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free guidance notes on writing skills and English Language, sample pages, How-to guides, and study resources

26 Golden Rules for Writing Well

September 16, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a checklist for professional writing skills

1. Don’t abbrev.

2. Check to see if you any words out.

3. Be carefully to use adjectives and adverbs correct.

4. About sentence fragments.

5. When dangling, don’t use participles.

6. Don’t use no double negatives.

7. Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent.

8. Just between you and I, case is important.

9. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.

10. Don’t use commas, that aren’t necessary.

11. Its important to use apostrophe’s right.

12. It’s better not to unnecessarily split an infinitive.

13. Never leave a transitive verb just lay there without an object.

14. Only Proper Nouns should be capitalized. also a sentence should
begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop

15. Use hyphens in compound-words, not just in any two-word phrase.

16. In letters compositions reports and things like that we use commas
to keep a string of items apart.

17. Watch out for irregular verbs that have creeped into our language.

18. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.

19. Avoid unnecessary redundancy.

20. A writer mustn’t shift your point of view.

21. Don’t write a run-on sentence you’ve got to punctuate it.

22. A preposition isn’t a good thing to end a sentence with.

23. Avoid cliches like the plague.

24. 1 final thing is to never start a sentence with a number.

25. Always check your work for accuracy and completeness.

[ANON.]

Writing well is often a matter of checking small details such as those illustrated by the notes above. Give yourself a bonus point if you spotted why the grammatically correct statement in number 25 is relevant. If you didn’t – look again at the page title.


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A First Class Essay

September 28, 2009 by Roy Johnson

this shows what a first class essay looks like

This first class essay is piece of work was produced on a third-year undergraduate course which considers Modern Literature and Literary Theory. Students are required to examine texts from different genres in the light of critical theory. In this case it is theories about the relationship between literature and history. As in many questions set at this level, the student is being asked to respond to a quotation from citical commentary on the topic. The essay is in full copyright of its author, to whom thanks for permission to reproduce it here are due.


Question
‘The poetic act both anticipates the future and speeds its coming’ (Czeslaw Milosz, ‘On Hope’ The Witness of Poetry, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1983).

In what ways could texts which deal with the past be said to be anticipating a future? Discuss with reference to at least one poetry text, and one text from a different genre.


Every literary text is both written and received in a particular historical context. In this sense all literary texts are historical. However some texts deliberately foreground history by explicitly engaging with a given period, or by referring to specific historical events. Anna Akhmatova and J.G. Ballard are writers who have consciously chosen to address the past, and yet, in doing so, have also prefigured the future.

In ‘Requiem’ (1) Akhmatova expresses her need to preserve the memories of the horror of life during the Stalinist reign of terror, as a way of issuing a warning about the future. She herself lived through the events depicted, and the poem represents her personal testimony, ‘I stand as witness to the common lot, / survivor of that time, that place.’ (p.54) Akhmatova also makes clear the fact that she faced opposition from those in authority, who attempted, through censorship, to prevent such remembrance. However her determination to commemorate the suffering that she and others like her endured, is explicit in the Epilogue:

I want to name the names of all that host,
but they snatched up the list, and now it’s lost.
I’ve woven them a garment that’s prepared
out of poor words, those that I overheard,
and will hold fast to every word and glance
all of my days, (p.61).

Her feelings are shared by many writers who have witnessed or experienced traumatic circumstances and feel that drawing attention to them is a way of trying to prevent their reoccurrence. Dennis Walder, in a paraphrase of the writing of Gunter Grass, explains it as ‘an urgency to recall a specific past in order to say something to the present – and to the future’.(2)

‘Requiem’ is a group of poems written over a period of years in which Akhmatova highlights various periods in her life and in the life of her country. She compares her situation to that of ‘the wives of Peter’s troopers’ whose soldier husbands were executed in 1698. One effect of referring to a comparable event over two hundred years earlier, is to demonstrate that the ‘Yezhov terror’ is far from being Russia’s first experience of tyranny. The implication is that it may not be the last. As Joseph Brodsky states, ‘She sensed that history, like its objects has very limited options’.(3) Hence the sense of desperation in her wish to communicate the horror of an event which, in the words of Primo Levi, ‘happened, therefore it can happen again’.(4)

As a poet, rather than a historian, Akhmatova is perhaps better able to express the suffering and emotions of her people, albeit subjectively. By concentrating on grief and affliction rather than clinical facts, she increases the memorability of her subject matter. As Joseph Brodsky states, ‘At certain periods in history it is only poetry that is capable of dealing with reality by condensing it into something graspable, something that otherwise couldn’t be retained by the mind’.(5) The poem’s imagery conveys the way in which suffering produces feelings of numbness. Its ability to ‘turn heart into a stone'(p.58), seems to be necessary for people to survive. The same imagery is used to portray the dehumanizing effect of oppression, with people metaphorically depicted as stone: ‘how suffering inscribes on cheeks / the hard lines of its cuneiform texts,'(p. 60). This theme continues in the epilogue when, in a proleptic reference, Akhmatova anticipates her own symbolical reification. She envisions a statue erected in her memory, ‘I should be proud to have my memory graced / but only if the monument be placed / …here, where I endured three hundred hours'(p.61). This prefiguration is also an anticipation of a possible end to the anguish, as symbolized by the image of ‘melting snow’.(p.61)

Despite the fact that the poem consists of a number of small segments, likened to the musical form of a requiem, the religious imagery forms a continuum. It also serves to set the poem in a wider context, and is another example of the way in which Akhmatova anticipates a better future. The section of the poem entitled ‘Crucifixion’, is particularly rich in religious imagery and contains a near quotation from the Russian Orthodox Easter service, ‘Do not weep for me, Mother, / When I am in my grave’ (p.59). Akhmatova’s direct comparison of her situation with the crucifixion and Easter, indirectly implies an anticipation of the resurrection, and thus expresses a glimmer of hope for the future. This is taken a step further with an apocalyptic prophesy ‘A choir of angels glorified the hour, / the vault of heaven was dissolved in fire.’ (p.59). As book of Revelation suggests that following the Apocalypse there will be no more suffering or death, the allusions to it are again a way of tentatively intimating a sense of optimism about the future. The poem ends with a reference to ‘a prison dove’, an image which fuses the Christian symbol of peace and freedom with persecution and imprisonment. This exemplifies the way in which, throughout the poem, Akhmatova balances the wish to commemorate horror, with a simultaneous attempt to anticipate peace.

Empire of the Sun is a novel based upon events in the past, witnessed by its author during his childhood. In the preface, Ballard explains the relationship between the narrative and known historical facts, ‘For the most part this novel is based on events I observed during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and within the camp at Lunghua’.(6)

Like Akhmatova, Ballard is concerned with memory, and how memories of the past can affect the present and the future. As such, Empire of the Sun contains his personal testimony. Despite the fact that the novel is clearly a work of fiction, there is an obvious autobiographical feel about it; the main protagonist shares the name of the author and there are frequent references to verifiable events. As Laurence Lerner explains, ‘The world of fiction is not purely imaginary, but overlaps with the world of history; in the case of realistic fiction, the overlap is especially large, and welcomed.’ (7) This ‘overlap’, caused by the inclusion of a wealth of legitimate facts, gives a sense of credibility to the fictional events that occur. This is exemplified by a sentence from the beginning of the novel in which fictional and verifiable events are juxtaposed, ‘After morning service on Sunday, 7 December, the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the choirboys were…marched down to the crypt’ (p.11). The episode that the narrator relates may, or may not have actually happened, but is given an air of realism by its link with an established factual event.

In an interview, Ballard explained his gravitation towards the genre of science fiction, as being due to a desire to ‘write about the next five minutes and not the last thirty years’.(8) Empire of the Sun, is not a work of science fiction, and yet it is possible to see how, despite its engagement with the past, Ballard uses the narrative to speculate about the future. In particular the focus towards the end of the novel is concentrated on the possibility of a third world war. The narrative perspective of a young and somewhat traumatized boy, under the apprehension that the next war has already started, enables Ballard to heighten awareness of such a prospect. ‘If he saw his parents he would tell them that World War III had begun and they should return to their camp at Soochow’ (p.338).

Ballard’s preoccupation with the prospect of another war, reveals an ideology which relates to the prevailing political circumstances at the time in which the novel was written. The years preceding 1984 had been characterized by anxiety due to the events which surrounded the ‘Cold War’. Despite Jim’s limited perceptions and often simplistic interpretation of events, his prophetic remarks about future hostilities are lent credence by their feasibility and the conviction with which they are expressed, ‘these were trailers for a war that had already started. One day there would be no more newsreels.’ (p. 349); ‘One day China would punish the rest of the world, and take a frightening revenge’.(p.351) Although it is clear that these are Jim’s thoughts and opinions, they are reported by the narrator without elaboration or contradiction, which adds to their plausibility. Ballard’s choice of narrative mode, therefore contributes to the novel’s ability to arouse contemplation of future events.

By definition, the past is absent and yet language is able to make it accessible. Despite their differing emphasis and methodology, Akhmatova and Ballard have both produced texts which, in the words of Primo Levi ‘bear witness’.(9) In doing so they demonstrate the way in which recollections of specific past occurrences, can affect perceptions of the present and the future. In issuing warnings about the future and provoking its consideration, they are able, as Milozs suggests, to ‘anticipate the future’ and to ‘speed its coming’.(10)

Notes

1. Anna Akhmatova, ‘Requiem’, in The Poetry Anthology, The Open University (p.54). All subsequent references are to this edition.

2. Dennis Walder et al, Block 8 – Literature and History, The Open University (p.10).

3. Joseph Brodsky, ‘The Keening Muse’, Literature in the Modern World, The Open University (p.354). All subsequent references are to this edition.

4. Primo Levi, quoted by Dennis Walder, Block 8 – Literature and History, The Open University (p.10)

5. Joseph Brodsky (p.357).

6. J.G. Ballard, from the preface to Empire of the Sun, Flamingo (1994)
All subsequent references are to this edition.

7. Laurence Lerner, ‘History and Fiction’ from Literature in the Modern World, The Open University (p.337)

8. J.G. Ballard, taken from TV16, ‘The next five minutes : literature and history’, The Open University.

9. Primo Levi, quoted by Dennis Walder, Block 8 – Literature and History, The Open University (p.10)

10. Czeslaw Milosz, ‘On Hope’, Literature in the Modern World, The Open University (p.359.)

Bibliography

A319, Block 8 Literature and History.

A319, The Poetry Anthology.

TV16, ‘The Next Five Minutes: literature and history’.

Radio 16 ‘Poetry and History: Anna Akhmatova’.

Ballard J.G., Empire of the Sun, Flamingo (1994)

Copyright © Kathryn Smith


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A good essay

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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What makes a good essay?

1. Answers the question
No matter how interesting or well-written an essay, you will not be given any credit for your efforts unless it answers the question that was set. Your argument and evidence must be relevant to the question. This is the most important feature of what makes a good essay. It must deal with the subject or the topic(s) posed in the question rubric. Your answer should demonstrate that you have understood what the question is asking for, that you have grasped its key terms, and that you have followed all its instructions.

2. Clear structure
An essay should be like a good piece of architecture – built on firm foundations to carefully made plans. The points of your argument should be arranged in some structure which is logical and persuasive. If you are dealing with a number of issues, the relation between them should be clearly explained. The connections between each stage of your argument and the original question should be evident throughout the essay.

3. Appropriate style
For an academic essay the third person (‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’) rather than the first person (‘I’) is a more preferable style. Occasional use of ‘I’ may be acceptable if a personal opinion has been specifically requested. You should keep your audience in mind. Try to imagine that you are addressing someone who is intelligent and reasonably, but not necessarily well-informed in the subject. Remember that your writing should be grammatically accurate. Poor punctuation and weak sentence construction will create a bad impression. Mixed tenses and metaphors should be avoided. Spelling mistakes should be corrected.

4. Arguments supported by evidence
Essays should not be just a series of unsupported assertions. You need to provide some evidence to support them – either in the form of factual details, your own reasoning, or the arguments of others. In this latter case, you should always reveal the fact that you are using someone else’s ideas. Provide attribution by using a system of footnotes or endnotes and accurate referencing. Never try to pass off other people’s written words as your own. This is called plagiarism – a form of intellectual dishonesty which is severely frowned upon in academic circles.

5. Clarity of thought
One of the hallmarks of a good essay is that it demonstrates clarity of thought. This may be your ability to identify different issues and discuss them in a logical manner. It may mean organising materials into a coherent structure for the essay. It could be showing that you are able to make important distinctions and insights. This may not come easily at first, but with practice it should be possible to gain greater clarity through discipline, selection, and planning.

6. Evidence of wide reading and understanding
Essays are often set to encourage and direct your reading in a subject. If you show that you have read widely and thoroughly understood the subject you are discussing, you will be demonstrating your competence. The best essays are often produced by people who have taken the trouble to acquaint themselves both with the principal ‘set books’ and with secondary works of commentary and criticism as well. They will often show evidence of intellectual curiosity which has taken them beyond the bounds of what has been prescribed as a minimum.

7. Originality
An essay will be rewarded with a good mark if it competently reviews all the well-known arguments in a subject and reaches a balanced conclusion. The highest grades however are often given – deservedly – to essays which display something extra. This may be a demonstration of original ideas or an unusual, imaginative approach. Such essays usually stand out because of their freshness and the sense of intellectual excitement they convey. But remember that you are not usually required to be original. Your tutor(s) will be perfectly satisfied if you simply answer their essay questions in a sensible and competent manner.

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A plan for writing essays

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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1. Approach
Essays can be composed using a number of different writing strategies. Some people write directly from rough notes, whilst others prefer a ‘discovery’ method. If you are in any doubt at all, you should plan your work. The task of writing is usually much easier if you create an outline structure for your arguments, with brief details of the topics to be covered. The stages of this process are as follows.

2. Analyse the question
Make sure that you understand what an essay question is asking for. What is it giving you the chance to write about? What is its central issue? Note carefully any of its key terms and any instructions. Think about the question, turning it over in your mind. Discuss it if possible with your fellow students. If you are in any doubt, ask your tutor to explain what is required.

3. Generate ideas
Take a sheet of paper and make a brief note of any topics that might be used for an answer. These can be ideas, observations, or information from your study materials. These topics will be used to make a plan. Don’t copy out chunks of texts. Use brief notes or even single word triggers. Write down anything you think of at this stage. Your objective is to generate ideas, to assemble a stock of potential material from which you will pick out the most appropriate items.

4. Choose topics
Take another sheet of paper. Extract from your list all those topics and points of argument which are of greatest relevance to the question and its central issue. You are simply picking out the best material. If it is possible, put your ideas in any logical groups or categories. If anything strikes you as irrelevant to the subject in question, throw it out.

5. Reading and research
Whilst writing essays, you will probably be engaged in reading or research in the subject. This will help you to provide information for an answer. Your reading will be more carefully directed if you have narrowed down the topics you need to cover in your response to a question. This is why it is important to think about the issues involved as a form of preliminary work on the question.

6. Selection
Select items on the strength of their relevance to the question. This may not be an easy judgement to make. Keep asking yourself – “Is this directly related to the subject? Will it answer the question?” You might have three categories of selection. One is a definite “Yes – this relevant”. The second could be like a ‘Pending’ tray containing items which might be used later. The third is a dustbin into which the completely unrelated material is thrown for good.

7. Create order
Take yet another sheet of paper. Try to arrange your chosen topics and material in some sort of order. At this stage you should be starting to formulate your basic response to the question. Organise the points so that they form a persuasive and coherent pattern or argument. Some subjects will lend themselves more easily to the creation of this order than others. In some, such as appreciation of the arts, there may be no set pattern and one must be created. In some of the sciences, there may be a standard form of report which must be followed. This is probably the hardest part of essay planning at a conceptual level.

8. Arrange evidence
Most of the major points in your argument will need to be supported by evidence. One purpose of the essay task is to show that you have read widely in your subject and considered the opinions of others. In some subjects you may actually need proof to support your arguments. During the process of study you have probably been assembling notes and references for just such a purpose. If not, this is the time to do so. On another sheet of paper you might compile a list of brief quotations from other sources (don’t forget the page references) which will be offered as your evidence.

9. Material
Don’t worry too much if you have surplus evidence after completing this stage. This is perfectly normal. You can pick out the best from what is available. If on the other hand you don’t have enough, you should do more background reading or engage with the subject once again. Take some more notes or generate new ideas as material to work on.

10. Make changes
Whilst you have been engaged in the first stages of planning, new ideas may have come to mind. Alternate sources of evidence may have occurred to you, or the line of your argument may have shifted somewhat. Be prepared at this stage to rearrange your plan so that it incorporates any new materials. Try out different arrangements of your topics until they form the most convincing and logical sequence.

11. Make plan
Most essay plans can be summarised in this form:

  • Introduction
  • Arguments
  • Conclusion

State your case as briefly and as directly as possible. Next, present your arguments and your evidence in the body of the essay, explaining their relevance to the original question. Finally, draw together the points of your arguments and try to lift them to a higher level in your conclusion. Your final plan may be something like a list of half a dozen to ten major points of argument. Each of these, together with their supporting evidence, will be expanded to a paragraph of something around 100-200 words. This is the heart of essay planning.

12. First draft
You are now ready to produce the first draft of the essay. Don’t imagine that you are supposed to produce an accomplished piece of writing at one sitting. These will be your first thoughts and your initial attempts at answering the question. Later drafts can be improved by re-writing. You will be matching your evidence to what is required. You do not necessarily need to start at the introduction and work systematically towards your conclusion: it may be better to start working where you feel most comfortable.

13. Relevance
At all stages of essay writing, you should keep the question in mind. Keep asking yourself “Is this evidence directly relevant to the topic I have been asked to discuss?” If necessary, be prepared to scrap your first attempts and formulate new arguments. This may seem painful, but it will be much easier than scrapping finished essays.

14. Paragraphs
A good tip on relevance is to check that the opening statement of each major paragraph is directly related to the question. The first sentence (which is sometimes called the topic sentence’) should be a direct response to what you have been asked. It might be an example to illustrate your answer, or a major point of your argument on the subject in question. If it is not, something may be wrong.

15. Revising the draft
Your first draft is the basic material from which you will be building the finished product. Be prepared to re-write it in whatever way is necessary. If it is too short, generate more arguments. If it is too long, cut out the less relevant parts. If it doesn’t seem convincing, consider putting its arguments in a different order. You might begin to tidy up the grammar and style at this stage.

16. Multiple drafts
The number of drafts you make will depend upon the time you have available (and possibly the importance of the piece of work). It is very useful to take your work through a number of drafts, re-writing where necessary. In the majority of cases, this will improve the quality of what you produce.

17. Editing
Before actually submitting the piece of work, you should take it through at least one stage of rigorous presentation of your work will enhance its effectiveness. Create a neat, legible text; double-space your paragraphs and leave wide margins to ‘frame’ what you have written. Take pride in the work you produce. Keep essays in a loose-leaf folder or a document wallet. Alternatively, use one of the plastic envelopes which are now increasingly popular. Remember that your essays will be of critical importance during the period of revising for examinations.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Abbreviations

August 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Abbreviations – definition

abbreviations in English Abbreviations are letters or shortened words which are used instead of the full word.


Examples
Abbreviation Full expression Latin term
e.g. for example exempli gratia
i.e. that is id est
N.B. please note nota bene
Mr Mister —
US United States —

Use

abbreviations Abbreviations are used to save space – or to avoid repeating common terms.

abbreviations They are often used in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and bibliographies.

abbreviations Some organisations abbreviate their titles to the initial capital letters of their names.

abbreviations Abbreviations are very useful when taking notes.

abbreviations Many traditional abbreviations are shortened forms of words from Latin.

abbreviations NB! Don’t use abbreviations in formal writing. Write out the word(s) in full.

abbreviations Notice that a full stop is placed after an abbreviation, but not when the full word is used.

abbreviations Sometimes the full stop may be omitted in order to avoid double punctuation.

abbreviations Never begin a sentence with an abbreviation. Either spell out the word, or re-arrange the words in the sentence.

abbreviations Companies and organisations often drop the full stops from their abbreviated titles.

ICI – Imperial Chemicals Industry
BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation
WHO – World Health Organisation

abbreviations Some abbreviations are spoken as if they were complete words: for instance, NATO (‘NayTow’).

abbreviations Others are spelled out. For instance VIP [very important person] is usually spoken as three separate letters – “Vee-Eye-Pea”.

abbreviations Abbreviations are very useful when taking notes, but you should not use them in the main text of any formal writing.

abbreviations If you wish to use any of these expressions, they should be written out in full. That is, don’t use e.g., but write out for example.

Self-assessment quiz follows …

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Abbreviations in essays

August 22, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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1. The following is a list of abbreviations in essays you will often come across – mainly in the text, the index, or the bibliography of books designed for serious readers.

2. They are nearly all brief or abbreviated forms of expressions in Latin.

3. Many people also make use of them when taking notes, and they are also used in the footnotes and endnotes of academic writing. Examples below.

4. Don’t use abbreviations in the main text of any formal writing. If you wish to use these terms, they should be written out in full.

5. That is, don’t put e.g., but write out for example.

6. Notice that a full stop is placed after an abbreviation, but not when the full word is used.

7. This is correct usage, but sometimes the full stop may be omitted in order to avoid double punctuation.

8. Note that these terms are often shown in italics.

9. You should never begin a sentence with an abbreviation.

Abbrev. Full term
app. appendix
b. born. For example, b.1939
c. (circa) about: usually with a date.
For example: c.1830.
cf. (confer) compare.
ch. chapter (plural chaps.)
col. column (plural cols.)
d. died. For example, d.1956
do. (ditto) the same.
e.g. (exempli gratia) for example.
ed. edition; edited by; editor (plural eds.)
esp. especially.
et al. (et alii, aliae, or alia) and others.
For example, Harkinson et. al.
et seq. (et sequens) and the following.
For example, p.36 et seq.
etc. (et cetera) and so forth. [An over-used term. Worth avoiding.]
fig. figure (plural figs.)
f./ff. following.
For example, 8ff. = page 8 and the following pages.
ibid. (ibidem) in the same place: from the source previously mentioned.
i.e. (id est) that is.
inf. (infra) below: refers to a section still to come.
l. line (plural ll.) [NB! easily mistaken for numbers ‘One’ and ‘Eleven’.]
loc. cit. (loco citato) at the place quoted: from the same place.
n. note, footnote (plural nn.)
n.d. no date given
op. cit. (opere citato) from the work already quoted.
p. page (plural pp.) For example, p.15 [Always precedes the number.]
para. paragraph (plural paras.)
passim in many places: too many references to list.
q.v. (quod vide) look up this point elsewhere.
For example, q.v. p.32.
sic thus. As printed or written in the original. usually in square brackets [sic].
supra above: in that part already dealt with.
trans. translator, translated by.
viz. (videlicet) namely, that is to say.
For example: Under certain conditions, viz…
vol. volume (plural, vols.)

Here’s the use of abbreviation in an academic footnote. The first reference used edn for edition and p for page. The second reference uses ibid for ‘in the same place’.

2. Judith Butcher, Copy Editing: the Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Authors, and Publishers, 3rd edn., Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.234.

3. Butcher, ibid., p.256

Here’s an example which uses the abbreviated names of two well-known organisations:

The BBC reported yesterday that the leaders of NATO had agreed to discuss the crisis as a matter of urgency.

Abbreviations are commonly used in displaying web site addresses:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/BUBL/home.html

Every term in this address, apart from the names ‘Bath’ and ‘home’, are abbreviations

http = hypertext transfer protocol

www = world wide web

ac = academic

uk = United Kingdom

html = hypertext markup language

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Accent – how to understand it

August 27, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Accent – definition

accent Accent refers to a speaker’s style of pronunciation.

redbtn It may signal the regional or social identity of the speaker.

redbtn Accent does not refer to the content of what is being said.


Examples

Class accent

Received Pronunciation [RP] is a form of speech used by (for instance) many BBC newsreaders and members of the Royal Family.

It is based on social class, not on the geographic origins of the speaker.

Regional Accent

A Geordie accent is the regional speech style used by speakers in the North East of England.

A Cockney accent is the indigenous speech style used by people in the London area.

‘Book’ might be pronounced as ‘Bewk’ in northern England, but ‘Back’ in southern England.

Similarly, the term ‘car’ might be pronounced as ‘kaar’ and ‘caw’ in these two regions.


Use

accent Every geographical area has its own characteristic and recognisable style of speech which is used by a group.

accent Everybody speaks with an accent. Those people who speak with received pronunciation [RP] are merely using the minority speech style of prestige.

accent It is quite common for a person to speak Standard English with a regional accent.

accent NB! Accent is not the same thing as dialect.

accent The term dialect refers to grammar and vocabulary as well as pronunciation. That is, it describes the content of speech.

accent Fewer than two percent [yes! – 2%] of the UK population speak Received Pronunciation (RP).

accent Perhaps this statistic is surprising when we consider what prestige it has held historically and currently.

accent RP was once itself a regional accent – that of the East Midlands. It acquired its status because East Midlands speakers converged on London as it became a centre for merchants. In other words, London became the power base and the financial centre, and the East Midlands accent became the spoken standard.

accent This prestige accent developed alongside the regional accent of the London area. The co-existence of these two accents still exists today.

accent The Cockney accent is spoken in the East End of London by many original Londoners, whilst RP is spoken by many politicians and by upper-class people who live and work in the same area.

accent The Cockney accent is a regional accent, and RP is class-based.

accent Many regional speakers feel uncomfortable about their accent. This perpetuates the deference and prestige given to RP.

accent Recent studies have shown that RP speakers will often be chosen for jobs, despite the superior skills of regional-speaking competitors.

accent Some presenters on radio and television are employed even though they have strong regional accents. However, they tend to be used on programmes which are not very prestigious, such as weather forecasts, arts programs, and regional news bulletins.

accent Accent can still be a very powerful indicator of status, and it is often an emotive item in social interaction.

accent Speech varies subtly between individuals using the same accent. Because of this, a broad description is all that can be achieved. This applies to the classification of other accents too.

Self-assessment quiz follows …

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: Accent, English language, Grammar, Language

Acronyms

April 21, 2011 by Roy Johnson

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Acronyms – definition

Acronyms An acronym is an abbreviation created from the initial letters of a phrase or name.


Examples
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
IBM International Business Machines
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Use

Acronyms These acronyms are useful, because they save you the trouble of writing out the name in full every time you wish to refer to it.

Acronyms Some acronyms, like those above, are very well known, and can be used without too much problem in most written communication.

Acronyms However, any which are not so well know should always be named in full the first time they are used, and the acronym shown immediately afterwards in brackets. Here’s an example.

The committee elected four new members to the Corporate Affairs Steering Group (CASG) who will report immediately before the annual general meeting (AGM) at the end of July.

Acronyms Some abbreviations are spoken as if they were complete words: for instance, NATO (“NayTow”). and International Criminal Police Organization (“Inter-Pol”)

Acronyms Others are spelled out. For instance Very Important Person is (VIP) usually spoken as three separate letters “Vee-Eye-Pea”.

Acronyms There is no need to put full stops between the letters of an acronym.

Acronyms The plural of an acronym is shown by adding the letter s – as in compact disks (CDs)

Acronyms There is no need to use an apostrophe, which should be reserved for cases showing possession – as in ‘the CD’s jewel case was broken’.

Acronyms Most acronyms are formed by the use of capital letters, but where a normally pronounceable word is formed, they often include lower case letters as well – as in (Radar) – radio detecting and ranging.

Acronyms Acronyms are particularly useful when taking notes, but you should remember to make a record of the full name of any new instances.

AIDS acquired immune deficiency syndrome
ASBO Anti-Social Behaviour Order
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
CD Compact Disc
FAQ frequently asked questions
Gestapo Geheime Staatspolizei (secret state police)
Interpol International Criminal Police Organization
Laser Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Radar radio detection and ranging
Scuba self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
SQL Structured Query Language
WHO World Health Organisation

Self-assessment quiz follows …

© Roy Johnson 2011


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Filed Under: English Language, How-to guides Tagged With: Acronyms, English language, Grammar, Language, Writing skills

Adjectives – how to use them

August 29, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Adjectives – definition

adjectives Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. They can be placed before the noun, or refer back to it.

adjectives In most sentences in English, adjectives precede the noun.


Examples

big – brown – long – heavy – bright

  • This is a long brown pencil box.
  • He was wearing a heavy black overcoat.
  • It turned out to be a bright sunny day.

Use

adjectives Most adjectives are words which describe the object to which they are attached.

adjectives Inexperienced writers often pile up adjectives, believing they will be more effective [‘the fierce and ugly old black shepherd dog’]. Experienced writers use fewer, with care.

adjectives NB! Adjectives are describing words.

adjectives Adjectives can also be made from verbs:

He was the driving force in a prosperous company.

adjectives These adjectives are formed from the verbs to dive and to prosper.

adjectives Adjectives can also be made from nouns:

Let’s sit on that grass verge, not in the car park.

adjectives Adjectives can either be used in a single form, as in ‘the red ball’ or, in multiple form, as in ‘a big shiny yellow beach ball’.

adjectives There is a rule of sequence here which requires the following order:

Size — texture — colour — type

adjectives The next version of this statement is not a normal English sentence, because it does not follow the descriptive rule of word-order:

The yellow big beach shiny ball.

adjectives However, both poetry and advertising deliberately break the rules to make an impact on the reader or listener.

adjectives Placing an adjective after the noun it describes often has a poetic effect:

these roses, heavy with dew

adjectives When an adjective is formed out of proper noun, it retains the capital letter:

He became a British subject.
It happened during the Victorian period.

adjectives If the adjective is formed from a common noun, then no capital is required:

She bought a table cover.

Self-assessment quiz follows …

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: Adjectives, English language, Grammar, Language

Adverbs – how to use them

August 29, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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Adverbs – definition

adverbs Adverbs usually modify a verb.

redbtn Adverbs describe how, where, why, or when an action was done.

redbtn Adverbs can also modify an adjective, or another adverb.

redbtn It can either precede or follow the word it qualifies.

redbtn Many adverbs end in —ly.


Examples

gently – slowly – greatly


Use

redbtn The adverb may follow the verb, as in

He broke the news as gently as possible.

redbtn Or it may precede the verb, as in

She slowly handed him the important document.

redbtn NB! Adverbs can sometimes change the meaning of the word they modify.

redbtn There are three main classes of adverb. Those which describe, those which indicate, and those which show number or amount.

describe – well, greatly, usefully, prettily

indicate – there, here, then

number – once, secondly, very much

redbtn The following examples show adverbs in context:

describe – He has greatly improved his recent coursework grades.

indicate – Here they noticed a small red spot on the ceiling.

number – Once he started he couldn’t stop.

redbtn It is interesting to observe that in English the majority of adverbs end with the suffix -ly, whereas in French they end with the suffix -ment. For example: doucement, lentement, heureusement.

redbtn The ending -ly derives from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘lich’ meaning ‘body’. For instance, a lych gate in a churchyard is one through which the body is brought for burial.

redbtn The French suffix -ment derives from ‘mind’, and it is arguable that the French traditionally have seen themselves as philosophers, where the English have been more practical. Is there a link here?

redbtn Adverbs can occasionally modify a preposition or a conjunction.

Self-assessment quiz follows …

© Roy Johnson 2003


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Filed Under: English Language Tagged With: Adverbs, English language, Grammar, Language

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