Grammar Post #7

Comma splices are hard for me because I think every sentence needs to be long. I want to put all the information into one sentence. I forget that It's OK to have short sentences to make your thought sound better. A comma splice happens when you conjoin two independent clauses with a comma. You could easily make them two sentences with a period or use a semi-colon instead.
Example:
Incorrect: I like chocolate ice cream, it tastes so delicious.
Correct: I like chocolate ice cream. It tastes so delicious.
Correct: I like chocolate ice cream; it tastes so delicious.
More examples are located at this website.

Best/Worst Movie

I would give The Emperors New Groove an Oscar because of the actors, the animation, and the story line. This movie pulls you in, releasing information at just the right time. You want to finish the movie just to find out if Cuzco stays a llama forever. I love the part when Cuzco dresses up as a women so him and Pancha can eat at the dinner. When Ezma and Kronk stumble upon the same dinner and Kronk ends up cooking. Even sitting at tables next to each other, they are so oblivious that Kusco and Pancha can barely escape.
Who ever picked the actors got it dead on. Just by using their voices they bring the characters to life. You find yourself having favorites and rooting them on. Patrick Warburton brings a slower side out of Kronk. I mean who else would have their own theme song music. With his dumb humor and meat head personality you can't help but fall in love with him. The voice of Ezma is vindictive. She wants the power. You get the feeling of spite from her voice.
If you pay attention, you can pick out little thing in the animation that make the movie even funnier. At dinner Kronk and Ezma try to kill Cuzco. After Ezma throws her drink onto a plant and the plant turns into a llama. Another example of the animation is when Cuzco gives a description of Ezma. You can see all her wrinkles, crooked teeth, and even food particles in her teeth.

Grammar Post #6

When do you write out numbers and when do you not? I never thought I had trouble with this until I actually read the rules. There are many rules to writing numbers:
1) Any number 0-9 is spelt out. Ten and above are numerical.
- I hit three homeruns.
2) Keep the sentence consistant. Use numericals OR write them out.
- There are 12 computers in the library and 5 are being use.
3) If you are stating a decade you put an apostrophe in front of the decade and not inbetween the number and the s.
- '80s, '50s, '40s, '90s '70s
For more number writing rules continue on.

Grammar Post #5

Em and En dashes......who knew? Em dashes are about the width of an m. They can be used to replace commas, parenthesses, and colons. They are used to enchance a point or when there is a change in the idea.
Example:
Never have I met such a lovely person—before you.
I wish you would—oh, never mind.

En dashes, go figure, are the width of an n. These dashes are used to replace the word to.
Example:
from June – August
California – Flordia coast line

More information here!

Group Research

I'm going to do my research on polygamists.

Two topics that I'm leaning towards are:

1) What effect does this lifestyle have on their children?

2) What is their motivation for staying polygamist?

What do you think?

Grammar Post #4

I have trouble with colons because I never use them. The only punctuations that I use are periods and commas. When you write a complete sentence and a list of items follow, you use a colon not a comma. Do not use a colon if the sentence is not a complete one. Only use colons after salutations on a letter if it is not a complete sentence.
Examples:
Salutation: Dear Mr. Smith:
I need the following from the grocery store: eggs, butter, milk, cookies
There are six different colon rules located here for more information.