in class writing

Passage A
1Did you know that until May 5 of every year, you're not really working for yourself?
2A group in Washington, D.C., has learned that it takes workers an average of four months and four days to earn enough to pay their taxes.
3The group found in its study that taxes eat up 34 percent of all the income in the United States.
4So, if workers used their entire income for taxes, they would not be through paying them until May.
5 Since May 5 is the first day people really work for themselves, the study group has some advice.
6It would like a bill passed naming May 5 “Tax Freedom Day.”
7On that day, you would give yourself a break, regardless of how hard you worked.
8Therefore, from May 5 on, you would finally be your own boss.

Passage B

1Did you ever daydream about writing your life story?
2Do you think that your life is too dull, or you can’t write?
3Anyone’s life story is filled with fascinating events, and writing them down in the best way you know can give you a sense of accomplishment and, perhaps, leave a valuable inheritance to your family.
4The first thing to do is to buy a loose-leaf notebook.
5Each page of the book should be titled with a significant milestone from your life—from your first dog to your proudest moment.
6You should then jot down a few key words in the book whenever a memory comes back to you.
7The idea is not to begin with “I was born . . .” and try to write a chronological history of your whole life.
8Just delve into your passed at random; one memory will trigger another.
9It will become quite easy after a while.
10It's also important to write in your own language.
11Plain, honest writing is the goal.

in class writing

Commas
1. That singer, whoever he is, really knows how to sing the blues.
2. The woman sitting at the back table is a well-known restaurant reviewer.
3. When conditions are right, that horse can run just like its father.
4. His four favorite artists are Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Manet.
5. Let Warren and Andrea, our most skillful speakers, present our proposal.
6. Long regarded as a leading newspaper, the Washington Post boasts an outstanding staff of reporters.
7. Slowly, slyly, and cautiously, Eric slid the wallet across the table.
8. What we need is creative leadership, leadership that will encourage experimentation.
9. During high school, he read Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet.
10. Song of Solomon, I believe, is the professor’s favorite.
11. I believe that, should the eggs break, we will have a mess.
12. Sometimes I think that people are extremely foolish.
13. I believe that a computer breakdown is a common excuse for late papers.
14. The elephant that stands on the drum is Maggie.
15. The elephant, which is a hard worker and a talented performer, is found in most zoos and circuses.

Commas 2


1. Heeding, all too well, the admonition of Genesis 1:26, man has clearly established dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and all the earth.
2. In fact, man has gone far toward destroying all members of the animal kingdom, including of course himself.
3. In the last 150 years, man has increased his extermination of mammals alone by fifty-five-fold, and if the killing continues at the present rate man may well destroy all 4,062 species of mammals within thirty years.
4. Even today, there are 835 endangered species with more being added each year.
5. In India, where 40,000 tigers roamed in 1930, there are now only 2,500 left and the lion population, currently estimated at 175, has been depleted even more severely.
6. Australia, a land of energetic, sports-minded individuals, has treated its animal population no better than India has.
7. Consequently, animals like the kangaroo, for which Australia is famous, are fast disappearing as are koala bears, Tasmanian wolves, and emus.
8. Because Australians were not concerned about their wildlife, in 1930 the government machine-gunned 20000 emus at one time.
9. In the United States too, several species of wildlife have disappeared and many others are close to extinction.
10. The Eastern elk and the passenger pigeon, once so plentiful in this country, are now forever gone.
11. Other animals, such as the alligator ,the Southern Bald eagle, and the ivory-billed woodpecker, may be fated to join the growing list of species we will see no more.
12. Although alligators are protected by law, men continue to kill them for their skins ,only the belly portion of which are used.
13. As long as Americans want their expensive alligator belts, handbags, and shoes ,the poachers will continue to supply the skins.
14. The profit motive of course has led to the wholesale slaughter of animals like the alligator and the tiger, but many other animals have been killed for whim or pleasure.

More Parallelism

We were dirty, hungry, and penniless.
My roommate liked to repair things around the house and do his own cooking.
During the day, we went on long hikes, rowed around the lake, or just had leisure time.
She returned to pay the rent and get some things she had left.
Two things that I found hard to learn as a freshman were to get enough sleep and trim expenses.
He asked me about my courses and asked where I was planning be next year.
The doctor said that I should rest and not get excited or upset.
Hitler’s followers considered other nations to be racially inferior and fit only for slave labor.
The best way to combat juvenile delinquency is not to set up more social agencies but to restore old-fashioned discipline in the home.
The book told how to build a gun cabinet, how to build a bookcase, and how to make all types of furniture.
When I was a member of the basketball team, everyone met me with a happy smile, made lively conversation, and invited me to many parties.
Fires, caused by unheeding persons, have destroyed valuable forests and thereby decreased our lumber resources.
In basketball, there is never a dull moment, any team can win, and there is fine display of teamwork.
My parents liked peace and quiet and relaxing in the evening at home.
Esther is a helpful person and makes friends easily.
Yosemite is a park with spectacular scenery and has half-tame bears.
My friends were always going off to jog in the park or to play a game of tennis.
The manager asked me to file an application and leave my number.
We went to rallies to protest against pesticides, oppose nuclear power, and other current causes.
My roommate was a smart dresser, a good student, and knew how to talk.

SWA #12

The first essay by Lisa Randall was a about the significance of science in people's lives. The essay was very hard to follow and I found my self having to reread paragraphs over and over. It may be due to the fact that I find science completely confusing and boring or to the fact that she seemed to fill her sentences with large, and uneccessary words.She talked about the importance of word choices in relation to misunderstandings of scientific meanings. She then jumps to the topic of global warming. It is hard to determine whether she was talking about science, the warming of the earth, or simply the importance of word choice.

The second essay by Brian Greene discusses the role that science has on giving our lives meaning. He talks about things in our lives that we enjoy because of what they can give us, not to how they come about. One of the examples he used was stars. We enjoy them because they are beautiful, we dont realize that they act as "nuclear furnaces that supply the universe with carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen." He goes on to talk about the lack of interest in science with young people. He insists that there should be a better science curriculum taught in school that will show the students how science directly applies and affects their daily lives.

in class writing

College students going into business, think their secretaries will do their writing for them. This attitude shows a naive faith in the competency of their secretaries. Our notion that only poets and novelists have to write is unrealistic and many of us foolishly object to taking courses in writing. Students going into the technical or scientific fields may think that writing is something they seldom have to do, but young business people seldom have private secretaries. Practicing engineers and scientists say they spend half of their time writing memos and reports. Other things being equal, a person in any field who can express ideas clearly is sure to succeed.


1. I don't think that you should go out with him. I heard that he doesn't have a job and that he just broke up with his long-term girlfriend. Without a job he won't have money and won't be able to take you on a proper date. Also, he must have done something wrong if she broke up with him or he may no longer want to be in a relationship with anyone.
2.Race is still an important consideration in American politics today. I recently heard President Bush speak about hate crimes in schools. He addressed the students about being more accepting of their fellow classmates.This shows that it is still affecting students in today's society even though we have come a great distance from segregation. Something needs to be done to reverse the idea of racism against any one race.
3.Argumentative essays are ment to show the authors views and opinions and sway thereader to the side the author has taken. In such an essay you must take one side and provide adequate information to change the position of the reader. My essay took an obvious side by listing why capitol punishment should be abolished. Capitol punishment should be abolished because it goes against our constitutional rights as Americans.
4. Reading "How to Say Nothing in Five Hundred Words," by Paul Roberts, was almost like sitting down and listening to a lecture. It was long and hard to follow and it frequently lost my attention. There was tons of great and useful information, but I had nothing to relate it to. I couldn't find a way to use the information to help me with my paper, so the book was useless for this particular assigment.