Timothy Sharkey's Blog - Posts Tagged "aspiring-writers"
Full book description of Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics by Timothy Sharkey
Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics by Timothy Sharkey explains how to make writing easy. It provides a “just-the-basics” approach to writing and it eliminates the complicated information that gets in the way. It includes expert definitions and helpful examples of what is really needed in writing – with professional scholarship and a literary sensibility – from an author who has taught English 101 and English 102 classes in college for over 15 years. Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics is the culmination of Timothy Sharkey’s 15-year effort to put the good information about writing into one book.
Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics contains the following information:
–Grammar, Syntax, Usage, Diction, Etymology
–Mechanics: abbreviations, capitalization, spelling
–Agreement Tips: past, present, and future; singular and plural; first, second, and third person voices
–Using whom correctly
–All Punctuation Marks: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, quotation marks, semicolon, slash
–Sentences: required ingredients, sentence mistakes (sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and comma-splice sentences – and how to correct them)
–Paragraphs: required ingredients; introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs; transition words
–Rhetorical Techniques: alliteration, allusion, hyperbole, metaphor, onomatopoeia, irony, parallel construction, personification
–Arguing Well: critical thinking, dialectics; Aristotle’s ethos, pathos, & logos; the Socratic Method, common ground
–Fallacies: ad hominem attack, begging the question, coded language, double-edged sword, hasty analogy, red herring, slippery slope, straw man, etc.
–Research Tips: advanced Google searches, Boolean operators, databases, Google Scholar, Google News, WolframAlpha, the CIA Factbook, etc.
–Research Paper (MLA 9th Edition): direct quotes, indirect quotes, interpolations, in-text citations, works cited page, hanging indents, correct formatting
–Writing Terms defined: bombastic, cliche, colloquial, concise, diction, etymology, euphemism, figure of speech, hyperbole, jargon, metaphor, oxymoron, redundant, rhetoric, slang, succinct, verbose, etc.
–Latin Terms for Writers defined: a priori, ad hoc, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, alumnus, bona fide, de facto, ibidem (ibid.), ipso facto, non sequiter, per se, prima facie, quasi, reductio ad absurdem, sic, summa cum laude, magna cum laude, verbatim, etc.
–Sample Essays included: descriptive essay, argumentative essay, research paper (MLA 9th Edition)
–Writing approaches, insights, and advice
–Please Note: the paperback version of Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics features professional typography designed in the tradition of the Fine Press movement in England and America – especially the book designs of Bruce Rogers – and it uses Bruce Rogers’ own Centaur typeface.
Timothy Sharkey (author) has a Master of Liberal Arts degree in English & American Literature & Language from Harvard University. He has taught English 101 and English 102 classes in college for over 15 years. He has developed a skill in taking complicated information about writing and simplifying it for the demanding students enrolled in his classes. He believes that the good information about writing should be easy to find in one book, and he has compiled that information throughout his 15 years of teaching. Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics is the culmination of Timothy Sharkey’s 15-year effort to put the good information about writing into one book. Timothy Sharkey Writing Made Easy: Just The Basics
Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics contains the following information:
–Grammar, Syntax, Usage, Diction, Etymology
–Mechanics: abbreviations, capitalization, spelling
–Agreement Tips: past, present, and future; singular and plural; first, second, and third person voices
–Using whom correctly
–All Punctuation Marks: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, quotation marks, semicolon, slash
–Sentences: required ingredients, sentence mistakes (sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and comma-splice sentences – and how to correct them)
–Paragraphs: required ingredients; introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs; transition words
–Rhetorical Techniques: alliteration, allusion, hyperbole, metaphor, onomatopoeia, irony, parallel construction, personification
–Arguing Well: critical thinking, dialectics; Aristotle’s ethos, pathos, & logos; the Socratic Method, common ground
–Fallacies: ad hominem attack, begging the question, coded language, double-edged sword, hasty analogy, red herring, slippery slope, straw man, etc.
–Research Tips: advanced Google searches, Boolean operators, databases, Google Scholar, Google News, WolframAlpha, the CIA Factbook, etc.
–Research Paper (MLA 9th Edition): direct quotes, indirect quotes, interpolations, in-text citations, works cited page, hanging indents, correct formatting
–Writing Terms defined: bombastic, cliche, colloquial, concise, diction, etymology, euphemism, figure of speech, hyperbole, jargon, metaphor, oxymoron, redundant, rhetoric, slang, succinct, verbose, etc.
–Latin Terms for Writers defined: a priori, ad hoc, ad infinitum, ad nauseam, alumnus, bona fide, de facto, ibidem (ibid.), ipso facto, non sequiter, per se, prima facie, quasi, reductio ad absurdem, sic, summa cum laude, magna cum laude, verbatim, etc.
–Sample Essays included: descriptive essay, argumentative essay, research paper (MLA 9th Edition)
–Writing approaches, insights, and advice
–Please Note: the paperback version of Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics features professional typography designed in the tradition of the Fine Press movement in England and America – especially the book designs of Bruce Rogers – and it uses Bruce Rogers’ own Centaur typeface.
Timothy Sharkey (author) has a Master of Liberal Arts degree in English & American Literature & Language from Harvard University. He has taught English 101 and English 102 classes in college for over 15 years. He has developed a skill in taking complicated information about writing and simplifying it for the demanding students enrolled in his classes. He believes that the good information about writing should be easy to find in one book, and he has compiled that information throughout his 15 years of teaching. Writing Made Easy: Just the Basics is the culmination of Timothy Sharkey’s 15-year effort to put the good information about writing into one book. Timothy Sharkey Writing Made Easy: Just The Basics
How to Use the word WHOM Correctly by Timothy Sharkey
Using the word whom in a sentence can be challenging for most people. In fact, most people avoid using the word whom altogether. They just use the word who all the time, which is perfectly acceptable. As a matter of fact, whom may be considered stilted or academic or ostentatious, and some people in some places may take umbrage at its use. However, using the word whom correctly in a cover letter to a job application, or using the word whom correctly in a job interview, might help increase your chances of getting that job. It will make you seem well-educated.
The traditional way of learning how to use the word whom in a sentence is as an object of a preposition (such as to, for, of, by, or with, etc.). But I think that this way of learning how to use the word whom is difficult. I prefer to explain how to use the word whom as the word referring to the second party in a sentence who receives the action from the first party.
A sentence, in other words, often contains two parties or two people (called a subject [primary person] and an object [secondary person]). Who always refers to the first party (giving the action) and whom always refers to the second party (receiving the action).
Who is yelling at whom? is a perfect example. It contains the first party yelling at the second party. The first party is giving the action (it is yelling at the second party), and it is referred to as who. The second party is receiving the action (it is being yelled at), and it is referred to as whom.
You can write the letter G (for Gives) above the person in a sentence who gives the action and write the letter R (for Receives) above the person in a sentence who receives the action from the other party. This can help you see more clearly who is who. The person who gives the action (G) is referred to as who and the person who receives the action (R) is referred to as whom. Whoever and whomever work in exactly the same way.
“He kissed her” is an example of a sentence that contains two parties as well: a man (the subject) gives the action, the kiss, and a woman (the object), the second party, receives the action, the kiss. Who is referred to as the giver of the action and whom is referred to as the receiver of the action – every time. Therefore, you could turn this sentence around and ask, “Whom did he kiss?”
“Whom did you give the book to?” is another example of a sentence that contains two people, and it uses the word whom correctly. The person receiving the action (receiving the book) is referred to as whom and the person who gave the action (gave the book) is referred to as who.
“To whom it may concern” is a phrase that uses the word whom correctly because the person receiving the action (receiving the concern) is referred to as whom and the person who gave the action (gave the concern) is referred to as who.
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” is a phrase that uses the word whom correctly because the person receiving the action (receiving the tolling) is referred to as whom and the person who gave the action (gave the tolling) is referred to as who.
“Who is chasing Jim?” on the other hand, uses the word who correctly because the person giving the action (giving the chase) is referred to as who and the person receiving the chase, Jim, is referred to as whom. You could turn this phrase around and ask, “Whom is Jim being chased by?”
“Who does she think she is?” is another example of a sentence that uses the word who correctly because there is only one person in this sentence, not two: she.
From Writing Made Easy: Just The Basics
By Timothy Sharkey
The traditional way of learning how to use the word whom in a sentence is as an object of a preposition (such as to, for, of, by, or with, etc.). But I think that this way of learning how to use the word whom is difficult. I prefer to explain how to use the word whom as the word referring to the second party in a sentence who receives the action from the first party.
A sentence, in other words, often contains two parties or two people (called a subject [primary person] and an object [secondary person]). Who always refers to the first party (giving the action) and whom always refers to the second party (receiving the action).
Who is yelling at whom? is a perfect example. It contains the first party yelling at the second party. The first party is giving the action (it is yelling at the second party), and it is referred to as who. The second party is receiving the action (it is being yelled at), and it is referred to as whom.
You can write the letter G (for Gives) above the person in a sentence who gives the action and write the letter R (for Receives) above the person in a sentence who receives the action from the other party. This can help you see more clearly who is who. The person who gives the action (G) is referred to as who and the person who receives the action (R) is referred to as whom. Whoever and whomever work in exactly the same way.
“He kissed her” is an example of a sentence that contains two parties as well: a man (the subject) gives the action, the kiss, and a woman (the object), the second party, receives the action, the kiss. Who is referred to as the giver of the action and whom is referred to as the receiver of the action – every time. Therefore, you could turn this sentence around and ask, “Whom did he kiss?”
“Whom did you give the book to?” is another example of a sentence that contains two people, and it uses the word whom correctly. The person receiving the action (receiving the book) is referred to as whom and the person who gave the action (gave the book) is referred to as who.
“To whom it may concern” is a phrase that uses the word whom correctly because the person receiving the action (receiving the concern) is referred to as whom and the person who gave the action (gave the concern) is referred to as who.
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” is a phrase that uses the word whom correctly because the person receiving the action (receiving the tolling) is referred to as whom and the person who gave the action (gave the tolling) is referred to as who.
“Who is chasing Jim?” on the other hand, uses the word who correctly because the person giving the action (giving the chase) is referred to as who and the person receiving the chase, Jim, is referred to as whom. You could turn this phrase around and ask, “Whom is Jim being chased by?”
“Who does she think she is?” is another example of a sentence that uses the word who correctly because there is only one person in this sentence, not two: she.
From Writing Made Easy: Just The Basics
By Timothy Sharkey
