Roxy Writer here, coming to you from the Stone Writing Center @ Del Mar College.
A common problem many students encounter when doing academic writing is the dreaded sentence fragment. So, I thought this would make an excellent topic for my newest entry.
“When I began to write about fragments….”
What happened? Did the idea overwhelm me? Did I draw a blank? Did I have a clue? There is a subject ( “I” ) and a verb ( “began” ), but I have not written a complete sentence. What I have written is a fragment simply because the thought is incomplete. I have left the reader wondering what happened as I began to write.
When I began to write about fragments, I decided to say that most fragments occur when the total meaning of the sentence is absent, unspoken, not written down. Consider the following very short tale:
“Because the tiger was wild. When the moon rose over the zoo. Thunder booming. During his recapture. After they built a larger cage.”
I have left details to the reader’s imagination, and most readers will automatically think of something to fill in the gaps and thereby complete the meaning of each fragment, making each a complete sentence in their minds.
“Because the tiger was wild, ____________. When the moon rose over the zoo, ____________. Thunder _________booming.
During his recapture, ____________. After they built a larger area ____________________.”
The problem is that I have left the meaning of the story up to the reader by not finishing my thoughts. Fragments leave room for the reader to imagine as he will, but does someone else know what I think happened to the tiger?
“Because the tiger was wild, he hated his cage. When the moon rose over the zoo, he made his escape. Thunder was booming, which covered the sounds of his breaking the lock. During his recapture, a zookeeper considered how the tiger felt. After they built a larger area for the tiger, he did not think of escaping again.”
Unless you trust your reader to fill in the blanks left by fragments in your writing, it would be wise for you to make sure that you have expressed a complete thought—your own.
Roxy’s tip: Express a complete thought! Don’t leave blanks for your reader.
See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! My next entry is coming soon. ‘Til then, hang ten!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
National Day on Writing
Roxy Writer here, surfing the waves of writing from the Stone Writing Center at Del Mar College!
I am stoked to announce that today, Tuesday, October 20, is National Day on Writing! To celebrate this rad event, we asked our students to tell us why they write. We gave them a card to fill out and then placed it on our bulletin board.
We discovered that students write because they want to find out what they are thinking, to bring their thoughts to life, to tell their story, and to express their inner thoughts and feelings.
So, let me ask you: why do you write? It’s a thought provoking question, isn’t it?
As a student, most of your writing is probably based on assignments given by professors. Is this the only time you write? If it is, perhaps on this day—the National Day on Writing—you might consider writing just for the sake of writing. If you have never experienced the thrill of capturing your thoughts on a topic—not because it was assigned to you by a teacher, but simply because you wanted to—then maybe today would be a good day to go for it!
See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! My next entry is coming soon. ‘Til then, hang ten!
I am stoked to announce that today, Tuesday, October 20, is National Day on Writing! To celebrate this rad event, we asked our students to tell us why they write. We gave them a card to fill out and then placed it on our bulletin board.
We discovered that students write because they want to find out what they are thinking, to bring their thoughts to life, to tell their story, and to express their inner thoughts and feelings.
So, let me ask you: why do you write? It’s a thought provoking question, isn’t it?
As a student, most of your writing is probably based on assignments given by professors. Is this the only time you write? If it is, perhaps on this day—the National Day on Writing—you might consider writing just for the sake of writing. If you have never experienced the thrill of capturing your thoughts on a topic—not because it was assigned to you by a teacher, but simply because you wanted to—then maybe today would be a good day to go for it!
See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! My next entry is coming soon. ‘Til then, hang ten!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Just do it!
Roxy Writer here, your favorite tutor from the Stone Writing Center @ Del Mar College in sunny Corpus Christi, TX! Let’s surf the waves of writing together as we talk about getting started with an essay.
Starting an essay can be as formidable as facing a killer wave; the fear of the unknown can result in a serious case of writer’s block! Read about how this student I tutored overcame his fear of writing:
He faced the blank emptiness before him and knew he must not only enter into it but also build upon it to write his paper. He recalled an old saying he had often heard: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (Confucius). He checked his supplies - notes, pens, and paper - and wondered where he would find what he needed most, an idea. He scratched his nose, coughed, and looked determinedly into the void. He still had no words, no ideas. “Oh, well,” he mumbled, “the first step is the first word. I must begin somewhere.”
He stared at the paper, white and completely lacking solidly real black print. He sighed and forced himself to start, resolved to let his thoughts appear however they fell upon the page. He wrote quickly, not pausing to perfect sentences or examine punctuation. What he needed for his first draft consisted primarily of ideas. Word upon word, line after line sped across the page as he wrote.
When he read his rough draft, he saw that he did have what he sought. He knew he could now complete his essay and revise later. The most important aspect of his work - his thoughts - had emerged. A thousand miles or a thousand words, he would complete the journey.
Roxy’s tip: Just do it! Just start writing, and the ideas will come!
See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! My next entry is coming soon. ‘Til then, hang ten!
Starting an essay can be as formidable as facing a killer wave; the fear of the unknown can result in a serious case of writer’s block! Read about how this student I tutored overcame his fear of writing:
He faced the blank emptiness before him and knew he must not only enter into it but also build upon it to write his paper. He recalled an old saying he had often heard: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (Confucius). He checked his supplies - notes, pens, and paper - and wondered where he would find what he needed most, an idea. He scratched his nose, coughed, and looked determinedly into the void. He still had no words, no ideas. “Oh, well,” he mumbled, “the first step is the first word. I must begin somewhere.”
He stared at the paper, white and completely lacking solidly real black print. He sighed and forced himself to start, resolved to let his thoughts appear however they fell upon the page. He wrote quickly, not pausing to perfect sentences or examine punctuation. What he needed for his first draft consisted primarily of ideas. Word upon word, line after line sped across the page as he wrote.
When he read his rough draft, he saw that he did have what he sought. He knew he could now complete his essay and revise later. The most important aspect of his work - his thoughts - had emerged. A thousand miles or a thousand words, he would complete the journey.
Roxy’s tip: Just do it! Just start writing, and the ideas will come!
See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! My next entry is coming soon. ‘Til then, hang ten!
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