More Plain Language Discussion

Syllabus Quiz

If you took the syllabus quiz, you got full credit. This blurb is yet another reminder to me to update your score in the Moodle gradebook...it's been a busy week preparing for the storm to come.

Back to Revision Prose

Remember, making your prose accessible an efficient isn't just good for readers, it's good for democracy.

Let's jump on over to where we left off last class:

Revising Prose Lessons

Sentence Clarity Fun

Other related discussions on Euphemisms and Topic Sentences.

Ready for Some 'Fun'

Is "Funner" a word?

How do we determine if something is a word or not? The reading (Tebeaux & Dragga Ch. 4) gives you some do's and don't's for word choice (pp. 55- 57), but why do some words work and others don't?

Don't ever let theory get in the way of real world contexts and your own common sense. Click below for the scanned dictionary entries:

• Fun

• Funner and Funnest

• Syllabuses

• How about concision instead of conscieness?

Words scanned from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1999. p. 472 and p. 1194, respectively.

For an in-depth discussion on the "proper" usage of fun, check out World Wide Words or Grammar Girl's Discussion. Remember, when it comes to word usage, it's not who says it, it's who hears it.

Homework and Future Work

We may carry this prose revision discussion over to next week, but continue to keep up with the reading because I have master skills at catching us up!

Your Resume Essay is due on Monday (2/7).

Your Prose Revision assignment (three paragraphs) is due on Wednesday (2/16).