REVISING AND EDITING ASSIGNMENT 2

SCORES

Pre-test: 38/50
Lesson 3: 17/18
Lesson 5: 3/4
Lesson 7: 23/25
Lesson 9: 32/35
Lesson 10: 14/15
Lesson 11: 23/28
Lesson 12: 33/40
Lesson 13: 11/14
Lesson 14: 23/28
Lesson 18: 12/15
Post-test: 42/50

EFFECTIVENESS

I have learned some new things with this course, but I believe it could've been even more effective. Some exercices felt repetitive and made me feel like I was losing my time. However, there were lessons for every aspect of writing. It was nice to know that whatever your difficulties were, there was a section to help you.

THINGS LEARNED

This assignment helped me a lot with capitalization. I used to apply the rules we use in French even when I wrote in English. I learned the difference between the two languages when it comes to capitalization. I also learned what hyphens are, as well as when and how I should use them. This work helped me with grammatical vocabulary: I understood a lot of the concepts, but didn't know how they were called. I learned words like qualifier, appositive and parenthetical. 

APPRECIATION

I think the course was very long and boring, but I know it helped me to improve my writing skills.  I believe it was a necessary evil. Nevertheless, the course was well structured and detailed, which made it easier to go through. That's what I liked the most about it. What I liked the most about it is that

COURSE RATING

I was very tired when I completed this course, and I think it influenced the amount of effort I put into it. I give myself 7/10 for this assignment. I know I could've put more time into it, but I'm still pretty satisfied with the work I did. I also shouldn't have completed it at the last minute. I might want to go back to texts I wrote earlier this year to see how I could improve them with what I learned today.

In conclusion, I didn't like doing the course because it was very long. However, it helped me to improve my writing skills. I'm happy I've completed it.

SAME NATIONALITY, BUT DIFFERENT STYLES!

One of the most important factors that influence whether or not you appreciate a short story is the author's style. In the few tales that can be found in Style and Substance, two are diametrically opposed: The New Food by Stephen Leacock and Bread by Margaret Atwood, two important authors of Canada's literary heritage. These writers' distinct use of narration and original sentence structures make them (absolutely) unique.

First of all, Leacock uses a first-person narrator, which makes him - the storyteller - the main character of the story unveiling. Margaret Atwood, however, interacts with the reader directly during the whole story, which makes him the protagonist: ''Should you share the bread or give the whole piece to your sister?'', she writes in her third paragraph. Her approach definitely involves the reader more than Leacock's. Some people, though, might find Bread too intrusive, and might prefer to stay in the spectator's seat instead of taking part in the action; these people will probably prefer The New Food, which has a type of narrator we are more accustomed to.

Second of all, the two authors choose to build their sentences very differently. Margaret Atwood's Bread is formed of very long and complex sentences. ''You don't have to imagine it - it's right here in the kitchen, on the bread board, in its plastic bag, lying beside the bread knife'', Atwood writes in the first paragraph of her short story. She builds her action in a very detailed way, making the pace of the story very slow. Stephen Leacock, however, uses a way simpler sentence structure. He writes, in the seventh paragraph of The New Food: ''The idea was fatal. The water striking the pill caused it to expand.'' The story's rhythm is therefore a lot faster than the previous one's. Leacock also uses elementary vocabulary compared to Atwood, which also affects the reader's appreciation.

In conclusion, Stephen Leacock and Margaret Atwood have very distinct writing styles. It's their difference, however, that makes them so interesting. Personal style is so important to a writer that we could ask ourselves if these two authors would have had as much success if they would have written the same stories, but with a different style...

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11 Ways to Introduce an Essay

1) BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

ex: In ''Occurence at Owl's Creek'', Bierce took a southern perspective even if he was a northern soldier.


2) QUOTATION

ex: ''No, I'm not mad...'' So begins Poe's ''Tell-Tale Heart'' with an insane narrator trying to convince the readert that he's sane.


3) DEFINITION

ex: According to the dictionnary, poetic justice means that good is rewarded and evil is punished.


4) LITTERARY ELEMENT

ex: Imagery is a powerful way to express feeling and emotion in the ''Nightingale'' story by Oscar Wilde.


5) LIFE EXPERIENCE

ex: Ernest Hemingway had lots of problems communicating with women, which reflects in the ''Hills'' story.

History of Poetry

CENTURY: 14th century
PERIOD: Medieval
WRITER: Chaucer
GENRES: Poetic tales
THEMES: Courly love and religion using comedy, irony and satire


CENTURY: 15th century
WRITERS: Mainly anonymous, they're mainly clerics
GENRES: Ballads and folk songs
THEMES: History and religion

CENTURY: 16th century
PERIOD: Elizabethan era
WRITER: William Shakespeare
GENRES: Poetry and drama
THEMES: Idealized love, passion, beauty and virtue oftenly inspired from mythology

CENTURY: 17th century
PERIOD: Late Renaissance
WRITERS: John Donne and John Milton
GENRES: Metaphysical and smooth, rhytmic poetry
THEMES: Science, knowledge and humanity's relationship with God

CENTURY: 18th century
PERIOD: Age of Reason
WRITERS: Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and Thomas Gray
GENRES: Novel and essays
THEMES: Rationality and philosophy

A melody for Melody

Life sometimes works in mysterious ways. Well (,) it surely did and at least once: when two young parents named their daughter Melody, who grew up to be a passionate singer and songwriter. This is the story of one of my new classmates...

The whole story began when Melody was nine years-old. On a vacation in the United States, the young girl stepped on stage and sang in front of an audience for the very first time. Her heart was immediately taken with the passion of music (,) and the dream of a singing career started to blossom in her mind. Even though Melody gave almost all her free time to perfecting her technique, it took almost ten years for her to feel ready to take the next step: she had been writing her own songs for quite a while, but had kept her newly discovered talent hidden from the world. It's only in high school that she decided to take a leap of faith and perform one of her personal creations in front of her classmates. Although it was one of the most terrifying things Melody ever had to do, it's also one that makes her the proudest.
The past has brought her many prides and joys, but nothing is more important to Melody than what the future holds for her. Her wildest dream would be to have a career that involves singing, as well as her two other main passions: acting and dancing. She has been working her whole life to achieve that long-term goal (,) and doesn't plan on giving up anytime soon!

Melody definitely is a very passionate young lady. Do you know what makes her even greater? She doesn't mess with the Z.