This was most certainly a gambit – or so I thought.

Grammar exercise
Starting a gasoline-fueled lawn mower takes three simple steps: opening the choke; pulling the starter cord; and closing the choke once the engine is running.

As a result of his first riding lesson at the Sage Ranch, Jason learned one thing about horses – when they are hungry, they stop to eat.

Similiarities among Lord Jim, Typhoon and Falk

  • All three were set on the sea (a voyage)
  • Lord Jim entails a much more complex juxtaposition of the narrator, while Typhoon and Falk entails a simple third person narrative. (Where is Marlowe?)
  • The sea poses to be the setting but also something deeper in all three stories.

EXERCISE -- Copy and paste this entire exercise into your own page. Write your answers in a different color or font. We will chose two people's in class to go over.
1. Look carefully at the following sentence. Does it work? If so, why? If not, where can the sentence be broken into two or shorter ones that are not overwhelming.

1. Robert Mondavi's father, Cesare, came from Sassafarento, near Ancona, on the Adriatic coast of the Marches -- not a particularly rich or fertile part of Italy even now, nor, except for Verdicchio, much of a wine-growing region, and a good deal less so, no doubt, in 1883, when Cesare, the son of a large, simple family and possibly the first member of it, was born, I have read somewhere, to be able to sign his name.

2. The typical teenage user of snuff is white, active, athletic and subjected to very heavy peer pressure.

3. The children, wishing for a balloon, angling for a smile, bowing before the childhood consumerism, gathered around the clown.

Book report***

COMPOUND SENTENCE WITH ELLIPTICAL CONSTRUCTION
(comma indicates the omitted verb)


S V DO ; S , DO
We like classical music; those guys , rock.

We leave out the verb in the second clause BECAUSE AND ONLY IF it would needlessly repeat the verb of the first clause. Notice also, you may have a direct object (DO), which receives the action of the verb; or you may have a subject complement describing the verb.

You need parallel wording in both clauses, and the verb must be exactly the same.

Examples: The mother and son each had a goal; hers, educational; his, recreational.
For many of us, the new math teacher was a savior; for others, a pain.

"Thought is the blossom; language, the bud; action, the fruit." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

      • Be sure that each sentence really has two independent clauses in it (even thought the second has an unexpressed verb).
      • Be sure that the verb omitted in the second clause matches exactly, in form and tense, the verb in the first clause.
      • Use a semicolon if there is no conjunction; if there is a conjunction, many writers use a comma. A semicolon does not go with a coordinating conjunction.

1. Which of the following doesn't work? Why.
a. Bill played a musical number by Bach; Joan, Beethoven.
b. Lou Williams was in for adultery; John Jones for gambling.
c. His mother told him to rent a car; his sister, to pack the suitcases.

2. Write your own original example.

3. Find one from something you have read (this may take a couple of weeks).


JOCUND
  1. marked by or suggestive of high spirits and lively mirthfulness
  2. synonym - merry
  3. antonym - joyless

ABSCOND
  1. to depart secretly and hide oneself
  2. synonym - bolt
  3. antonym - reveal

EMISSARY
  1. one designated as the agent of another

CIPHER
  1. one that has no weight, worth, or influence

VARNISHED
  1. the smooth coating or gloss resulting from the application of this paint.
SEPULCHER
  1. a burial vault, tomb, or grave
VENERATION
  1. profound respect or reverence
MIZZEN
  1. third mast from the bow in a vessel having three or more masts; the after and shorter mast of a yawl, ketch, or dandy

CASTRATION
  • When seeing a female's genitalia, will falsely assume that the girl had her penis removed, probably as punishment for some misbehavior. The boy then becomes anxious that the same may happen to him

INCULCATE
  1. to implant by repeated statement or admonition

EPICUREAN
  1. capitalized : of or relating to Epicurus or Epicureanism
  2. of, relating to, or suited to an epicure
EPICURE
  1. 2 : one with sensitive and discriminating tastes especially in food or wine

INEQUITY
  1. 1 : injustice, unfairness
  2. 2 : an instance of injustice or unfairness

GAMBIT
  1. Any maneuver by which one seeks to gain an advantage.
  2. A remark made to open or redirect a conversation.
  3. (In chess) An opening in which a player seeks to obtain an advantage by sacrificing a pawn or piece.

INVETERATE
  1. Pronunciation: \in-ˈve-t(ə-)rət\
  2. Function: adjective
  3. Etymology: Middle English, from Latin inveteratus, from past participle of inveterare to age (v.t.), from in- + veter-, vetus old — more at wether
  4. Date: 14th century
1 : firmly established by long persistence <the inveterate tendency to overlook the obvious>
2 : confirmed in a habit : habitual <an inveterate liar>


http://blog.guykawasaki.com/ AND http://www.openforum.com/
I stumbled upon these two treasure chests while catching up some ‘recreational’ and ‘research oriented’ (opposites attract, as they say) reading last year. Guy Kawasaki is a source of inspiration for me. Aside from the fact that he is quite similar to how I want to end up in 25 years time—a laid back CEO/founder of three different companies, an Apple Co. fellow, author of nine books, a BA from Stanford and MBA from UCLA, he, as of late, has been providing me (and his readership) with some interesting food for thought. He shares his expertise as an entrepreneur and a manager of business on the net, in easy, digestible lingo. Furthermore, he frequently references the Open Forum (which is an idea hub run by American Express) and picks out the tighter articles and blog posts that gets up on the Forum. The Forum is slightly geared more towards business owners in US (and some parts of the site require membership) however all in all, for the ones who are interested in management, I suggest Guy Kawasaki and his blog, How to Change the World.

http://thebassplayersblog.blogspot.com/
To convey who and what you are in a space of 800-1200 words is a difficult task even for Pulitzer Prize laureates. And sure, some college essays may indirectly ask (and hence force) a high school senior to present a diluted sketch of his/her identity per se. Life, after all, is too grand of a notion, even for impeccable high school seniors such as ourselves. So let’s be humble with our approach to the college essay. Bass Player Sean, the author of this blog, conveyed his thoughts that concern a particular issue, in his case, the education system. He masterfully integrated an extended metaphor throughout the blog post, which shows me his mastery of his written language. Life maybe a little overburdening, however, thoughts on a particular issue, is doable. My maxim concerning essays is—don’t ever bite off more than you can chew.

http://blog.ted.com/
This is probably the coolest blog that is active on the World Wide Web at the moment. This blog is about everything and anything, quite literally. Steven Hawking was invited by TED for his obvious expertise in astrophysics. However, TED also invited Bill Clinton, Bono, Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Dawkins, names that are more familiar than others, but all extremely famous nonetheless. The language on this blog is not exceptional but satisfactory. To be frank, this blog is not one of rhetoric, but of excellent ideas that lift the language and not the other way around.

ENDEMIC

  1. 1 a : belonging or native to a particular people or country b : characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment <problems endemic to translation> <the self-indulgence endemic in the film industry>
    2 : restricted or peculiar to a locality or region <endemic diseases> <an endemic species>
Journal Exercise
  • Terror is endemic to ones who have a lot to lose--such as the United States of America.
  • The unspeakable notions embedded within Metamorphosis is venial in content.

PINGUID
  1. fat or oily

TELEOLOGICAL
  1. the doctrine that final causes exist.
  2. the study of the evidences of design or purpose in nature.
  3. moving forward in a purposeful manner * Happy Ending* -> everyone dies.

SOPHISM

  1. a specious argument for displaying ingenuity in reasoning or for deceiving someone.
  2. any false argument; fallacy.
The whole story of Tlon is a sophism. Tlon is a fantasy world, yet its descriptions sound so realistic that it feels far different from Narnia, Wonderland, or those la-la lands of fantasy fictions. Referring to The Anglo-American Cyclopaedia, the narrator introduces Tlon to the readers as if it is an actually existing place.
-The Boston common a public area in downtown Boston is the main setting for the short story the patriot which is about a man who argues to such an extent that it became _ (vocab word).