{"id":10508,"date":"2023-12-06T08:33:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T13:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/?page_id=10508"},"modified":"2023-12-10T22:59:45","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T03:59:45","slug":"engl4183-5183december06","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/engl4183-5183fall2023\/engl4183-5183december06\/","title":{"rendered":"December 6th: Words and Word Classes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plan for the Night<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ENGL 5183 Rhetorical Analysis Presentations\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dyamond and Marian have been generous enough to provide you with these presentations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grading the Copyediting Assignment together<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tonight&#8217;s Reading<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Final Exam Fun<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ch. 12: Words and Word Clauses<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I think much of this chapter is review, so we&#8217;ll treat it as such. That&#8217;s nice because you have a cumulative <strong>Final Exam<\/strong> in one week (12\/13)! I hope you&#8217;ve been paying attention and doing the reading. Then again, the final&#8217;s only 20% of your entire grade&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Types of Nouns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You probably know that nouns describe people, places, things, and ideas. I like Kolln &amp; Gray&#8217;s definition based on form: &#8220;A noun is a word that can be made plural and\/or possessive&#8221; (p. 197). Nouns are one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Part_of_speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">parts of speech<\/a>, and you use them without thinking about that. Let&#8217;s consider some types of nouns and rules, pet peeves, and good suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Countable\/Non-countable Nouns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pretty simple definition. If you can count individual items, you have a countable noun; if the noun is more conducive to a mass&#8211;a mass or abstract noun&#8211;it&#8217;s a non-countable noun. Non-countable nouns (pasta, homework, democracy, etc.) don&#8217;t sound right with an indefinite article in front of them (<em>a<\/em> or <em>an<\/em>) or in a plural form, such as <em>pastas<\/em>.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*Of course, <em>pasta<\/em> comes from another language that does make the word plural (<em>paste<\/em>), but that refers to types of pasta: penne, spaghetti, linguine, macaroni, etc. In English, it is more standard to refer to multiple pasta forms as &#8220;types of pasta.&#8221; Then again, some people call marinara sauce <em>gravy<\/em> and the noodles <em>spaghetti<\/em> regardless of the exact type of pasta used&#8230;Even worse, Voldemort used to want bland sauce or&#8211;it pains me to mention this&#8211;butter and salt on her pasta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important thing to remember about these nouns is when to use <em>fewer<\/em>\/<em>less<\/em>, <em>amount of<\/em>\/<em>number of<\/em>, and <em>much<\/em>\/<em>many<\/em>. If you can count individual items, use <em>fewer<\/em>, <em>number of<\/em>, and <em>many<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Light beer has <strong>fewer<\/strong> calories than regular beer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If we reduce the <strong>number of<\/strong> cars on the road, we can cut down on pollution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How <strong>many<\/strong> roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man? (Bob Dylan &#8220;Blowin in the Wind&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If the noun doesn&#8217;t have discrete items to count, use <em>less<\/em>, <em>amount of<\/em>, and <em>much<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Light beer has <strong>less<\/strong> taste than IPAs. {This is a fact, by the way.}<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>amount of<\/strong> fat in buffalo wings is enormous.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How <strong>much<\/strong> (money) for that doggie in the window?\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When referencing specific currency, use &#8220;many&#8221;:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How <strong>many<\/strong> dollars did you make?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>On currency, euro is singular and plural, but languages vary on this standard: see <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Language_and_the_euro#English\" target=\"_blank\">England&#8217;s<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Language_and_the_euro#Italian\" target=\"_blank\">Italy&#8217;s<\/a><\/strong> usage. While we&#8217;re here, ever wonder about compound possessives? I&#8217;m sure you have. Notice the difference in the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Alison and Aaron&#8217;s cat is an adorable black kitten.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We share one cat, so you only make the second word possessive (&#8216;s).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alison&#8217;s and his cat is adorable.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the compound possessive uses a pronoun (<em>his<\/em> in the case), the noun that comes first is possessive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alison&#8217;s and Aaron&#8217;s cars are Hondas.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This shows we have two <em>different<\/em> cars that happen to be Hondas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Too bad they aren&#8217;t BMWs&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>England&#8217;s and Italy&#8217;s usage is different.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Here, the usage is different in the different countries. English speakers often say &#8220;euros&#8221; for plural, but Italians use &#8220;euro&#8221; for singular and plural.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Revision needed:<\/strong> The number of pollutions individuals creates is far fewer than the number families generate; therefore, have less children to protect the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure you review the Group Discussion on pp. 195-196. Pay particular attention to #5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We have less than ten dollars to last until payday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Should you change it to &#8220;fewer than ten dollars&#8221; because ten, a number, is countable? In standard usage, we say <em>less<\/em> with money and distance, especially in these situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I have less than $5,000 saved.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This $19.99 price is less than $20!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Flying Saucer is less than five miles from my house.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>At this point in your college careers, you shouldn&#8217;t be blindly repeating rules; instead, you should be able to explain why some word or phrasing or punctuation is more standard than another. Check out this link for a brief discussion on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/words-at-play\/fewer-vs-less\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>the <em>less vs fewer<\/em> issue<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>For Group Discussion<\/strong> (pp. 195-196)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure to do this exercise on your own (if we don&#8217;t do it in class), but consider that when countable nouns are distances, sums of money, units of time, and statistical enumerations, we often think of them as <em>amounts<\/em> rather than <em>numbers<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Collective Nouns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These nouns, &#8220;nam[ing] a group of individual members,&#8221; require context to decide if they should be singular or plural (Kolln &amp; Gray 198). When you refer to the entity as a whole, use the singular; when you refer to the individual members, use the plural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>faculty go<\/strong> <em>their<\/em> separate ways when the semester is over.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The faculty is revolting against upper-administration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, <em>some<\/em>, <em>all<\/em>, and <em>enough<\/em> will often use the singular form of the verb. But notice the subject-verb agreement of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Some<\/strong> of the class <strong>is<\/strong> doing well.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Some<\/strong> of my students <strong>are<\/strong> doing well in class.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Do Exercise #38 on p. 200 to reinforce this material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Adjectives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;ve covered adjectives in general, but we haven&#8217;t had any <strong>fun<\/strong> or <strong>funner<\/strong> discussions. Consider the following chart with comparatives and superlatives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Positive<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Comparative<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Superlative<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>big<\/td><td>bigger<\/td><td>biggest<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>tiny<\/td><td>tinier<\/td><td>tiniest<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>heavy<\/td><td>heavier<\/td><td>heaviest<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>random<\/td><td>randomer<\/td><td>randomest<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>sarcastic<\/td><td>more sarcastic<\/td><td>most sarcastic<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>What&#8217;s the rule?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, turn to pp. 210-211 in Barrett&#8217;s <em>Perfect English Grammar<\/em> and think more about <strong>funner<\/strong> things&#8230;wait! Why is &#8220;funner&#8221; not a word? Doesn&#8217;t it follow the comparative rule above?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Adverbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These verb modifiers are your friends. Identify the usage rules for the following adjectives and adverbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The slow driver drove slowly in the slowest Honda ever made.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>My fast Acura gets me home fast; in fact, I&#8217;m home faster than my not-so-fast neighbor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The graceful dancer twirled gracefully across the stage; she performed more gracefully than her fellow performers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking of &#8220;not-so-fast neighbor,&#8221; if you&#8217;re interested in learning more about when to hyphenate, <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/punctuation\/hyphens.asp\" target=\"_blank\">here&#8217;s a great resource, particularly Rules 10-12<\/a><\/strong>. Barrett has a cleaner discussion of compound nouns on pp. 113-116 and a discussion of compound adjectives and written numbers needing hyphens (or not) on pp. 192-193.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, remember that language conventions change over time, and we tend to close compounds after a while. Also, as we learned (I think we did this) with &#8220;high-temperature oxidation&#8221; and &#8220;high-water mark,&#8221; conventions might be different based on different style guides. For instance, what about these words below?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>video games<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>videogames<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>video gamer vs videogamer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>video-game player<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Wired<\/em> magazine has a standard: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/2007\/11\/on-videogame-ve\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>&#8220;when in doubt, close it up&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> (very bottom of webpage). Just be consistent, and consult your specific style guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mlahandbookplus.org\/books\/book\/5\/chapter\/56460\/Hyphens\" target=\"_blank\">MLA Style for hyphens<\/a><\/strong> &#8230;this is the Modern Language Association\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>not to be confused with the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlanet.org\/page\/mla-style-manual-punctuation\" target=\"_blank\">Medical Library Association style<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/apastyle.apa.org\/learn\/faqs\/when-use-hyphen\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>APA Style for hyphens<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www-chicagomanualofstyle-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net\/book\/ed17\/part2\/ch07\/psec081.html\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Manual of Style<\/a><\/strong> for hyphens\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Take a look at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www-chicagomanualofstyle-org.eu1.proxy.openathens.net\/book\/ed17\/part2\/ch07\/psec080.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7.80: Terms like \u201cweb\u201d and \u201cinternet\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>One more thing&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>webpage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>web page<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Web page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I know, I know&#8230;&#8221;just give us the $&amp;*%#*@ answer!&#8221; It depends on your style guide or organization&#8217;s preference, but I&#8217;ve noticed a move to &#8220;webpage&#8221; as the standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Qualifiers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I mainly want us to focus on the rhetorical aspects of these words. If you read George Orwell&#8217;s <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em>, you may recall Newspeak, the campaign to reduce the number (or amount&#8230;) of words in the English language. Instead of <em>excellent<\/em> or close synonyms, they wanted <strong>doubleplusgood<\/strong>. Kolln &amp; Gray tell us qualifiers &#8220;modif[y] an adjective or adverb&#8230;amplif[ying] or diminish[ing] the meaning of the word it precedes&#8221; (p. 205). I don&#8217;t want to tell you to eliminate qualifiers, but try to limit them by picking more precise verbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The manager <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">very softly spoke<\/span> to his lawyer.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The manager <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">muttered<\/span> to his lawyer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Your turn. Change the underlined words to more precise verbs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">very quickly ran<\/span> across the field.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The cat <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">very quietly walked<\/span> across the couch. {Maybe keep one qualifier&#8230;but what do cats do quietly? Not sing, of course.}\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>My cat <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">stalks<\/span> across the couch.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Isn&#8217;t she adorable?!?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2021\/10\/20211010_191003-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" src=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2022\/11\/20211010_191003-edited-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Do the few sentences from Exercise #40 on pp. 205-206. I have suggestions for #2 and #4 below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>#2: The foreman gives his orders in a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">very abrupt<\/span> manner.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The foreman gives his orders in a <strong>blunt<\/strong> manner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The foreman gives his orders in a <strong>brusque<\/strong> manner.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The foreman gives orders <strong>abruptly<\/strong>.<br>{Does this lose any meaning?}<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>#4: The basketball players seemed <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">really tired<\/span> as they took the court for the second half.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The basketball players seemed <strong>exhausted<\/strong> as they took the court for the second half.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Phrasal Verbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ever heard not to end a sentence with a preposition? I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s something you&#8217;ve heard about. Although you may still want to avoid that if you&#8217;re writing to someone with an old-school approach to grammar (meaning&#8211;outdated), don&#8217;t lose too much sleep over it. The following are easy fixes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Where will you be at?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>At where will you be?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where will you be?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes using the 2nd approach sounds pretentious and out of place. Know your audience. Also, know what <em>is<\/em> and <em>is not<\/em> a preposition. Words can be in multiple parts of speech. Phrasal verbs consist of multiple (usually just two) words, a verb and what looks like a preposition. Verb particles don&#8217;t have to follow the verb, but&nbsp;prepositional phrasal verbs do. Consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I looked up your phone number. (particle)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I looked up the street. (preposition)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I looked up to you. ( <strong><span style=\"color: white\"> particle <\/span><\/strong>    )<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I looked up at you.&nbsp;(<strong><span style=\"color: white\">preposition<\/span><\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>*Highlight the (               ) with your mouse to see the secret.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notice how you can move the particle <em>up<\/em> in a different version of the 1st sentence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I looked your phone number <strong>up<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If someone attempts to correct you, make them explain the rule. When they can&#8217;t, tell them this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your inability to use English correctly is something up with I&#8217;ll not put.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell them to &#8220;think about it,&#8221; and walk away. It&#8217;s your mic drop moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Pronouns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I only want to pause on two aspects of pronoun usage: 1) hypercorrections and 2) <em>they<\/em> as the gender-neutral pronouns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hypercorrections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Buy a beer for Rick and <strong>I<\/strong>. (<em>for me<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you have any questions, address them to <strong>myself<\/strong> or one of the staff members. (to whom?)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This one is particularly pretentious, and you hear it often in formal situations: politicians speaking to the press, business leaders addressing a conference, and managers who don&#8217;t really know correct usage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The sentence should read, &#8220;If you have any questions, address them to <strong>me<\/strong> or one of the staff members.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I glued myself to myself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Below I don&#8217;t have a hypercorrection but an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/ellipsis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ellipsis<\/a>. Which is correct and why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You are taller than I.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You are taller than me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gender in Language<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The English language is sexist, and I can easily prove that with one word, but that&#8217;s for another context. Kolln &amp; Gray (p. 209) don&#8217;t recommend using <em>they<\/em> as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. However, Barrett claims there&#8217;s a 600-year tradition of using <em>they<\/em> or <em>them<\/em> as a gender-neutral singular pronoun (pp. 154-156). I advocate using &#8220;they&#8221; as a singular pronoun. However, be aware of the revision possibilities if you know your audience&#8211;possibly the group paying you&#8211;has an issue. Like most problems with sexism and racism, they lessen over time as people&#8230;expire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do recommend following Kolln &amp; Gray&#8217;s advice for making subjects plural to avoid labeling gender. I highly advise not using <em>his or her<\/em> as in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A reporter must leave out <strong>his or her<\/strong> personal opinions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This phrasing has been an interesting 30-year or so experiment. However, while it&#8217;s better than using the masculine pronoun to stand for all genders, it still maintains a gender binary of masculine OR feminine, and we&#8217;re well beyond such a reductive concept. FULL DISCLOSURE: in work I&#8217;ve published and class materials, I&#8217;ve used <em>his or her<\/em>. And, when I&#8217;m not careful cutting and pasting, I let <em>his or her<\/em> back in. I&#8217;m fully committed to using <em>they<\/em>, <em>them<\/em>, <em>their <\/em>as both third-person singular and plural and will not apologize in the least. In fact, here&#8217;s what I wrote on this subject in the video game book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>It is past time for English to have non-gendered singular pronouns. I use <em>they, their, them, and themselves<\/em> for both plural and singular pronouns instead of maintaining the <em>he\/she<\/em> binary.<\/p>\n<cite>Toscano, Aaron. <em><em>Video Video Games and American Culture: How Ideology Influences Virtual Worlds<\/em>. <\/em>Lexington Books, 2020, note 14, p. 15.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, there was slip&#8230;I wrote one chapter nearly ten years before the book was finished (it was an article that got rejected because the editors of the journal were unappreciative of the work) and still had that <em>his or her<\/em> style choice. Even after my thorough, no doubt impeccable, proofreading, this happened:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Once a player understands the grammar of the game, <em><strong>he or she<\/strong><\/em> is rewarded by pursuing the best strategy. (p. 87)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Ouch! I also wish I could say that that was the only error I found. It is much easier to proofread someone else&#8217;s work then [<em>sic<\/em>] your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ch. 17: More Usage and Style<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This was a quick chapter, so I&#8217;m not going to repeat what it tells us. I do have to address <em>funner<\/em> and <em>funnest<\/em>. These much-maligned words should be standard usage. I was floored that no one in the English Department understood why they were nonstandard even though they follow the superlative rules above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please heed Barrett&#8217;s advice to stop double spacing after your sentences (p. 215). Unless you&#8217;re using a typewriter&#8211;and I&#8217;m nearly certain none of you have ever even seen one outside of a museum or movie&#8211;you don&#8217;t need those double spaces. If you do find you have to edit a document where the author put two spaces after each period, there&#8217;s an easy solution. Using <strong>Find and Replace<\/strong>, put two spaces in the <strong>Find<\/strong> text box and a single space in the <strong>Replace<\/strong> text box. Issue solved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"560\" height=\"230\" src=\"http:\/\/pages.uncc.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/11\/FindReplace-1.jpg\" alt=\"Find and Replace command in Microsoft Word.\" class=\"wp-image-7103\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/11\/FindReplace-1.jpg 560w, https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/11\/FindReplace-1-300x123.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Please note that the underscores are supposed to be spaces. Don&#8217;t search for &#8216;_ _&#8217; and replace with &#8216;-&#8216;.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For my dissertation, which I wrote on a computer, I used two spaces after periods because my committee was still set on that standard, and you write to your audience. When I revised my dissertation into a book, removing those spaces was easy. By the way, reversing this&#8211;adding a second space after a period&#8211;isn&#8217;t an easy fix. Because you have, presumably, a single space between each word, so the universal <strong>Find and Replace<\/strong> won&#8217;t work. You&#8217;d need to <strong>Find<\/strong> <em>period + space<\/em> and <strong>Replace<\/strong> with <em>period + two spaces<\/em>. Of course, you might have periods that don&#8217;t just end sentences, so your editing strategy might be a bit more tedious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Did anyone catch the mistake in Barrett&#8217;s Ch. 17? Well, look over p. 211. There will be a final exam bonus question on it. Remember, the page has four corners&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, he approves of <em>funner<\/em> and <em>funnest<\/em>! Even WordPress puts red squiggles under them, but don&#8217;t give in to techno-standardization!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Final Exam Preview<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The cumulative Final Exam will have 12 sections. You&#8217;ll have about 90 questions and two and a half hours (150 min) to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Section 1: True\/False Covering Nearly All Topics\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>T\/F. Beginning a sentence with \u201cBecause\u201d is universally considered incorrect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 2: Multiple Choice on Punctuation Violations\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Jennifer who was recently hired as a management trainee.<br>a. correctly punctuated sentence<br>b. fragment<br>c. comma splice<br>d. run-on sentence<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 3: Subjects and Verbs\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Akiko changed the diaper while riding in the backseat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 4: The Rhetorical Effects of Punctuation\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Think &#8220;Dancing Queen&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 5: Revising and\/or Combining Sentences\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Derek\u2019s two-bedroom apartment that was within walking distance of his job. Derek&#8217;s apartment overlooking the park.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Derek\u2019s two-bedroom apartment&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 6: Prose Revisions\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tonight, presentations were given by your smart, engaging, and able to amuse classmates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 7: Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This semester has been challenging. We somehow managed to get through it. {Seems like a contrast&#8230;}<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 8: Correlative Conjunctions\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We must be concerned not only with our own health and safety but also with the needs of others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 9: Conjunctive Adverbs {I&#8217;ll give you a list of words}\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Corporations and consumers have been polluting the environment for centuries. The planet will most likely not be able to sustain life in the future.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seems <em>consequential<\/em>, huh?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 10: Fill in the Blank Punctuation\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In order to emphasize an aside and speed up one&#8217;s prose, Dr. Toscano advocates using a _____________ sparingly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 11: Punctuate Appropriately\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Although I have spent lots of time in Florida&nbsp;I have never gotten used to the humidity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 12: Punctuation Multiple Choice\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Which of the following sentences is punctuated correctly?<br>a) I&#8217;m sitting in the morning sun, and will still be sitting here this evening.<br>b) I&#8217;m sitting in the morning sun and will still be sitting here, this evening.<br>c) I&#8217;m sitting in the morning sun and will still be sitting here this evening.<br>d) all of the above<br>e) none of the above<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Next Class<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, there is no &#8220;next class,&#8221; but you do have to turn in your Portfolios before Friday, <strong>December 8th<\/strong>. Your <strong>Final Exam<\/strong> will be December 13th, but I hope to have it available this weekend. You&#8217;ll just have to finish that two and a half hour behemoth by <strong>11:00 pm on Wednesday, December 13th, 11:00pm<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plan for the Night Ch. 12: Words and Word Clauses I think much of this chapter is review, so we&#8217;ll treat it as such. That&#8217;s nice because you have a cumulative Final Exam in one week (12\/13)! I hope you&#8217;ve been paying attention and doing the reading. Then again, the final&#8217;s only 20% of your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":598,"featured_media":0,"parent":10057,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10508","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2HAOx-2Ju","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10508"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10521,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10508\/revisions\/10521"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}