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 Post subject: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:46 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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This seems like one of the most frequent misuses of grammar in fics I have read, so I thought I'd post a quick lesson. Undoubtedly, I will have errors in my lesson. Isn't this always the case?

Scoobies Teach Grammar #1: Speech Punctuation

"For this declarative sentence, I end with a comma," said Willow.

Buffy shook her head. "I choose to end mine with a period."

"Yes, but you didn't follow yours with 'Buffy said.' Because of this, you were correct to use a period. For the same reason, I will end this with a period."

"What if my sentence is a question?" asked Buffy.

Willow scratched her head. "You should use a question mark without a comma, exactly like you just did."

"Interesting," Buffy replied.

"You should never do this" Willow added. <- No! Bad! Wrong!

"You mean surround speech with quotation marks, but no other punctuation?"

"Exactly!" stressed Willow.

"I think the comma should go outside the quotation marks", Buffy decided. <- No! Bad! Wrong!

"That is silly." Willow paused for a moment. "Hey, did you notice how I followed 'That is silly' with a period instead of a comma?"

"I did notice," Buffy said. "Why did you do that? I mean, it says 'Willow paused' right afterward. Isn't that like 'Willow said?'"

"It's different. 'Willow said' is an attribution of speech. It tells the reader that the quoted sentence (or sentences) were said by Willow. However, writing 'Willow paused' is unrelated to the quote. It is a separate clause. When you end with the period, 'Willow said' is implied."

"This is confusing," insisted Buffy.

"Well," Willow replied, using another comma to lead into a continuation of her sentence, "if it's difficult to remember, try memorizing these simple examples."

Code:
"I am sad," Xander grumbled.  He kicked a stone.


Code:
"I am sad." Xander kicked a stone.


I hope somebody finds this useful!


Last edited by jasmydae on Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:02 am, edited 9 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Lesson: Speech punctuation
PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:45 am 
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This is actually very useful. And kind of funny.

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 Post subject: Re: Lesson: Speech punctuation
PostPosted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 2:26 pm 
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Bless you!!!!

I just finished reading something on DCP that was great storytelling and incredibly compelling, but it was written so poorly from the technical side that I've refrained from posting feedback. Wild punctuation (or lack thereof) surrounding dialog was one of the drawbacks of the story. Thanks you so much for posting this straightforward and entertaining lesson in dialog punctuation.

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 Post subject: Re: Lesson: Speech punctuation
PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:25 pm 
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Here's another misuse of punctuation in character speech I see way too often on the Kitten Board.

Scoobies Teach Grammar #2: More Speech Punctuation

"Oh my God!," screeched Dawn as she raced into the kitchen. <- No! Bad! Wrong!

"Guh. Don't do that," Willow insisted, wincing. She placed her mug of cocoa down on the table.

"What?," asked the teenager. <- No! Bad! Wrong!

"That!" Willow indicated the commas the younger girl was needlessly interjecting into her speech. "You used too many punctuation marks in those sentences."

"Oh. Well, which ones should I get rid of?"

"Remove the commas," Willow instructed.

"Like this, with only a question mark?" Dawn asked. "No comma?"

"Exactly like that."

"Okay. Thanks for the tip." Dawn said, smiling. <- No! Bad! Wrong!

"Hm. That's not quite right, either. At the end of quoted speech, exclamation points and question marks trump commas. When your sentence would normally end with a period, however, you must choose between a period and a comma."

"How do I know which to use?" Dawn wondered, purposefully avoiding the use of a comma. She was a fast learner.

"Well, that goes back to whether you're including an attribution of speech. Remember what I told Buffy, the other day?" The redhead raised an eyebrow.

Dawn gaped. "How did you know I was eavesdropping?"

Willow's only response was a smug smile.

"Fine," Dawn huffed. "Since 'Dawn huffed' is an attribution of speech, I'll use a comma."

"Perfect." Willow nodded her head. "Since 'Willow nodded' is not an attribution of speech, I will use a period."

"Cool. Thanks for the lesson."

"No problem, Dawnie. Now, what was it you were going to tell me?"

"Oh! Right!" The teenager's eyes widened. "There's a demon in the living room!"

Hope somebody finds this useful!


Last edited by jasmydae on Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:02 am, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Lesson: Speech punctuation (New! Part II)
PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:46 pm 
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I love your idea! =D

Thanks =)

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#3: Attribution of Speech)
PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:59 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Just a definition, to go along with lessons one and two.

Scoobies Teach Grammar #3: Attribution of Speech

A light tapping on the door frame drew Tara's attention away from her book. She smiled. "Hey, Dawn."

"Can I come in?" the teenager asked.

"Of course." Tara slipped a bookmark between the pages and set the paperback down on the bedside table.

Dawn screamed her reply. "Thanks!"

Cringing, Tara quickly covered her ears. "Whoa, whoa. What's wrong? Why are you shouting?"

The younger girl flopped miserably down on the bed, releasing an exasperated sigh. "Ever since Willow gave me a lesson in dialog punctuation, I've only been comfortable ending sentences with question marks and exclamation points..." She trailed off, uncertain how to punctuate her explanation.

"Mm hm. Why is that?"

"Tara, what...what's an attribution of speech?"

Tara grinned, finally understanding the problem Dawn was having. "Oh. Well, an attribution of speech is the piece of the sentence that tells the reader who is talking."

"Right. I get that. Like 'Xander said' or 'muttered Buffy.' But what about the countless other verbs? How can I remember which are and which aren't?"

"Well, the easiest way is to ask yourself a question. Take 'Xander said,' for instance. Ask yourself, 'What did Xander say?' If the answer is the quoted text, then you've got yourself an attribution of speech."

Dawn considered this. "So, what about something like 'Spike jumped?'"

"What did Spike jump?"

"Oh! I get it! He didn't jump the sentence he said. That makes sense!"

Tara nodded and rubbed the teenager's arm. "All better?"

"Wait, but there are lots more..."

"Dawn, we probably can't sort every verb into one pile or the other."

"But what about the tricky ones? What about 'Willow sighed?'"

"You're right," Tara agreed. "That's a tricky one, because sometimes it is an attribution of speech, yet other times it is not. A person can sigh words. They can also just sigh, without words."

"I'll never understand this," Dawn sighed.

The blonde pulled her into a hug. "You did it! That was perfect! You used a comma and everything."

"What do you mean?"

"You sighed the words. Since the answer to the question 'What did Dawn sigh?' is 'I'll never understand this,' you can tell that 'Dawn sighed' is an attribution of speech. Therefore, you use a comma."

"Hey, I think I get it." Dawn sighed again, experimentally, then brightened. "There! What did I sigh? Not the words before it, that's for sure!"

"Therefore, the period was correct." Tara kissed the top of Dawn's head. "You're so smart."

Excitedly, the teenager leaped from the bed and skipped out into the hallway. "I'm going to go show Willow!" Moments later, she reappeared in the doorway, hustled over to the bed, and planted a quick smooch on Tara's cheek. "Thanks! You're the best."

Hope this clarifies lessons one and two!


Last edited by jasmydae on Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too much attribution!)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:55 am 
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This one, while not a misuse of grammar, can really nudge your reader's mouse toward that Back button.

Scoobies Teach Grammar #4: Too Much Attribution!

"Hey," said Willow. <-- *

"Hey, Willow," said Tara, once again putting her book down. <-- *

"What are you up to?" asked Willow. <-- *

"Oh, just trying to finish these last few dozen pages," said Tara. <-- *

"Will it bother you if I do some work?" Willow asked, powering up her laptop. <-- *

"No, that's fine," said Tara. <-- *

"Cool. Thanks," said Willow. <-- *

"Sure. No problem," said Tara. <-- *

(* = No! Bad! Boring!)

"Holy schamoly." Buffy interrupted their conversation, stepping into the bedroom with a pained expression stretching her face. "We get it, already!"

The witches, rendered speechless by their friend's outburst, blinked confusedly.

"Blah blah Willow said. Blah blah Tara said. Blah blah Willow said. Blah blah Tara said. It's like a broken record," the Slayer complained. "You guys were the only two in here. Dialog goes back and forth. The readers are smart; they know who's saying what after the first couple lines."

"But we were attributing our speech," Willow explained, "just like we've been teaching all day."

"Yeah, but there is such a thing as going overboard, you know. Like, check me out here. You know who this is, right?"

"Uh, you're Buffy."

"Right! And how did you know that?"

Tara jumped in. "You could tell who was speaking by the quote's content and context."

"Exactly!" Buffy clapped once, triumphantly. "You don't have to drive home who is saying or asking every single line of dialog, especially when it's only two people talking."

Willow grumbled. "Fine. You're right. Now we know."

Buffy was never one to pass on a lead-in. "And knowing's half the battle!"

"Um...what's the other half?" Tara wondered.

The Slayer considered this. "Apparently, having your opponents be so inaccurate that you can rush up to them and punch them in the face." She shrugged. "It's a great strategy."

A big part of better writing is learning what to leave out.

Note to other authors: I started this thread as a way to offer fun, constructive lessons aimed at correcting grammar mistakes shared by several stories I had read. If you have a misuse or bad habit you'd like to see addressed by the gang, send me a PM. Alternatively, feel free to add your own chapter to this thread!


Last edited by jasmydae on Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:53 am 
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This is a happy medium which is hard to strike at times; I've seen any number of writers, especially pros, who drop dialogue tags in such a way that it's *not* plausible to follow by content and context.

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Last edited by DaddyCatALSO on Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 2:28 pm 
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From Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind:Living the Writer's Life. Chapter 50 Orchestra

"...I also looked at punctuation. A period was a heavy anchor for Philip, and he stopped and rested when he reached one. Punctuation had real significance. It signaled the beginning and end of thought.

'And if punctuation is about thought,' I thought, 'then in order to punctuate, we have to know our mind, to know what we think, and when one thought stops and the other begins. We have to understand the journey of thought, how thought moves around in our mind.' "




Proper punctuation isn't just important because some teacher somewhere in your academic life said it was.

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:59 am 
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Ah, this was really, really necessary! Thank you for writing this, I hope people will pay attention to it. :D


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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 4:48 am 
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Happy Happy Joy Joy!

"My grammar bites," said the kitten. Having never been taught any in school. "Especially punctuation. But this awesome thread is a great way to improve." She trails off to look for other threads.

:p


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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:42 am 
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This was hilarious! And oh so needed. Bad punctuation is a huge turn off when I read a fic. A few typos here and there I can stand, but when it's rampant, I click the back button. Heh.

What a great idea for a thread! Think you can conjure something up about the differences between your and you're, or there, their, and they're? And you can also explain spellcheck! The possibilities are endless!

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:41 am 
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and that pesky ol' 'its' 'it's'. no matter how many times, I can never remember

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2010 4:51 pm 
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The only way I've come to be able to discern between it's and its (which is about the only aspect of grammar I can confidently navigate) is the possessive rule. Normally when there's a possessive, like 'Buffy's hair in season 6 is gross', there's an apostrophe after Buffy, indicating that the hair is Buffy's.

The possessive form of the 3 letters i/t/s is the opposite of this. In this case, because i/t/s also makes up a contraction of it is, the contraction gets the apostrophe and the possessive form doesn't e.g 'It's funny to see a demon who is afraid of its own shadow'.

So now I just ask whether the i/t/s I'm writing is a contraction of it is or a possessive, and then apostrophise accordingly by using the silly saying I made up, 'It is possessing an apostrophe but not in its possessive form'.

I love this Scoobies Teaching Grammar idea and would love to see what I've probably failed to clearly explain here put into this more enjoyable and memorable context. I'd offer to write it but, um yeah, that's a lie. I won't offer to write it 'cause I hate writing and I'm terrible at it. I will, however, put in an earnest request to someone with actual skill for Scoobies Teach Grammar (An Appropriate Apostrophe).

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#4: Too Much Attribution!)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2010 4:05 pm 
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Whoa. Exactly one year after my last episode of STG it got a whole bunch of replies. That's vaguely Twilight Zone-ish.

Sccobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Appropriate Apostrophe)? Sounds like a great idea to me. I'll see what I can do.


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 Post subject: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:36 am 
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Back by popular request, here is the suggested episode about proper (and improper) apostrophe usage. Enjoy!

Scoobies Teach Grammar #5: An Appropriate Apostrophe

"Ew. I think these are intestine's," Buffy complained. She did her best to wipe globs of wet demon parts from her arm. "That was too close."

"Your not kidding." Xander lifted an overturned table and peered underneath. "Did you see where it's head ended up?" he asked.

"Nope. What happened to Gile's? Is he over they're?"

"Hes here!" called Willow. "Unconscious, as usual. Somebody give me a hand with these bookshelf's."

"I'm not unconscious, thank you," said Giles's voice from beneath the heavy shelving. He struggled out when they lifted the shelf, then he regarded them as a group while he dusted off his suit. "Now what on earth has happened to you all? Your grammar is even more dreadful than usual."

"Our's?" Xander looked at Giles incredulously. "Your the odd man out when it comes to talking weirdly."

Willow shook her head. "No, Xander, hes right. I mean, look! I put an apostrophe in bookshelf's." She paled instantly. "Oh god! I did it again. Whats wrong with me?"

Buffy tested a few phrases experimentally. "Figure skate's. Angels apartment. Juice. Apocal...uh...Apocalypses? Ugly demon's. Anyas fear of--"

"We get it," Giles interrupted. "Something is causing improper apostrophe usage. A curse is the most likely culprit."

"Why...were...you...unaffected?" Willow asked, choosing each word carefully to avoid triggering the effect.

"I'm British."

The others nodded as a group.

"Sound's to me like its research time," sighed Xander.

~*~

"I found something!" Willow exclaimed, holding up a thick, careworn book. She had become an expert at avoiding apostrophes in the last six hours.

They gathered around her. Willow scanned the passage, then handed the book to Giles. "Maybe you should read it," she suggested.

Giles cleared his throat and read aloud. "The Grishtal demon has been known to unleash bursts of psychic energy when startled. Those in close proximity may be affected. The effects are random and seldom life-threatening, but--oh, that's interesting..." He studied the page in silence.

"Whats interesting? Gile's." Buffy waved her hand. "Gile's! Whats the interesting?"

He looked up. "There's a documented case. Apparently one Slayer temporarily lost her ability to remember color names."

"Temporarily?" Willow echoed. "Temporary is good."

"Yes." Giles went back to reading. "The problem persisted for several days. It seems she was able to relearn them. The colors."

"How?" Buffy asked.

Giles closed the book and set it on the table. "By studying."

~*~

The three students sat side by side at the front of the classroom while Giles cordoned off a section of the board containing BASIC code and erased the rest. "Okay, one last time," he said. "Buffy, plural nouns."

"You dont use an apostrophe to make a noun plural," she said for the twentieth time that night.

"Give me an example. Chalkboard."

"Chalkboard's," she said.

"Buffy..."

"Chalkboards. Chalkboards. No apostrophe!"

"Good." Giles nodded. "Except for...what unique case?" He looked at Willow, who was practically hopping in her seat, her arm stretched high over her head. "Yes, Willow?"

"Single lowercase letter's. Letters! Single lowercase letters." Her slip-up robbed much of her exuberance, and she sat back quietly in her seat.

"Precisely. There are two l's in Willow. Mind your p's and q's. This is the only time you should use an apostrophe to make something plural. Single lowercase letters. Next: Xander, contractions."

Xander gulped. "Uh...like...childbirth?"

"Xander," Willow said. "We went over this a dozen...times." She said the last word carefully. "A contraction is a word or phrase in which one or more...letters...have been left out."

"Right. Sorry. Like dont. And..." He tried to remember the rule Giles had taught them. "And the apostrophe goes in place of the missing letter?"

"Yes. Such as?" Giles prompted.

"Dont is a contraction of do not, so the apostrophe replaces the missing o in not. Don't."

"What about it is?" Giles asked the class of three.

"The same rule applies," Willow answered. "The contraction replaces the i in is with an apostrophe. It's. It is. It's. It's a nice day because it's sunny. Except it's not. It's night, and it's dark. It is. It's. Why is that so hard to remember?"

Buffy held up her hand. "But I thought I-T-apostrophe-S was how you said something belonged to...it. It's luggage. It's favorite color." She growled. "Why the heck did those get colored red?"

The others looked at her oddly.

"What?" she said defensively. "We've been breaking the fourth wall since the beginning of this thread. See what I did there? We have. We've. Contraction. Back to the lesson, please. My question stands."

Giles nodded. "That's a tricky one, and many Americans make the same mistake."

"Hey!" Willow, Xander, and Buffy cried in unison.

Giles hurried on. "So let's go over possessive nouns again. Buffy. The collar of the dog."

Buffy glared at the Brit a moment longer, then recited, "The collar of the dog. Dog is a normal, boring noun. You use an apostrophe to show possession. The dog's collar."

"Exactly. Xander. The glasses of Giles."

Xander sat up straighter. "Me. Okay. Uh, the glasses of Gile's--"

Giles held up his hand. "Stop. Stop. Why are you putting an apostrophe in the middle of Giles?"

Xander shrugged. "Seemed like the thing to do."

"Giles is my last name. Rupert Giles. It simply ends with an s. We don't put an apostrophe in the middle of Harris. We don't put an apostrophe in the middle of Summers. Why would we put an apostrophe in the middle of Giles?"

Xander blinked. "Giles is your last name?"

Giles let his head fall against the chalkboard. "Oh, dear lord. Willow?"

"Giles is a proper noun. The name of an individual person, place, or thing. The same rule applies for possession as does for the normal, boring nouns."

"Thank you, Willow. So, the glasses of Giles?"

"The glasses of Giles. Giles's glasses. But you could leave the final s off. Giles' glasses. That would still be correct."

"That's true. Why?"

"Because Giles ends with an s. Giles's glasses. Giles' glasses. Either one."

"Very good. Xander, how about the laughter of the children? Many children."

"Child is a boring, normal noun. Children is plural. For plural noun's--darnit. Nouns. For possessive plural nouns, you put apostrophe-s at the end. Children's. The children's laughter."

They all stared at him.

"What? You guys are the only ones allowed to know anything?"

Giles raised his eyebrows. "No, no. That's very impressive. You're right. But what about plural nouns that end with s? The names of my friends? Buffy?"

"Crud, really? Me?" She sighed. "Okay. Friend is a normal, boring noun. Friends is the plural. So...possessive...plural noun...you put an apostrophe-s at the end. Just like Xander said. Friends's. No, crap, that's wrong. Friend's? Friendses? Friends'? There we go. My friends' names."

"Yes," Giles said. "Now for the hard part."

"That wasnt...That wasn't the hard part?"

"Willow." Willow's eyes widened when Giles said her name. "What about possessive pronouns?"

"Um," squeaked Willow. "Okay. A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. Like when the noun has already been identified. Like...uh..." She looked around the room for a good example. "Buffy fights demons because she is the Slayer. She is a pronoun. It means Buffy."

"That's true. A pronoun is a substitute for a noun that has already been specified, or that can be determined from the context. So how would you make a pronoun possessive? Buffy has a sweater. It is..." Giles prompted.

"My sweater," said Buffy.

"Her sweater," said Xander, at the same time.

Giles tried again. "The sweater is..."

"Mine," Buffy insisted.

"Her's," said Xander, again simultaneously.

Buffy smirked. "Nope. Your red." Her brow furrowed. "You are red. Contraction. You're red." She brightened. "Easy!"

"Oh! Oh!" Willow thrust her hand in the air. "I remember! Possessive pronouns don't get apostrophes!"

"Never?" Giles asked.

"Never," Willow replied.

"Never ever?" He raised one eyebrow.

Willow shook her head adamantly and lifted her chin. "Nope. Not ever, ever, ever. You can't trick me."

A smile appeared on Giles' face. "Very good, Willow. Let's look at some examples." He wrote on the board as he lectured.

Code:
To whom does the book belong?
Whose book is it?

The book belongs to ___.  It is ___ book.  The book is ___.
                    ME          MY                     MINE
                    YOU         YOUR                   YOURS
                    US          OUR                    OURS
                    HIM         HIS                    HIS
                    HER         HER                    HERS
                    IT          ITS                    ITS
                    THEM        THEIR                  THEIRS

Never, ever, ever, EVER put an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun.


"But that's wrong!" Buffy protested. "The book belongs to the library. The library's book. It's book. No, that shouldn't be red. It's right! Library is a noun. A boring, normal noun. So it gets an apostrophe-s. Library's. It is a normal, boring noun. It gets the same thing. It's."

Xander spoke up. "But I thought it's was a contraction for it is."

Willow nodded. "It is. Heh. It's." She took a moment to enjoy her own joke. "Buffy, it isn't a boring, normal noun. It's a pronoun. When you say it, you mean the library. The word it takes its place. That makes it a pronoun. And you never, ever, ever, ever, ever put an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun. The library's book. Its book. See?"

Buffy grumbled. "No fair. Fine. You guys are braniacs. Its book. So are we done here, or what?"

Giles looked at Xander. "Xander, how would you say the victory belongs to us?"

"Victory is ours."

Giles nodded. "We're done."

Suddenly the door opened, and Jenny Calendar entered. "H3Y D00DZ. W47 R J00Z D01N H3R3? D1D J00 H34R KR4ZY N01535 @ GYM B4?"

There was a collective groan from the classroom, and Giles sullenly sat back down at the teacher's desk.

Hee! That was fun. So there you go. A lesson on apostrophe usage. I hope it helps. Sorry it got wordy; there were many cases to consider. I'm certain I made unintentional mistakes, so please point them out if you see them.


Last edited by jasmydae on Thu Sep 23, 2010 6:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:53 am 
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Ms. Moderator Fantastico
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F'ing genius Megan! So proper of Giles to teach the lesson. School would have been so much more fun if we had hilarious little one shots like these to learn from.

My favs:

Quote:
"Why...were...you...unaffected?" Willow asked, choosing each word carefully to avoid triggering the effect.

"I'm British."


Quote:
Xander blinked. "Giles is your last name?"



This was a delight to read Megan, and I hope you write more, and I hope people read it and learn from it.

PS Are you an English teacher?

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:56 am 
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Foomatic wrote:
PS Are you an English teacher?


Haha...actually, I'm a mortgage risk analyst who failed technical writing twice. (^_')b But I've gotten better! I'm really glad you're enjoying the thread.


Last edited by jasmydae on Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 10:19 pm 
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Yay, thank you so much for that.

I learned heaps and it helped solidify the stuff I already had a reasonable grasp on. I was informed last year that we don't actually get learned grammar in high school here (I was too busy being a high schooler to notice at the time)(also funny seeing as I went to a grammar school)(and even funnier 'cause half the time I was there, the sign at the main gate said it was a girl's, rather than girls', grammar school)(so many parentheses!) so at the tertiary level we basically get chucked straight into academic writing with only those natural skills that what we already possess. Although my attempts at catching up have lacked some diligence, this thread has certainly helped to make it a far more enjoyable process so again, thanks.

Also, Britishness should be a valid answer for everything.

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:46 pm 
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wow..I never thought grammar lesson would be this fun :pinky
thank you for sharing Megan

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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:08 pm 
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If only learning could always be this much fun.

I'm be a straight A student for sure.
>_>
<_<

But I do enjoy these lessons and look forward to #6.

The first four lessons was an eye opener for me. Especially the clarification of Attribution of Speech.


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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 4:54 pm 
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This is brilliant, Jasmydae.

I was always uncertain as to the correct punctuation of dialogue*, but too lazy to wade through tedious grammar books and the rules never seemed to stick with me anyhow.

Having said that, it would be terrible to admit that I teach English. So I won’t.

Thanks to your funny, in character and beautifully clear explanation, I now feel I can attribute speech with the best of ‘em. Trouble is, now I know the rules, seeing mistakes will be added to my list of pet peeves, (and it was already quite a menagerie, including typos, misplaced apostrophes and of course, homophone abuse.)

Maybe the Scoobies could now set to work solving the mystery of colons and semi colons?




*extraneous vowels are as British as Rupert Giles.


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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Tue May 01, 2012 5:26 pm 
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9. Gay Now
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this is spectacular!

thanks to this thread, my entire class now knows about apostrophes and commas.

i found the 'Attribution' bit especially useful.
often in stories, i find that people don't attribute enough.
After all, in a girl-intensive environment, 'she' doesn't really spell out who's talking.
It's easy if one of them says "Yo Red!" 'cos Faith is kinda distinctive.
but in a 3 way conversation (or scooby meeting) it can get tricky.

But anyway, thankyou for this. :bounce
I have never read anything that got the point across so clearly, not websites, not explanatory english texts, nothing.
Totally bookmarking this! :bounce

Thanks! :flower

R


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 Post subject: Re: Scoobies Teach Grammar (#5: An Approriate Apostrophe)
PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2012 8:39 am 
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Quote:
"Why...were...you...unaffected?" Willow asked, choosing each word carefully to avoid triggering the effect.

"I'm British."


Brilliant! But, alas, no longer a truism. It's not what it was when Giles was at school, I'm afraid...

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