midterm prep

The midterm is during class on Friday, January 18 It counts for 20% of the third marking period's grade. It will consist completely of grammar.

You have today through Monday in class you study and practice. The exam itself will be 50 grammar fill ins taken directly from these exercises; hence, there is no excuse not to get a 100, as you will have the responses ahead of time.

Please go to this site: http://www.towson.edu/ows/indexexercises.htm


Now look at the commonly confused words. There are lots, and this will take you some time. Here's the deal. It is the expectation that everyone work on these in class, so that you will not need to prep outside. If at any time, I find anyone exploring a video or game or anything other than these exercises, the next day we move on to the next unit, and so ends study time. Please be considerate of the whole class. Do not be the individual who spoils it for everyone else.

Notes on affect and effect (This is for you Tara)

 

What Is the Difference Between Affect and Effect?

Before we get to the memory trick though, I want to explain the difference between the two words.

It's actually pretty straightforward. The majority of the time you use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun.

 When Should You Use Affect?

Affect with an a means "to influence," as in, "The arrows affected Aardvark," or "The rain affected Amy's hairdo." Affect can also mean, roughly, "to act in a way that you don't feel," as in, "She affected an air of superiority."

When Should You Use Effect?

Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning "a result" seems to be at the core of all the definitions. For example, you can say, "The effect was eye-popping," or "The sound effects were amazing," or "The rain had no effect on Amy's hairdo."

Common Uses of Affect and Effect

Most of the time affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun.

So most of the time affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. There are rare instances where the roles are switched, and I'll get to those later, but for now let's focus on the common meanings. This is "Quick and Dirty" grammar, and my impression from your questions is that most people have trouble remembering the basic rules of when to use these words, so if you stick with those, you'll be right 95% of the time.

So, most of the time, affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun; and now we can get to the mnemonics. First, the mnemonic involves a very easy noun to help you remember: aardvark. Yes, if you can remember aardvark -- a very easy noun -- you'll always remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. Why? Because the first letters of "a very easy noun" are the same first letters as "affect verb effect noun!" That's a very easy noun. Affect (with an a) verb effect (with an e) noun.

"But why Aardvark?" you ask. Because there's also an example to help you remember. It's "The arrows affected Aardvark. The effect was eye-popping." It should be easy to remember that affect with an a goes with the a-words, arrow and aardvark, and that effect with an e goes with the e-word, eye-popping. If you can visualize the sentences, "The arrows affected the aardvark. The effect was eye-popping," it's pretty easy to see that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun.

Rare Uses of Affect and Effect

So what about those rare meanings that don't follow the rules I just gave you? Well, affect can be used as a noun when you're talking about psychology--it means the mood that someone appears to have. For example, "She displayed a happy affect." Psychologists find it useful because they know that you can never really understand what someone else is feeling. You can only know how they appear to be feeling.

And, effect can be used as a verb that essentially means "to bring about," or "to accomplish." For example, you could say, "Aardvark hoped to effect change within the burrow."

Credible, Credulous, Creditable, and Related Words
Credible
is believable. It could refer either to a story or a person. The adverb form is credibly. The noun form is credibility. The opposite is incredible, not able to be believed. Credulous is gullible. A credulous person is apt to believe nearly anything even with little evidence. The noun form is credulity. The opposite is incredulous, refusing to believe, skeptical. Creditable is having or deserving credit, praiseworthy. The noun forms are credit and creditability. The adverb form is creditably.