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Purdue OWL News for October 6, 2004
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The Purdue OWL Staff
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Oct 06, 2004 11:48 PDT
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The Purdue OWL News
October 6, 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
Can anyone tell me the difference between "persons" and "people?" Are
they
synonymous or is one used instead of another in different situations?
Thank
you very much. (Anonymous)
This is what I found on p. 487 in /A Dictionary of Modern American
Usage/ compiled by Garner:
"The traditional distinction--now a pedantic one--is that /people/ is
general, and /persons /specific. Thus, one would refer to 300 /people/
who had assembled but to the twelve /persons/ on the jury. /Persons/ has
been considered better for small, specific numbers. But twelve /persons/
on the jury seems stuffy to many readers, and most native speakers of
AmE would say twelve /people /on the jury. In contexts like that one,
/people/ has long been used and is surey the more natural phrasing."
hope this helps.
Jenny (OWL Tutor)
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
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!
Answer:
There is a boy in the picture or A boy is in the picture whatever
option you choose they are all correct.It depends on the
emphasis.Remember that whatever you mention first,when writing,is the
most important element in your sentence. and would receive more
relevance.There are many ways of giving emphasis.another option would
be "It is a boy that is in the picture." Dierdre from yahoo.com.ar
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?
Answer:
As a fiction writer, I would suggest to this writer that a lengthy
dialogue is really a monologue and can get very tedious for the reader.
Similar to lengthy narrative, dialogue needs to be broken up, even if it
is only as in:
"You never listen to anything I tell you," he said, running his fingers
through his hair. "You shut down every time I try to talk to you and
it's no wonder the kids are running loose in the neighborhood. Next,
we'll be bailing them out of jail and shipping them off to boot camp..."
Susan from Hershey, PA.
Next Week's Questions
Question #1:
In our study of the proper use of pronouns, the following question came
up: What is the difference in meaning (if any) between the two
sentences, "All of the employees should read their company manual," or
"All employees should read their company manual." Is it more "modern"
to avoid an "of the ..." phrase when possible? Paula Alves/Shasta
College, CA
Question #2:
How can I explain to my fifth grade ELL class the following:
Put the following sentences into the past tense.
1. We like to hear the bell ring for recess.
2. Mary blows the horn when she drives her car.
Nearly every student ansswered:
1. We liked to hear the bell rang for recess.
2. Mary blew the horn when she drived her car.
Thank you,
Mary Seppi
What's Happening on OWL
OWL Eye on...How would you organize the 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 Schedule
The Writing Lab at Purdue University will be available during its
regular hours. It offers one-on-one tutorials, in-lab and in-class
workshops, lab tours, conversation groups, and a multitude of other
Writing Lab resources every weekday.
Fall 2004 Writing Lab Hours:
Tutoring Hours: M-Th 9-4; F 9-1
ESL Conversation Groups: M 1:30-2:30, Tu/Th: 4:30-5:30, W: 11:00-noon,
F: 11:30-12:30
OWL Eye on...In-Lab Workshops for October
Oct 13: Conquering the comma with Meg at 3:30pm
Oct 19: Conductin an interview by Oana at 12:30pm
Oct 20: Resumes (traditional) with the BWCs at 3:30pm
Oct 26: Cover letters with Laura at 12:30pm
Oct 27: Resumes (scannable) with the BWCs at 3:30pm
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
own subscription, visit
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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