…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,...

Pump up your verbs, please

September 11, 2017

In all of your essays, whether they are demanded for your Written Assignments, your commentaries, or your Paper 2 essay, you can win the heart of your examiners by moving beyond the conventional verbs you use to talk about literature.  Show, demonstrate, characterize,...

‘Talk nerdy to me’: Delivering a winning IOP

August 16, 2017

The challenge of standing before your classmates and not just getting, but holding their attention,  is not a small one; in fact, that part of your audience is even more of a challenge than–yes–the attention of your teacher.  It’s true that she or he...