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Purdue OWL News for September 22, 2004
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The Purdue OWL Staff
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Sep 22, 2004 14:04 PDT
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The Purdue OWL News
September 22, 2004
Welcome to the Purdue OWL News!
The Purdue OWL News is an online newsletter about happenings in the
Purdue University Writing Lab and the Purdue University Online Writing
Lab (OWL). You can visit our website at
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu>. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit
<http://www.topica.com/lists/purdueowlnews/subscribe/>. To unsubscribe
from the newsletter, click on the link at the bottom of this email.
Writing Question of the Week
I've just bought Ed McBain's latest hit, whose title is THE FRUMIOUS
BANDERSNATCH. I asked my teacher, what "frumious" meant, and the same
for "Bandersnatch," but she didn't know. She supposes they are some kind
of invented words, so told me to look it up in the Oxford English
Dictionary, where I found nothing as well. Could you help me in any
way?--A Student in Italy
Answer
"Frumious" and "bandersnatch" are both nonsense words invented by Lewis
Carroll in his poem, Jabberwocky. You can find Carroll's poem at
<http://www.jabberwocky.com/carroll/jabber/jabberwocky.html>. It’s a
very famous poem; but the words are mostly invented (and have no
definition, alas!)
The OWL Help Nest
Each week we'll publish a request for advice or information. If you wish
to contribute a response to the topic, please write to us at
owln-@owl.english.purdue.edu. Please let us know if you want us to
include your name and/or your email address when we publish your
response. The following week, we'll publish the best information and
advice that we receive in the newsletter. If you have a question for our
readers, please send it to us at owln-@owl.english.purdue.edu.
Last Week's Questions
Question #1:
Is it proper to use an exclamation point as in the sentence, "Mom!
What's for dinner?" Does this make the sentence complete or should there
be a comma after mom. I'd appreciate hearing from you.
-- Glen Mayberry
Answer:
Mom! with an exclamation point is a sentence itself. It's calling out
for attention. Therefore, a comma is not needed to complete that
sentence or the next one, What's for dinner? because that is a sentence.
I would say that the exclamation point after Mom is either to get Mom's
attention immediately (as if in an emergency). I don't believe asking
about what's for dinner is an emergency; therefore, I would phrase the
sentence, Mom, what's for dinner?--Lotte
Question #2:
It seems only fairly recently that I have heard the word "grow" used in
sentences such as, "We are going to grow the economy." This just
doesn't sound right to me, but I suppose that if you can grow a garden
you can grow the unemployment, etc. Is this a correct use of the word?
--Sara from Lenoir, NC
Answer:
I agree, this is a strange usage. It's probably a grammatical mutation
from the phrase "The economy grew at .3 percent last quarter." The issue
is that, in the "We are going to grow the economy," "grow" is used in
the transitive sense, whereas "the economy grew" is being used
intransitively. Put simply, we could say--in the transitive sense--"a
farmer grows carrots," but we would think it strange to say "a farmer
grew the carrots five inches." I personally wonder if this comes from
sense that one can grow things, but things must grow on their own? At
any rate, verbs like "stimulate," "enhance," or even "jump-start" are
probably best suited for "economy."--George
Next Week's Questions
Question #1
What is the difference between "In the picture is a boy", "In the
picture there is a boy", "A boy is in the picture", and "There is a boy
in the picture"? Which one is better? Thanks!
Question #2
I am writing a story and have some questions regarding quotation marks:
Where there is a lengthy dialog in a story, is it correct to put
quotation marks only at the beginning and the end of the dialog? Or
does every new sentence have to start and end with quotations? Also,
what if that lengthy dialog has an action ("he said as he ran his
fingers through his hair." ) right in the middle of the lengthy dialog?
Do you start the new sentence with quotation marks or continue letting
the person speak until they are finished, then put the quotations?
What's Happening on OWL
OWL Eye on...Organizing OWL
A major part of our ongoing redesign involves organizing the materials
on OWL so they are much easier to find. If you have any suggestions
regarding organization and navigation, please send them along to Karl at
webma-@owl.english.purdue.edu.
OWL Eye on...Multimedia content
In the coming months, we'll be designing and adding more multimedia
content to our OWL. We'd like to get your feedback about what kinds of
multimedia content would be most useful to you as a user of our website.
Send your multimedia ideas to Chris at
coordi-@owl.english.purdue.edu.
What's Happening in the Writing Lab
OWL Eye on...Fall 2004 Writing Lab Hours:
Tutoring Hours: M-Th 9-4; F 9-1
OWL Eye on...ESL Conversation Groups
ESL Conversation Groups:
M 1:30-2:30
Tu/Th: 4:30-5:30
W: 11:00-12:00n
F: 11:30-12:30
OWL Eye on...In-Lab Workshops for September
OWL Eye on....Fall Semester In-Lab Workshops
Tues. Sept. 28 12:30-1:20 - Using THOR
Weds. Sept. 29 3:30-4:20 - Research and the Internet
Tues. Oct. 5 12:30-1:20 - Using MLA
Weds. Oct. 6 3:30-4:20 - Using APA
Final Thoughts
Thanks for reading our newsletter. You can email us at any time at
owln-@owl.english.purdue.edu. You can also email the OWL coordinator,
Chris Berry, at coordi-@owl.english.purdue.edu and the webmaster,
Karl Stolley, at webma-@owl.english.purdue.edu. (Chris and Karl take
turns writing the newsletter.)
If you received this newsletter as a forward and would like to get your
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http://www.topica.com/lists/purdueowlnews/subscribe/ to subscribe.
This newsletter is copyright (C) 2004 the Purdue University Writing Lab
and Purdue University. Purdue's OWL is located at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu.
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