Hello from the GAC Writing Center! We hope your fall semester is off to a good start.
First off, why don’t we introduce ourselves? We are Liz and Rebekah, two of the coolest people here in Confer 232. =) Ok, so maybe not. But if you want to come visit us, you can find us here together in the Writing Center every Tuesday night, furiously studying up on the extensive and various uses of the semi-colon. Ok, so maybe not that either.
But seriously, folks. Semi-colons are awfully useful! For example, you can take the sentences:
Liz is pretty goofy. She really likes the spinning chairs in the Writing Center.
and make them into one sentence with a semi-colon!
Liz is pretty goofy; she really likes the spinning chairs in the Writing Center.
The semi-colon here helps to show the close relationship between the two independent clauses (aka the sentences from the first example).
Semi-colons can also be used when you have lists of things that are super long and have commas in them. Like so:
Rebekah is obsessed with the Writing Center couch, which is soft; is covered in flowers, leaves, and vines; looks like Aladdin’s couch from the 1970’s; and is the 2nd prize winner in the 2004 Regis and Kelly Ugliest Couch Contest.
So basically, semi-colons are awesome. No joke.
Well, that’s all the time we have for today, folks. Please come visit us in Confer 232 Tuesday nights – or any night, for that matter. (Except Friday and Saturday. That’s when we sleep.)
Happy October!
~Liz and Rebekah
I, too, like the spinning chairs in the Writing Center. And I am a big fan of this blog.
Since I do not think I can post directly to the blog, and I know Debi loves getting e-mails from the blog, I found this list of “tips for writers” online. I hope it makes you giggle!
TIPS FOR WRITERS
1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
3. Employ the vernacular.
4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
6. Remember to never split an infinitive.
7. Contractions aren’t necessary.
8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
9. One should never generalize.
10. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
11. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
12. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.
13. Be more or less specific.
14. Understatement is always best.
15. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
16. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
17. The passive voice is to be avoided.
18. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
19. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?
21. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
22. Don’t never use a double negation.
23. capitalize every sentence and remember always end it with point
24. Do not put statements in the negative form.
25. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
26. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
27. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
28. A writer must not shift your point of view.
29. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
30. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!
31. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to theirantecedents.
32. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
33. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
34. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
35. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
36. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
37. Always pick on the correct idiom.
38. The adverb always follows the verb.
39. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; They’re old hat; seek viable alternatives.
Found at: http://jokes4teachers.com/J0179.php