Grammar Post 4

I always seem to have a hard time knowing what the heck an adjective and an adverb are. I mean we have learned them like our whole lives but i still couldnt tell ya what they are so here are a few rules on how to know when to use them and what they are:
1. Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
You can recognize adverbs easily because many of them are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. Ex. He is careless when driving. (adj) He drives carelessly (adv.)
2. An adjective always follows a form of the verb to be when it modifies the noun before the verb.
3. Likewise, an adjective always follows a sense verb or a verb of appearance -- feel, taste, smell, sound, look, appear, and seem -- when it modifies the noun before the verb.

Idiot Nation

Reading this essay i agreed with him on some of the things he said however, i think he came across a little harsh. I liked the part about how he said Americans need to be more educated, if we are practically running the world we need to know a little bit more about what is going on around us. I liked how he said how many Americans do not even know how to read above a 4th grade level and we that do read only read about 99 hours a year vs. 1400 hours of tv. We all need to get more involved in the knowledge of our country. The best way to learn more is to ask questions, rather than just listen to what is feed to us, we need to go out and learn for ourselves question what is going on and be humble to learn. I do agree with all of these facts he says however a do not agree with how he puts it across. He is so mean he basically says that we are all idiots in this country. It comes across as Im smart your dumb blah blah blah. Rather than simply just chew everyone out fot what they are doing wrong we need to just look at ourselves and figure out what we can do better. I know personally there is a lot I need to do to get involved. Like many others i would much rather watch an entertaining show long before the president, the fact is its pretty dull. No music, no real jokes, just a long speech. Like me many others are the same we need to change ourselves to make this country better, not just complain what is being done wrong. The fact is no one is perfect no matter who is in office we need to stand behind them and if we disagree we can do whatever we need to do to make the country better and vote in 4 years for a change. It is a simple fact, we all need to better ourselves to better the nation.

Reading this essay was just grand. I could enjoy it a little more by eating candy like you said and reading it at the same time. I really liked how she talked abo0ut all of the different systems of class. All the different positions of the family is great. With things like the Moynihan report sometimes our views of society can be a little different than what they really are. Like this report it shows how things can be like a little misunderstood. People seem to always assume that certain people in groups automatically assume that role. It speaks of the roles of African American families and shows what they are, when in reality a lot of them are not like that at all. In our nuclear families it seems as if people always assume that mother's are supposed to work in the home and take care of everything while the father's are supposed to work and earn and make money to support the family. We need to realize that people are different than how they appear we should not judge off of stereotypes or things that we have seen once and automatically assume that is the truth of it all. People are all different. In this essay it speaks of stratification and the different class systems. People in upper class seem to control a lot of the everyday society and want people families to stay in their class. Middle class is where most of America lies and we work to go up to the higher class. Lower class is the poor who try to work to get up by whatever they can do. With the black civil rights movement it gave a lot of change it gave people equal rights and has changed how our society views their culture as a whole. This essay was a bit challenging but it was interesting.

Grammar Post 2

Some of the time I seem to have a more difficult time knowing where to put a colon. After researching i have found that there are several times and places when it is appropriate here is a list of places to use it at:

in the following situations:
for example:
1. After a complete statement in order to introduce one or more directly related ideas, such as a series of directions, a list, or a quotation or other comment illustrating or explaining the statement.
The daily newspaper contains four sections: news, sports, entertainment, and classified ads.
The strategies of corporatist industrial unionism have proven ineffective: compromises and concessions have left labor in a weakened position in the new "flexible" economy.
2. In a business letter greeting.
Dear Ms. Winstead:
3. Between the hour and minutes in time notation.
5:30 p.m.
4. Between chapter and verse in biblical references.
Genesis 1:18
After reading these rules it makes it a little more clear on where and when to use colons.

This cartoon made me laugh i little thinking about what our country has really become. Our citizens are so into what is popular on tv and in the media that American Idol is has more voter turnout than the actual presidential election. By not getting involved and simply sitting back and doing nothin this is what we will be. Unfortunatly the congress channels are not that exciting to watch but we need to get involved in other ways. We are becoming lazy and need to start thinking for ourselves and learning for ourselves.

This cartoon really speaks to me in the fact that during this previous election it seemed by far that Obama had all the press coverage and Mcain had almost none at all. It seemed everywhere you turned there was something about Obama even Mtv was strongly supporting him. What i get from this cartoon is that Obama had so much press coverage that it seemed as if someone was always with him, as if being tied to his little finger reporting everything that he ever did. The problem is we need to know of both candidates not just one. I think one of the main reason Obama won the election was the amount of press coverage he had.

Grammar Post

I seem to struggle with where to put commas. I always forget to put commas in the right places, there is just so many places they need to go. Its hard for me to know where they go. Here are eleven rules for comma placement: 1.Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. 2.Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause. 3.Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. 4.Use one comma before to indicate the beginning of the pause and one at the end to indicate the end of the pause. 5.Do not use commas to set off essential elements of the sentence, such as clauses beginning with that (relative clauses). That clauses after nouns are always essential. That clauses following a verb expressing mental action are always essential. 6.Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses written in a series. 7.Use commas to separate two or more coordinate adjectives that describe the same noun. Be sure never to add an extra comma between the final adjective and the noun itself or to use commas with non-coordinate adjectives. 8.Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements or to indicate a distinct pause or shift. 9.Use commas to set off phrases at the end of the sentence that refer back to the beginning or middle of the sentence. Such phrases are free modifiers that can be placed anywhere in the sentence without causing confusion. (If the placement of the modifier causes confusion, then it is not "free" and must remain "bound" to the word it modifies.) 10.Use commas to set off all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names. 11.Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation. Use commas wherever necessary to prevent possible confusion or misreading.

An American Citizen

The title of an American Citizen is indeed a great one. We live in a wonderful time with plenty of oppurtunities and excitement before us, and to live in a country where we have the freedom to be what we want to be is an amazing gift we have. By living in America and being an American Citizen we can indeed follow these oppurtunities and use the freedom we have to be whatever it is we want to be. By having freedom we also have the oppurtunity to vote for who we feel should be in power, which is another great gift. By being an American Citizen we all have a voice in what we would like to be done.
With these many oppurtunities also comes great responsibility. To be an American Citizen is much more than to simply just vote for the president and live your life. An American Citizen should take action in the government and world around them. Dont just simply listen to what the media speaks, figure it out your own. With the freedom comes the ability to recieve information to make better informed decisions on what you think is best for the country. Without the American Citizen, there is no America.
In the book Rereading America there is much information on critical thinking. By reading this book it will help to think past all the standards of culture we have been taught our entire lives. It will help to think about all the ends of something every last piece before deciding if it is right or wrong. By reading this it may indeed change some of my opinions i have had my whole life, by thinking critically rather than just believing what is said, I can better my knowledge and become an overall better American Citizen. Ask questions, learn, it is all part of ciritcal thinking.