Grammar Videos
In the past, I would stand up in front of the class and teach grammar... that can be hard on my voice, and it is time consuming to write down sample sentences on the board! Then I heard of this little teaching tool called YOUTUBE! You may hve heard of it?! It turns out that there are a LOT of English teachers out there who like to record themselves giving grammar lessons! Thank you YOUTUBE and English geeks everywhere for saving my voice, class time, and my pride [students don't normally tend to find my explanation of modifiers at all interesting]!
Week 1: Varying Sentence Structure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hby4NBOwf7E&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsq2n4VOdzI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMZtsSl4H3U&feature=channel
Week 2: Modifiers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0nzCPSZBE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS0OiIMmwig [This is a review for the SAT, but I think the guy is funny!]
Week 3: Commas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keZpj7PjNEo&feature=related
Semi-colons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKikl0eO3bA
Week 4: How to work quotes into your own sentences: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T8i97aaHzc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsUnYgcv_p0
Please study the following examples:
A Hanging Quote is one that is stuck in a paragraph without being introduced, and this is an error. Example:
INCORRECT: The film "Brokeback Mountain" may have been awarded for its cinematography and direction, but the acting is what propelled the film to such great success. "Heath Ledger creates an honest and emotionally raw portrait of Ennis Del Mar and is worthy in every way of his Oscar nod" (Smith, par. 4). This is the consensus among the majority of the critics who reviewed the film. Ledger's co-stars are equally engaging to watch on screen.
Notice how the quote is stuck in the paragraph; it isn't introduced or explained in any way using the writer's own words. Let's correct it:
CORRECT: The film "Brokeback Mountain" may have been awarded for its cinematography and direction, but the acting is what propelled the film to such great success. As critic Joe Smith accurately notes, "Heath Ledger creates an honest and emotionally raw portrait of Ennis Del Mar and is worthy in every way of his Oscar nod" (par. 4), and this is the consensus among the majority of critics who reviewd the film.
Notice how the quote is not hanging; it is introduced, quoted, cited, and explained.
You, however, don't have to introduce the quote in the same way every time. You can also just work it into your sentence and cite with the author's name at the end. Let's take a look:
ALSO CORRECT: The critical consensus that "Heath Ledger creates an honest and emotionally raw portrait of Ennis Del Mar and is worthy in every way of his Oscar nod" (Smith, par. 4) reflects Ledger's ability to take a character largely undefined by Annie Proulx's text and make it his own.
The reason that the citation contains par. # is to show an example of how to cite an article you print from online that does not contain page numbers; instead, you count and cite the paragraph number.
Most tutorials will tell you that it is good enough to introduce and cite the quote, but I prefer that you turn it into a complex sentence by also adding the explanation or analysis within the same sentence. This can be tricky; make sure that you sentence flows nicely-- grammar and mechanics must be correct in order for your sentence to make sense. It may seem confusing at first, but with a bit of practice, you should get the hang of it. Feel free to email me with any questions.
Week 5: MLA Style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q07PB6tZk8c&feature=related
Week 6: Annotated Bibliography: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds6ygs8JgHg
Other tutorials:
The Introductory Paragraph: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPtbFT23Bs&feature=related
Run Ons and Comma Splices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7S-hju16rw
Fragments & Run-Ons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4rN48QVyFQ
Week 1: Varying Sentence Structure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hby4NBOwf7E&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsq2n4VOdzI&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMZtsSl4H3U&feature=channel
Week 2: Modifiers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0nzCPSZBE4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS0OiIMmwig [This is a review for the SAT, but I think the guy is funny!]
Week 3: Commas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keZpj7PjNEo&feature=related
Semi-colons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKikl0eO3bA
Week 4: How to work quotes into your own sentences: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T8i97aaHzc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsUnYgcv_p0
Please study the following examples:
A Hanging Quote is one that is stuck in a paragraph without being introduced, and this is an error. Example:
INCORRECT: The film "Brokeback Mountain" may have been awarded for its cinematography and direction, but the acting is what propelled the film to such great success. "Heath Ledger creates an honest and emotionally raw portrait of Ennis Del Mar and is worthy in every way of his Oscar nod" (Smith, par. 4). This is the consensus among the majority of the critics who reviewed the film. Ledger's co-stars are equally engaging to watch on screen.
Notice how the quote is stuck in the paragraph; it isn't introduced or explained in any way using the writer's own words. Let's correct it:
CORRECT: The film "Brokeback Mountain" may have been awarded for its cinematography and direction, but the acting is what propelled the film to such great success. As critic Joe Smith accurately notes, "Heath Ledger creates an honest and emotionally raw portrait of Ennis Del Mar and is worthy in every way of his Oscar nod" (par. 4), and this is the consensus among the majority of critics who reviewd the film.
Notice how the quote is not hanging; it is introduced, quoted, cited, and explained.
You, however, don't have to introduce the quote in the same way every time. You can also just work it into your sentence and cite with the author's name at the end. Let's take a look:
ALSO CORRECT: The critical consensus that "Heath Ledger creates an honest and emotionally raw portrait of Ennis Del Mar and is worthy in every way of his Oscar nod" (Smith, par. 4) reflects Ledger's ability to take a character largely undefined by Annie Proulx's text and make it his own.
The reason that the citation contains par. # is to show an example of how to cite an article you print from online that does not contain page numbers; instead, you count and cite the paragraph number.
Most tutorials will tell you that it is good enough to introduce and cite the quote, but I prefer that you turn it into a complex sentence by also adding the explanation or analysis within the same sentence. This can be tricky; make sure that you sentence flows nicely-- grammar and mechanics must be correct in order for your sentence to make sense. It may seem confusing at first, but with a bit of practice, you should get the hang of it. Feel free to email me with any questions.
Week 5: MLA Style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q07PB6tZk8c&feature=related
Week 6: Annotated Bibliography: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds6ygs8JgHg
Other tutorials:
The Introductory Paragraph: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPtbFT23Bs&feature=related
Run Ons and Comma Splices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7S-hju16rw
Fragments & Run-Ons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4rN48QVyFQ
