Grammar Post 3

A concept a grammar that i have trouble with is apostrophes. I get confused where they are supposed to go so this web page really helped me to further understand this rule.
The apostrophe has three uses:
1) to form possessives of nouns
2) to show the omission of letters
3) to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.
Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms.

Forming possessives of nouns
To see if you need to make a possessive, turn the phrase around and make it an "of the..." phrase. For example:
the boy's hat = the hat of the boy
three days' journey = journey of three days
If the noun after "of" is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture, then no apostrophe is needed!
room of the hotel = hotel room
door of the car = car door
leg of the table = table leg
Once you've determined whether you need to make a possessive, follow these rules to create one.
• add 's to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s):
the owner's car
James's hat
• add 's to the plural forms that do not end in -s:
the children's game
the geese's honking
• add ' to the end of plural nouns that end in -s:
houses' roofs
three friends' letters
• add 's to the end of compound words:
my brother-in-law's money
• add 's to the last noun to show joint possession of an object:
Todd and Anne's apartment
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html

While reading Idiot Nation by Michael Moore I found myself agreeing and rejecting many ideas he shared.I really did enjoy many of the different statistics especially the ones about Harvard students and other high universities not being able to answer simple questions that one should know. I really found it interesting because we just expect those "higher educated" beings to know everything.
On the other hand i really did not like how he was so critical of everything especially America they whole time i kept asking myself then why doesn't he just move out of the country. All of his comments are so critical to any rule he really found the negative in any situation.. with that he drops out of college because they dont have a parking spot? i thought that was crazy.
Throughout all of the reading i never questioned what his opinion was he was very verbal about anything he felt. With that being said i think that quality is good for him but at the same time its not good to be narrowminded and he deffinately has that along with being a smart a** about everything.

Society As We Know It

While reading "From Changing American Families" I found myself interested mostly because I have taken sociology and learned a little more about stratification including class,race and gender. After reading it i found that the different class information was the most interesting second inclduing race.
I was facsinated to find that the upper class families are so consumed with money where the parents mix with other wealthy families to keep having the money running in the family. Middle class requires more effort to keep income including moving around. The working class white families marry for love not money.
I was interested in The working-class African American Families: The Moynihan Report and its Historical Context it really hit hard that it was so crucial that the 50's and 60's brought about the social movement that was so crtical Civil Rights Movement that addresed unequal treatments of African Americans. I found it hard to believe that the Moynihan report suggested many things but one of that.."if black men were to take their rightful place as head of the family and community they would need to bolster their skills in behaving properly masculine manner... suggested they join the army."I disagreed with many things from Moynihan.

Grammar Post 2

A or AN

I struggle with this concept because the two are so similar to eachother it is hard to know what needs to be used but there are some trickly little rules like when you use an before unsounded h these little things helped alot.

The Rules

"A" goes before all words that begin with consonants.
a cat
a dog
a purple onion
a buffalo
a big apple
with one exception: Use an before unsounded h.
an honorable peace
an honest error
"An" goes before all words that begin with vowels:
an apricot
an egg
an Indian
an orbit
an uprising
with two exceptions: When u makes the same sound as the y in you, or o makes the same sound as w in won, then a is used.
a union
a united front
a unicorn
a used napkin
a U.S. ship
a one-legged man

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/esliart.html

The first political cartoon I chose was on gay marriage. It was interesting to me that they could take an issue that is such a serious ordeal and make it into a humoring cartoon.The artist did a fair job at bringing up the issue but seemed to be a bit more rude for my likings.
My overall reaction was that of being shocked, it made me really question the norm that we have set for a "normal marriage" between man and woman. In the cartoon it poked fun at same sex couples for being not normal and the "normal couples" in the way that was implying no sex for the normal couple.

I had problems getting the pictures on here but here is the link of each cartoon.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=politicalhumor&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fcagle.com%2F%2Fnews%2FGayMarriage%2Fmain.asp

http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=29397

The second political cartoon I found was on how people are caring less about the issue of school shootings and caring more about celebrities. I thought the cartoonist did an excellent job at how he brought up the issue by saying in the newspaper 25 deaths occured at a school shootings and the people are bored asking if any celebrities have broken up.
How true this is in our society now a day? It is sad to find that so many people care more about if Brad and Angelina are still together then someone that has died at a school shooting. My reaction was that of being impressed that the artist was able to open up my eyes and hopefully many others to see what we are really becoming.

Grammar Post

USING HYPHENS:

I think using hyphens in the correct place can be difficult. I struggle with this because I never seem to know when it needs to be used.

RULES ON HOW TO USE HYPHENS

1. Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun:
a one-way streetchocolate-covered peanutswell-known author
However, when compound modifiers come after a noun, they are not hyphenated:
The peanuts were chocolate covered.The author was well known.
2. Use a hyphen with compound numbers:
forty-sixsixty-threeOur much-loved teacher was sixty-three years old.
3. Use a hyphen to avoid confusion or an awkward combination of letters:
re-sign a petition (vs. resign from a job)semi-independent (but semiconscious)shell-like (but childlike)
4. Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex- (meaning former), self-, all-; with the suffix -elect; between a prefix and a capitalized word; and with figures or letters:
ex-husbandself-assuredmid-Septemberall-inclusivemayor-electanti-AmericanT-shirtpre-Civil Warmid-1980s
5. Use a hyphen to divide words at the end of a line if necessary, and make the break only between syllables:
pref-er-encesell-ingin-di-vid-u-al-ist

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_hyphen.html

Perfect family?

I found that the two readings we had to read were both similar and unique in their own way. I thought that it was interesting that in the first one Looking for Work the boy was so concerned with how life should be (like how it is on t.v.). One part that really grabbed my attention was how he told his mother he thought that they should dress up because they are Mexican-American and white American peope would like them more. I feel that the author is trying to teach three important pressures that are in the media our means to desire more money, that perfect family image and race.These are all things that are nothing new and its interesting to hear that even when this was years ago the same struggles are here today. The style that he wrote in (the elements) contiributes to effective writing.
The second reading What we really miss about the 50's was a well written peiece. I found it interesting that in the experiment most people would like to have their children grow up in the 1950's I have always heard that was the prime time but it is interesting to hear it. I think the author really made a strong arguement about why 1950's were not what everyone thinks they were. Coontz used her writing talking of how money and certain ways of life were things people liked about the 50's really was effective by her persuading the audience to think other wise or that other times were better.
I thought that the authors from both had great points of view. I found it interesting both tackled issues that we have in our society. I enjoyed reading the different styles of writing they both brought.

Response to Introduction

To be an American is a great privilege. Being a citizen is truly a great thing when we have our freedom. This is a great land, not everyone is as lucky to have it like we do in America. Being an American citizen is accepting to obey laws and responsibilities and if not willing to have accept propper punishment.
Many Americans take for granted the great blessings this is the land of opportunity and it shows. Americans are in great debt to the many that gave there lives for freedom so the way of life can be it is as it is today. To show great appreciation and being patriotic acts such as the pledge of allegiance and national anthem are preformed.
This book could potentially challenge the opionions i have stated above. While reading the introduction of Rereading America it sought purpose to teach the readers to question what they are told and form an knowledgeable opinion this can be done by using the strategy of critical thinking.