The Topic of Great Randomness

[SpacePen]

I've had multiple space pens, and I keep seeming to misplace them, lose them, or what have you. (Fortunately without the help of a group of bullying peers, though!)

there was the silver chrome one with the gold space shuttle on the clip; there was the purple "bullet" spacepen, and etc., etc.

But what I'd like to get is the silver neck chain space pen with the filigree decoration on the outside... which doesn't seem to be made anymore, but I just love the idea of beauty and function coming together like that.

But since that seems out (and out of my price range even if it were still being made), my current project is to get colored space pen ink refills and put them inside of a set of colored pens that I already have.

Why why why does nita never use nor mention her spacepen after SYWTBAW?

[dorotheia]

Maybe because Nita's space pen can only write the white glowing ink, which is not very useful on normal paper or projects...? Or it was taken away when the proper authorities retrieved the Book of Night with Moon because it was too powerful? I really wonder about that too. It seems like it would be a great tool, enhanced with a little wizardry, for writing spells in the air, making giant diagrams or whatnot...

[Stellazira]

Since I don't have any books I'm looking forward to out yet, I thought I'd finish off Paolini's Inheritance books with the last one. I'm finding it very frustrating to read.

Some parts are just awkward to read. Commas would be better in places where there are instead periods, and it would really help with the flow if they were replaced. Various sentences issues I've tried to read past, but now I've read about an inconsistency (don't worry, this is nothing worthy of being labelled spoilers). Eragon is sparring with an elf named Wyrden and then with Arya, then they start moving and is followed by a chapter not following Eragon. Ten pages later a new chapter begins and Eragon's complaining about he's sore from sparring with Arya and

[SpacePen]

perhaps the author needs...
1) a better (or harsher) editor
2) to get eragon out of his system so he can write something new, with improved writing skills that he's learned from his first time out

[EricG1793]

I find that I'm personally not as critical about books as many people are, especially books that we're forced to read in school.... I only have issues when there are too many words on one page and there's no dialog and paragraphs last for pages at a time (*cough*Gulliver's Travels, Heart of Darkness*cough*). I've disliked/dispised/hated/loathed most of the books read in English 4 this year in high school, although I did enjoy The Stranger and The Matamorphosis. I've not liked Heart of Darkness or Gulliver's Travels at all. I haven't been enjoying reading Hamlet, Othello, and Woman Warrior, but it would certainly be more pleasant without worrying about the tests and essays. I know I'm complaining about nothing compared to college and whatever, but for each book we read, we have a discussion circle (we have to make a certain amount of comments that have to meet certain quality requirements), write a 3-4 page essay (not too bad if you're passionate about what you're writing, and after you "break the ice" and get that intro paragraph rolling), and have a test that comprises of (2) 5-paragraph essays, hand-written in one sitting. High school has really murdered my love for reading, but I still peck away at certain books. I got AWoM in paperback for Christmas, so I think that'll be my first project: reread the entire YW series. I'll be done with English 4 in a couple weeks and hopefully have a nice, peaceful last semester of high school so I'll have time and the physical/mental energy to get through something to read before I get into Hell on Earth: College (or so I've been led to believe by my high school teachers, but I've found that things only get more and more boring, tiresome, and complicated as time goes on).

Anyway, I really, really enjoyed the Inheritance Trilogy -- I mean, Cycle. By the time I was reading Brisingr, I was so extremely immersed in it that I would read and read until my eyes literally could not focus on the words anymore. Only a few authors (including Diane Duane, of course) have written books that make me feel that way, and it's an awesome feeling to look forward to going to be just so I can read (I'm not a fan of reading during the day). Anyway, when I read, I'm totally un-analytical. I don't notice inconsistencies in the names and whatnot. I do notice grammatical abnormalities, but I get used to them after a while. I don't really think deeply/read between the lines... I just read/comprehend whatever's written, which is why I'm having such a hard time with high-level English classes (I hate questions like, "What is the author really saying? What does this object symbolize? How does this relate to blah blah blah?"), and is also why I love the YW series. DD successfully throws morals in the dialogue and actions of the characters right into the text. Perhaps there's a heck of a lot more that DD is trying to tell us that I'm passing right over, but I really get a lot out of the YW series, anyway, and it did change my view on many things as I continued to read through it.

Wow, two ultra-boring rants. And I haven't even posted in several months. Sorry about that, guys!

[Stellazira]

I think big posts are good for people now and then. :P

I took Challenge/AP English in high school for three years and I've taken three uni-level English courses, so I tend to ask for a bit more when I pick up a book to read for pleasure but I like the fact that I don't have the analyze what I'm reading and what's really being said. I would just like to enjoy a book and have a good time. When I pick up a book to read for fun I'm not going into it with the intention of picking it apart and critiquing it the whole time: I really just want to read the book for fun.

But when some things read and feel so wrong and jump out and slap me in the face I can't seem to enjoy it anymore. I've read books with errors in them, as has everyone: as much as people try to catch all the errors, there are still errors. I don't criticize a book for a mistake here and there - a missed quotation mark or indentation. What does get me annoyed is when poor editing choices (if they were even noticed) appear in the first few pages of a book and when there are inconsistencies happening in the space of a few chapters. I didn't want to pick up this book and start finding all the errors in it, but when there are so many they become hard to miss.

As for the Inheritance series itself, without going into spoilers it became apparent where the author got his inspirations from. There were so many - "similarities" - between his first few books and David Eddings', Anne McCaffrey's and Diane Duane's various works, not to mention the plot line was eerily like the Star Wars story. After Eldest I joked about how one could say "Eragon, use the dragon" instead of "Luke, use the Force".

At this rate, you'll probably hear me complain more about the book by the time I finish it. Oh dear.

[EricG1793]

The problem with reading books from different authors with different editors from different countries is that the punctuation and language is never consistent... but that's also the wonder of it. Take Cornelia Funke's Inkheart, for example. Dialogue was denoted with single quotations. For example: Eric says, '...But that's also the wonder of it.' Then quotations inside of quotations are double quotations. For example: Eric says, 'My teacher says, "History teachers think History is harder than English," which I'm not sure I agree with.'

Then there's Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, written in 16th Century English, in a time when there really weren't rules. Every Noun is capitalized, many Words are spelled "incorrectly," the Word "prodigious" is the most frequently-occurring Adjective, etc. I still can't figure out why he uses italics, but it seems to be for proper names... other times it seems to be the same reason we use italics today: to stress a certain word.

Even the YW series drives some people nuts when it distinguishes nonverbal communication; in the beginning, parenthesis were used in place of quotation marks, and later, italics were used. See this thread.

I had an argument with an acquaintance that lasted for days regarding comma usage. I insisted that if there's an interjection before a quote, there has to be a comma. For example: Eric exclaimed, "Look at that!" She thinks that there should be no comma after exclaimed... apparently the teacher doesn't care either way because she didn't even mark it wrong on the essay.

Everyone has their own opinion on specific grammatical/punctuational rules... I find it very difficult at times to figure out what's truly correct. I have a pretty strong understanding (as all of us bookworms do ), but some things do make me wonder.

[96bookworms]

Grammar issues can be very annoying! And so can improper language! My Biology teacher ( :/ ) uses improper grammar all the time, and as the daughter of an English teacher, I'm constantly trying not to correct her....language and other errors...her math skills, I won't go into.

I agree about analyzing books for school. I LOVE to read, and I love to talk about the books I've read! But taking notes while reading, or having specific questions to answer, I can't stand. I really don't like having to analyze the "author's use of the word dog" or something like that. I'd rather focus on what I liked/didn't like about the book, and then have the discussion naturally flow into other aspects of the book.
My dislike for taking notes goes all the way back to 4th grade, where we had to read incredibly slow, boring books (in my opinion...my reading level was pretty advanced) and write 10 sentences about the assigned reading, which was maybe 3 chapters, or maybe 10 pages or so. Many of the books didn't even have much of a plot line to begin with, but I had to torture myself writing sentences about who knows what.

after that rant...

I think proper grammar can really be a big deal. A few days ago, I gave a paper I was writing to my teacher to look over, and the first thing she said about it was, "Thank you for using the proper form of 'Your'! " I am in high school, so I was a bit surprised that it was that far out of the ordinary that she had to comment on it!

[Stellazira]

One of the best things I overheard in a school hallway was "I got a B in English. I did good in English."

[Mitsu101]

Speaking of languages. . . . I love knowing three different ones! English is good because, well, everyone speaks it (at least in America and some parts of the world). Not to mention it is SUCH a beautiful language. Even as my second language, I'm majoring in it. Spanish is swell because I can chat with some people without having to worry about some people overhearing and it just opens up some many new opportunities to talk to new people. Not to mention Spanish is beautiful in it's own way. Lastly my first language, Japanese, almost no one know (even less know it fluently). I mean, if I go to a anime convention, the odds go up by 5%, but most of the time no one has any idea of what I'm saying.

Wish brings me to my point: Speaking in a language no one understands means you can say whatever you want and no one is any wiser.

Which is awesome at work when a REALLY REALLY annoying co-worker complains about everything and anything, plays a pity party every three seconds, and then tries to be miss I'm-really-cool-and-awesome-so-you-should-be-in-awe-of-me, is super slow and lethargic, and then does a really bad job which you then have to go over. And this co-worker also likes to stand around and WATCH you do work and not help one bit. Was it also mentioned that this is all happening between the times of 8:30pm to 2am; with heavy doses till to 3:30 am?

And to finish it all: If people were smarter, this wouldn't happen. That's why I love people who are decent at using the English language.

Thank you for my rant. ^^

[EricG1793]

Not to mention Spanish is beautiful in it's own way.

*Cough*

The use of apostrophes is one of the things I'm most unclear about. Some people seem to think that pluralizing a noun constitutes apostrophes, especially using abbreviation. Some people I know would abbreviate Young Wizard pluralized this way: YW's. But, to my understanding, it should be YWs.

High schoolers? Experts at grammar? HAH! 99% of anything written by my peers is grammatically incorrect. It's pitiful. In English class on Friday, the teacher had us get into (or in to? Not sure on that, either) groups and determine which of our thesis statements that we had previously come up with was the best and type it on the computer to project to the class to dissect. Missing commas, commas where they shouldn't be... basic stuff like that. Very awkward. The teacher has even complained about "text message codes" being used in her papers and/or tests! My school is exceptional in CT, and CT is exceptional amongst other states, and this is what we're getting!

I fear that, someday, "text message codes" will be the standard, commas will be used stupidly, etc. Change is inevitable, of course (just ask the Modern Language Association, which makes changes to its stupid paper format every year), but I think it's going to be happening quickly in the coming years.

Edit: I find my avatar amusingly ironic right now. ("The Lotus "im in ur dark manhattan boostin ur book")

[Stellazira]

I hate it when people start posting on a forum n start talkin like they dont hav a keybord or something they dont capitalize or use punctuation n it so hard too read

I find it so hard to write badly.

I think inevitable the horrible text-talk will make it into everyday language. I couldn't believe I had said "lol" out loud the other day. It's just silly.

I hate it when people send me a private message in whatever made-up English they're using, I reply using English I speak and write with and I get messages back in the same hard-to-decipher language they have. Don't people take a hint?

*Looks at post*

I think I'm tired. I spent three and a half hours volunteering at the pool this morning and didn't get a great night's sleep.

[Mitsu101]

[EricG1793]

^ I didn't mean to offend you -- your mistake (that is very easy to make) made me think of something to talk about. Thank you for bringing that up!

Coincidentally, today, we went over a list of homonyms. I didn't even know (or at least remember) that they were called homonyms until today... I think this is the most exciting thing I've learned in English 4!

Affect: Influence; Effect: Accomplishment
All ready: Everything is prepared; Already: Surprisingly soon
Any more: Quantities (Is there any more candy?); Anymore: Time (I don't have that anymore)
Bare: Uncovered; Bear: The large furry thing in the woods, or to carry a load
Bass: Low-pitched tone or instrument; Base Bottom piece
Beet: Plant; Bear: Win, hit
Bored: Not entertained; Board: Wood, or a panel of people
Course: Route taken; Coarse: Rough
Ensure: To make certain; Insure: To cover financially in the event of a catastrophe
Except: Not including; Accept: Consent to receive
Fore: Ahead, or, in golfer's terms, "You might get hit by a flying golf ball!"; Four: 4; For: Intention
Grate: Shred; Great: Good
Guessed: Past form of guess; Guest: Visitor
Hall: Passageway; Haul: Transport
Hare: Rabbit; Hair: On head; Heir: Beneficiary
Hear: Audible; Here: Place
Higher: Upward in elevation; Hire: To employ
Hole: Opening; Whole: Unbroken
Into: Into the woods; In to: Immersed in
Its: Possessive for an object; It's: Contraction for it is
Mail: What the postal service handles; Male: Opposite of female
Meet: See for the first time; Meat: What carnivores consume
Minor: Not serious, or under 18 years old (in U.S.A.); Miner: Person who digs up Earth's resources
New: Just purchased; Knew: In head in the past
Our: Plural possessive pronoun; Hour: 60 minutes
Passed: Gone by; Past: Opposite of future
Pail: Bucket; Pale: Without color
Pain: Agony; Pane: Part of window
Peak: Top point; Peek: Quick look
Plane: Flat surface, aircraft; Plain: Boring
Principle: Concept; Principal: "Chief" of a school. He is your "pal"
Read: To comprehend written words; Reed: Part of a wind instrument
Red: Color; Read: Past tense of reading a book
Reign: To rule; Rain: What falls from the sky; Rein: Controls a horse
Right: Correct; Write: Form characters on a surface; Rite: Conducting a ceremony
Roll: Turn, or round piece of bread; Role Part to play
Their: Place; Their: Possessive; They're: Contraction for they are
To: Towards; Two: 2; Too: Also
Vein: Blood passage; Vain: Stuck up, for nothing
Weather: Atmospheric conditions; Whether: Choices
Where: Which place?; Wear: Clothes, degradation; Ware: Tools, hardware, software
Which: Used in a question to choose one object amongst others; Witch: Ugly, evil broomstick lady
Your: Possessive "you"; You're: You are


Perhaps this ought to be split into a grammar thread at this point.

[Stellazira]

You mean there isn't already a grammar thread? :P

Maybe one of my previous English profs said it best: you have to make a good impression on the first day, and then you can slack off a bit and make mistakes later on once you've established your skills. If you have a good history of good writing and you make the occasional slip up I'm not going to wave my finger at you in disapproval. If you write like you don't know anything but text-talk then that's a different matter.

Speaking of teachers, I hate teachers who teach with power points, and I really hate teachers who make their lectures summaries of textbook chapters. I already paid for the textbook once, I didn't pay to have it given to me in a lecture too. *smileyangry*