Planning Your Digital Afterlife

February 5, 2018

Do you own a portable phone? tablet? computer? Who do you/would you trust with the passwords, pins, puks, for the physical machines? Do you know how many online accounts do you have?  Who do you/would you trust with the passwords, security questions’ answers,...

Some Mathematical Tips for the New Year

January 8, 2018

[latexpage] Happy New Year everybody! At this time last year I suggested some new year resolutions to help you in your studies. They are of course valid at all times, and if you didn’t see them, then have a look now. This time I’ve got some tips which you...

…And One Last Go at Syntax

January 3, 2018

Here’s an interesting set of recommendations about improving your writing through ‘conscious syntax’ that gets to the issue through a pair of basic sentences.  I like it and maybe you will, too: 10 Varieties of Syntax to Improve Your Writing It is...

A Theme? A Motif? Which Is It?!

December 11, 2017

One of the cranky little issues that often (almost always) arises when you are trying to write about the leading ideas or stylistic choices in a piece of literature—as you often must in your courses that involve this kind of art—is when to use the term...

. . .and more about syntax

November 20, 2017

The more we think about syntax, reading or writing it, the more we close in on sentences. If syntax is basically the ordering of words, sentences are how we deliver or read that ordering of words. We can opt for doing this in staccato ways with punchy short sentences,...

Syntax: a path to better analysis, better writing

October 18, 2017

Very often, in commentaries and other analysis, students bring up the term, ‘syntax’ but seldom have much to say about it.  If you pay a little attention to figuring out what it is and how writers use it, you could really raise your game in both analysis,...