take something away from this…and let me know what works and what doesn’t!

Amanda

An Organizational Approach to Writing an Essay

What I Am Getting At

When writing anything, I feel that getting your thoughts down on paper and somewhat organized is the most important way to start.  Whether you are writing the first draft of an essay or a simple response paper, you need some sort of organization or your paper is not going to be received well by your audience. In the course of this post, I hope to offer advice on how to get your writing organized from the start.  By doing this, your paper will come to you easier and you do not have to worry about the flow of your writing at the last minute.

Real-life Application

A close friend of mine had to write a seven plus page research paper last semester.  She had some wonderful ideas and some great commentary to go with her supporting sources, but her organization left something to be desired and the effect of her initial draft was not what she was wanting.  The two of us worked on getting it organized and fixing transitions for several hours before we felt we had an “A”-type paper to turn in. (She did end up getting an “A” grade on the assignment after all of the changes.)  

The point of my story is that if she had started her paper with a little more organization of her thoughts and ideas, she probably would not have had to do so much work at the very end, saving us the extra hours of work and her the stress of needing the paper finished. 

            I recognize that there are many different strategies that people can use in writing, and I know my own strategies may not work for some. However, I hope to share with you a strategy that has proven helpful for me, and hopefully, you will be able adapt it to work for you.

Getting Started: The Very Basic

            First things first: you must have some sort of idea for a topic.  Without a subject, you really have no paper.  (This would be like talking to someone who just talks to talk; total stream of consciousness only works for some and, as for the rest, I would probably be afraid to know what they are thinking.)

Brainstorming, Free writing, Etc.

            After you have this basic topic, write down everything and anything that relates to your topic: How do you feel about the subject? Who is involved or affected? What do you know off hand? What do you need to find out? Are you able to learn more about your topic?

            When you write all of this down, it can be in any form you wish: an outline, an idea web, a list, whatever you need to do to get it all on paper and in front of you.  When you have all of your ideas in front of you, you can more easily see what you really think about a topic, and you can better approach a single focus.

Connections

When you are finished compiling all of your thoughts and ideas, look to see which ones truly relate to your topic and determine what kind of a stance you will be taking (are you for or against the topic? Are you informing or persuading? Which side are your thoughts and ideas supporting?) 

Do not be afraid to modify, change or ignore some of this initial work. You may come to realize that something you thought was good is actually not, or you may find some more information that makes an even better argument for your topic.

Choose Your Supporting Information

            The ideas and thoughts that you have connected to each other are the ‘Supporting Details’ that you should use for your body paragraphs.  These thoughts and ideas should be relatable to each other and the initial topic.  For your writing purposes, you may want to make a main statement for the initial ‘supporting detail’ (i.e. topic sentence) and then follow those with you supportive information.

With these supporting details you should be able to form a tentative thesis statement. This statement can help you keep to your purpose throughout the course of you essay—you can always go back to it and see if you have gone off on a tangent or if you are spot on with your purpose.

My Take

In using this sort of approach to organization, you can save yourself the headache and worry over whether or not your paper is doing what you want or need it to after you have basically finished it.  I personally dislike having to go back and reorganize what I have written when I figured I had finished writing.  If I can have it organized from the get-go, firstly, I feel so much better about the finished product, and secondly, I do not have to stress myself out over whether or not it makes sense or stays focused.

For your information

Here are a couple blog posts that share some basic information on organization of an essay: 

´        Essay Writing   IELTS-Blog.htm

o   this post is not strictly on organization, however it describes a strategy for writing called “the 4 C’s” that can help you to keep a focus

´        GMAT Tip of the Week  Three Simple Rules to Writing a Well-Organized AWA Essay   Veritas Prep.htm

o   this post about organization offers advice for when you are actually writing your paper rather than before hand

´        Organizing Principles for Writing an Essay   Education - Seattle PI.htm

o   this post defines different essay structures such as compare and contrast or cause and effect

I hope that this information has been helpful at least in some small way…I would love it if you let me know what worked for you and what did not (:

Amanda