Temporary Suspension

I have suspended work on this blog, at least for the time being, in order to devote more time to other writing. Please take a look at my other blog, Arts in View, at http://artsinview.blogspot.com/.

Tip #20 - Don’t Dangle That Modifier

“Dangling modifier” sounds tricky, but most errors of this type are easy to spot with a little practice and equally easy to fix. They are the kind of phrase that makes you stumble over the logic of a sentence. Example:

• Having spent a week in Las Vegas, my suitcase was missing.

Really? Your suitcase spent a week in Las Vegas? Where were you? Clearly the writer meant to say that the suitcase owner spent the week in Las Vegas. So a fix is fairly easy:

• Having spent a week in Las Vegas, I found that my suitcase was missing.

Or

• After I spent a week in Las Vegas, my suitcase was missing.

Dangling modifiers can evoke accidentally humorous images:

• Running to catch the bus, my hat blew into the gutter.
• While taking a test, the fire alarm rang.

To avoid running hats and test-taking fire alarms, rephrase:

• As I ran to catch the bus, my hat blew into the gutter.
• While we were taking a test, the fire alarm rang.

Or

• Running to catch the bus, I lost my hat when it blew into the gutter.
• While taking a test, we were interrupted when the fire alarm rang.

Modifying phrases at the beginning of a sentence attach themselves to the first available noun, so the trick is to be certain that it’s the right noun. Don’t just let the modifier “dangle.”

Tip #19 - Writing in the Moment

Just as there are teachable moments, so too there are writable moments. Today, looking out at a freezing rain that was coating the branches of a maple tree, I began thinking about how productive it can be when teachers help students capture interesting moments in writing—even if it means setting aside a well-planned lesson.

What a powerful writing motivator an interesting event can be! Some years ago, the first snowfall of the season caused my newly arrived students from Southeast Asia to rush to the classroom windows in wonder. They’d never seen snow. And what a perfect time that was to teach snow-related vocabulary.

An unexpected visitor, the appearance of a rainbow or a hot air balloon, anything out of the ordinary—all are fodder for writing:

• What ideas arise?
• What senses are activated?
• What emotions awaken?

Classroom journals, rather than formal papers, are an apt vehicle for capturing written impressions formed “in the moment.” Students can read their journal entries aloud in small groups or for the whole class. A collage of short passages written on various sizes and colors of paper will make an attractive, eye-catching bulletin board display, whether it’s in an elementary or a high school classroom.

It’s good to remember that the act of sharing writing is, in itself, a powerful teaching strategy. Students learn from one another about words, phrasing, and ideas.

Tip #18 - “To Exist or Not to Exist”

“Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” Yes, we all can hum the tune and sing the first line. And it does sound atrocious. Moreover, it’s not very useful. Writing well and writing with big, important-sounding words are not the same.

Imagine the loss of power if Shakespeare had made Hamlet utter, “To exist or not to exist,” rather than “to be or not to be.” What is the question? Is bigger really better? The answer often is (or should be) “no.”

Students can become enamored of big words because such words seem important or grown-up sounding, and some forms of vocabulary study encourage this problem. Effective writing calls for choosing words not because they sound important but because they convey meaning simply, directly, and accurately. Help students think about this idea by pointing out alternatives.

• Instead of accommodation, use room, hotel, or some other, more accurate noun.
• Why use component when part is just as descriptive? Or utilize when use means the same?
• Facilitate is rarely better than simply help or promote.

“Educationeze” is prone to encourage teachers themselves to use big words, which spreads like a virus to students. Remember when everything was a paradigm? In most cases the writers really meant simply model.

Good writing is a complex mix of words, phrases, and sentences. There’s no one formula. But using big words for their bigness alone undermines effective style. William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White in their classic, The Elements of Style, said it best: “Avoid fancy words.”