Last time, we talked about the first step of the writing process, focusing on determining your purpose and your audience. I ended with determining your subject and mentioned that it's often necessary to do some brainstorming to get started (this is still part of the preparing process).
There are three brainstorming activities I often recommend: freewriting, clustering, and mind-mapping.
The theory withfreewriting is that you start with an idea or a thought and expand on it through just writing whatever comes to mind. This is a great exercise for kinesthetic learners because it gives them a hands-on approach. The theory with clustering is that you start with an idea or a thought and expand on it through logical hierarchy. This is a great exercise for visual learners because it gives them a linear view. Mind-mappingis a combination of the two and works well with most learners.
Okay. You've completed step one! You've determined your purpose, audience, and subject.
FINALLY!
Let's move on to Step Two: Planning.
This step is often skipped, but I learned the hard way how important it is. I used to skip planning. I'd go directly from preparing to drafting, and usually did okay in high school and as an undergrad. However, when I started grad school and began writing longer papers, I realized how important a good outline can be (my first few papers weren't as well-structured as they could have been, and once I began outlining, my drafts flowed much more smoothly!). I encourage you to incorporate this step with all your writing assignments!
When you begin planning, follow these four steps:
You will have determined your topic during your preparing, so now you're delving more deeply into that topic. A couple of blogs ago, I talked about developing a good thesis, so review that blog as a refresher. As a quick reminder:
Next, put together an outline (the same blog mentioned above deals with outlines as well, so take a look at it again). Outlines help to structure your essay and help you determine if you have enough support.
A sample outline:
See how a good outline can help structure your essay? If you have solid main and supporting points, you already have your paragraph topics!
Once you've written your thesis and have a well-developed outline, you're ready to move on to Step Three: Drafting. We'll talk about this next time.
One of the most difficult parts of writing is simply getting started. I highly recommend your following some kind of process to help get past that dreaded "writer's block." If you Google "writing process," you'll get countless responses. Some recommend three steps; others recommend five steps. I recommend seven. This blog will cover the first step: Preparing.
Before we start, let's take a quick true/false quiz.
So, what do you think?
Now, comes the hard part. While you may feel confident that you're not alone in this sometimes frustrating world of essay writing, you still may be asking: How do I get started?
STEP #1: Preparing
First, you need to determine three key elements: Purpose, Audience, and Subject. Until you know these three things, you can't really get started.
Purpose is the "why." Why are you writing this essay? The obvious answer for academic essays is often "to get a grade." While that's certainly true, you also need to understand what kind of essay you're writing. Are telling a story? Analyzing a piece of literature? Explaining a procedure? You need to decide what your purpose is.
Next, you need to determine your audience. This is the "who." To whom are you writing? Yes, your instructor will be reading your paper (and of course, grading it!), but usually, he or she is standing in for a general audience.
Finally, you need to determine your subject. This is the "what." About what are you writing? Most often with academic papers, your subject will be given to you (or at least you'll have a choice of prompts or subjects). If this is the case, you can go write on to developing your thesis (see blog on that topic). However, if you find yourself having to come up with a topic of your own, you may want to try some brainstorming. Unfortunately, I'm running out of space, so come back next time for brainstorming and Step Two: Planning.
Last time, I talked about how to develop a thesis statement and outline ... arguably the most important steps in writing an essay. Once you have those, however, what's next?
Most academic essays (at least until you hit graduate school) follow the same basic format:
Introductory paragraph
Body paragraph supporting your essay's first main point
Body paragraph supporting your essay's second main point
Body paragraph supporting your essay's third main point
Concluding paragraph
Hopefully, you already determined these in your outline. If you did, then you're more than ready to take the next step: writing the essay itself.
The introductory paragraph should start with a topic sentence, some background information, and your thesis. A sample introductory paragraph (based on the blog on theses and outlines):
Since
the beginning of time, animals have been important to humans. In the story of
creation, God created all animals, fish, and reptiles, and put
them in the garden with Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:20-30). God then gave man the responsibility of
caring for the animals. Although sin entered the world and the relationship
between man and animal has been tainted, most people still have a strong
affinity for animals. Domesticated animals have become very important for many
humans, and many have dearly-loved pets; the most popular are dogs and cats.While both dogs and
cats can be great pets, dogs are usually more dependent, trainable, and
empathetic whereas cats tend to be more independent, stubborn, and apathetic.
See how I started with a topic sentence, added some broad background, and concluded with the thesis statement?
Each of your body paragraphs should be formatted in a similar way: topic sentence, supporting details, and concluding sentence. A sample body paragraph supporting the above thesis:
Both dogs and cats are popular pets, and they
have many aspects in common. For example, they can both be great companions.
Only a pet-lover truly understands the joy of coming home after a hard day and
being greeted by a wagging-tailed dog or a cat sinuously winding through legs.
In addition, dogs and cats offer proven health benefits, such as lowering blood
pressure and helping Alzheimer's patients (WebMD). Pets certainly require care. They must be fed and bathed, and they also need regular veterinarian care. However,
that responsibility can be another benefit for families with children. Caring
for a pet can help children better understand how important regular feedings,
walks, and other pet needs are.While dogs and cats certainly do have some
similarities, they have even more differences.
With this body paragraph, I've written a topic sentence that directly supports my thesis. I have several detail sentences that support that topic sentence, and then I end with a concluding sentence that transitions into the next body paragraph, which will begin the discussion of the differences between dogs and cats.
After writing body paragraphs that continue to support your thesis, you'll write a concluding paragraph that brings your essay full circle. A sample concluding paragraph:
While pets are not for everyone, they can be greatly beneficial to their owners. Dogs and cats, the most popular pets, offer joy and companionship, and can even help their owners be healthier. Dogs are arguably the friendlier, more dependent pet, while cats are independent and aloof. However, no matter which animal one chooses, having a pet can be a wonderful way of caring for some of God's creation.
A few important issues regarding academic essays:
Each body paragraph should support your thesis (be careful not to follow "rabbit trails" of irrelevant information). For example, if you're writing about dogs and cats, don't start writing about how you've always wanted to own a lemur.
In fact, you should avoid phrases like "I believe" or "I think." You're the writer, so your reader knows it's your opinion!
Also, avoid phrases like, "This essay is about" or "This essay will discuss."
As often as possible, avoid "second person" (you) with formal, academic essays. Academic essays should be written in "third person" (he, she, one, they).
Avoid contractions.
As I wrote last time, if you start with a solid thesis and outline, writing an essay can be relatively easy. Just stay focused on your thesis and support it well.
One last note: Always make certain your essays are formatted correctly. They generally should be written with Times New Roman 12 pt. font and double-spaced; they should follow whatever style is appropriate (generally, MLA, APA, or CMS/Turabian).
Next time, I'll be talking about the writing process, including strong editing and revising, which is critical to make certain your final draft is as flawless as possible.
Keep pen to paper!
Professor Rinehart
P.S. Here are some websites that might be helpful:
Well ... if you're following this blog, you may have thought I'd disappeared. No, it just turned into an incredibly hectic season.
I'm hoping to get back to an every week or two week schedule, so please come back periodically!
One thing I hear often from my students is how difficult it is to get started. The next two blogs will cover the writing process, but as a starting point, today, I'm going to offer some advice regarding how to write a solid thesis statement and outline. These are the foundations of a solid academic essay.
Writing a solid, easy-to-support thesis statement may seem difficult, but it's really not as difficult as it seems. In addition, outlines help you organize your thoughts and make certain you have support for your thesis.
So, the first question is obvious: What is a thesis statement?
A thesis statement:
States the theme or gives the point of your paper in one sentence.
Is essentially your paper in a sentence.
States what you plan to say, describe, or prove in your paper.
Tells your reader what you want him or her to know about your paper.
For academic essays, most of the time, you'll be given a prompt or a topic about which you're to write. So, if your prompt is to write an essay that compares and contrasts two things, you need to ask yourself, What areas will I compare and what areas will I contrast?
To keep it simple, let's compare and contrast domesticated dogs and cats.
How are they the same?
They can both be great pets.
They both offer companionship.
They both need to be fed and cared for.
How are they different?
Dogs tend to be more dependent while cats tend to be more independent.
Dogs learn tricks while cats don't seem to care to be trained.
Dogs can be more empathetic while cats don't seem to care about their humans.
Once you've determined your areas of comparison and contrast, you can write your thesis statement:
While both dogs and cats can be great pets, dogs are usually more dependent, trainable, and empathetic whereas cats tend to be more independent, stubborn, and apathetic.
You can revise with your thesis as you go through the writing process (again, come back in the next few weeks for more on that topic).
Once you've determine a working thesis statement, the next step is writing an outline. You can start by using some of the bullets you used in determining your thesis. Keeping in mind that most academic essays require a minimum of three major points, a template for outlines could be something like this:
I. Introductory paragraph including thesis statement
II. Major point #1
Supporting point
Supporting point
Supporting point
III. Major point #2
Supporting point
Supporting point
Supporting point
IV. Major point #3
Supporting point
Supporting point
Supporting point
V. Concluding paragraph
So, going back to our dog versus cat example, your outline might look something like this:
I. Introductory paragraph
II. Similarities between dogs and cats
They're both popular pets.
They both offer companionship.
They both require care and responsibility.
III. Distinctions of dogs
Dogs are eager to please and dependent.
Dogs are easy to train.
Dogs are empathetic to their owners' emotions.
IV. Distinctions of cats
Cats are independent.
Cats are more stubborn and difficult to train.
Cats are apathetic and indifferent to their owners' emotions.
V. Concluding paragraph
If you can master writing thesis statements and outlines, you'll find your essays will be easier to write as well. As I always say, practice these concepts. Only by practicing and perfecting your writing can you be as effective as you want to be.
I'm a week behind in posting this, but life is very, very hectic right now. Juggling nine classes, even temporarily, certainly keeps me on my toes! I'm reminded, though, how many people have forgotten (or never learned?) some of the basics of English composition. Thus, I continue to write this blog!
Today, we're going to look at a concept that should be relatively simple ... and it can be. However, I still see issues with this in some of my students' writing.
The concept is: Subjects and verbs must agree in "number." This means that singular forms of the noun or pronoun in the subject must agree with the singular form of the verb; plural forms of the noun or pronoun in the subject must agree with the plural form of the verb.
Please note I said the singular form of the verb or the plural form of the verb. Some students get hung up on the fact that plural forms of nouns have an s on the end, so they think that the plural form of the verb also means an s at the end.
What I recommend to students is looking at the verb and conjugating it using pronouns:
I think ... He thinks ... She thinks ... We think ... They think ... Who thinks ... One thinks ...
So, if you're writing
John _______ in the morning,
you'd use the third person singular form of the verb:
John walks in the morning.
If you're writing
The students ________ for each test the night before.
you'd use the third person plural form of the verb:
The students cram for each test the night before.
Simple, right?
The issues arise when other elements come between the subject and the verb:
It's extremely important to break your sentence down to its absolute basics to make certain your subjects and verbs agree.
Another issue is what to do with compound subjects connected with and and those connected with or or nor.
Finally, you need to be aware indefinite pronouns (both singular and plural) and collective nouns:
As I've written before, writers communicate only with the words they use ... and how those words are used. Understanding simple concepts goes a long way towards your being more effective communicators.
My next blog (hopefully next week?) will be on writing thesis statements and outlines. I hope to "see" you then!
I believe I left off the last blog stating I'd be writing about thesis statements this week, but based on some grading I've done lately, I think a discussion about pronoun-antecedent agreement is needed.
We know that pronouns are parts of speech that replace nouns in a sentence. Instead of saying:
Susan took Susan's children to school and then drove Susan's car to the mechanic. Bill, the mechanic, used Bill's tools to fix Susan's car.
you would probably write:
Susan took her children to school and then drove her car to the mechanic. Bill, the mechanic, used his tools to fix her car.
An exception would be if the mechanic were also female:
Susan took her children to school and then drove her car to the mechanic. Karen, the mechanic, used her tools to fix Susan's car.
The waterfall was majestic in its beauty.
The miniature horses were adorable as they romped around the paddock.
So what's the key behind pronoun-antecedent agreement?
When you use a singular noun or pronoun, associated pronouns must also be singular.
When you use a plural noun or pronoun, associated pronouns must also be plural.
Simple? Well, not necessarily. I don't think the issues arise with regular nouns and pronouns. Most people won't argue that "Susan" is a singular noun, so any pronouns associated with that noun will be singular (i.e., "she" or "her"). Further, most people won't argue that "people" is a plural noun, so any pronouns associated with that noun will be plural (i.e., "they" or "them").
With me so far?
Indefinite pronouns, however, muddy the waters. Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that are ... well, indefinite. They refer to an undefined person(s) or thing(s). Some indefinite pronouns are singular; others are plural. When using a singular indefinite pronoun, any associated pronouns must also be singular, and plural indefinite pronouns must have associated plural pronouns.
Plural indefinite pronouns include: all, many, some, few, several, both.
Examples:
Did everyone remember to bring his homework?
VERSUS
Did some of the students remember to bring their homework?
OR
Somebody forgot to call her mother.
VERSUS
A few forgot to call their mothers.
KEY: Look at the indefinite pronoun you're using. Does it have "one," "body," or "thing"? These are singular words, so you need to treat the entire indefinite pronoun as singular.
For a bit more detail, visit one of my favorite online writing resources. Come back in a couple of weeks ... I think I'll be writing on thesis statements then, but we'll see!
Today, we're finishing our discussion about punctuation marks. If you can grasp these concepts, you'll never have a problem with punctuation again. Let's start with a little levity. This is a classic routine by someone you may not know—but you should! It's a bit lengthy, but it's worth watching.
Okay. Let's look at the rest of the most common punctuation marks.
Semi-colon
People seem to think that semi-colons are confusing, but there are really only three uses for them.
First, they're used to connect two independent clauses that are closely related (more about this in my blog about sentence structure):
Joe asked Sue to marry him; she said yes!
Second, they're used to connect two independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb (again, I give more detail about this in my sentence structure blog):
I was going to France; however, I decided to go to Australia instead.
Finally, they're used clarify items in a list when other punctuation marks are included:
The cast members include: John, a talented, well-trained singer; Mary, a graceful, adventurous dancer; Marty, a wonderful, hilarious comedian; and Georgia, a versatile, enthusiastic actor.
That's it!
Colon
Colons have just a few uses, as well.
First, they're used to introduce lists (see the sentence above about "cast members ...").
Second, they're used to introduce further explanation:
Sarah finally found her dream home: it's a quaint Victorian cottage with a wraparound porch.
Third, they're used to separate hour from minute, as in "It's 3:15 a.m."
Fourth, they're used to introduce quotes:
When I'm feeling stressed, I always remember: "That which does not kill me makes me stronger."
Finally, they're used in salutations for formal letters, as in Dear Mr. President:
Hyphens
Hyphens should really only be used one way in academic writing: to create compound words, especially modifiers for nouns:
my well-intentioned friend her newly-purchased car his five-year-old daughter
Dashes
Dashes are used to set off parenthetical elements. By using dashes instead of commas, the information stands out to your reader. You can use either "en-dashes," which have spaces between them and your words, or "em-dashes," which are longer dashes with no spaces. NOTE: em-dashes tend to provide for a smoother appearance to your writing.
en-dash: Two main characteristics - a sense of humor and loyalty - are most important to me. em-dash: Two main characteristics—a sense of humor and loyalty—are most important to me.
Ellipses
Ellipses are used in two ways.
First, they're used to indicate deletion from a quote. For example, the original quote is:
“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of
some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were
not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor
understand.” —George Orwell
If you want to use just a portion of this quote, you would indicate your deletion like this:
“Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle ... One would never undertake such a thing if one were
not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor
understand.” —George Orwell
Second, they're used to indicate a deliberate interruption in thought:
I'm thinking about making lasagna for dinner ... but then again, maybe not.
NOTE: MLA requires a space between words and dots.
Brackets
Brackets are mainly used (in academic writing, at least) to indicate when you're using your own words to add clarity to someone else's quote. The original quote is:
"Joe Smith overcame his circumstances to become a standout in his field."
You want your reader to know who Joe Smith is, so you might write:
"Joe Smith [president of ABC Company] overcame his circumstances to become a standout in his field."
You may also use them to change words to make a quote flow more smoothly. If the original quote is:
Joe Smith stated, "I overcame my circumstances to become a standout in my field."
To incorporate this quote into your own writing, you might write:
Joe Smith "overcame [his] circumstances to become a standout in [his] field."
Well ... that's about it for punctuation. Again, review these rules and incorporate them in your writing.
Keep pen to paper!
Prof. Rinehart
P.S. For the foreseeable future, I'll be posting biweekly. Come back on September 20 when I'll be discussing how to write a thesis and outline. I hope to "see" you then!
Last week, we looked at the common uses of commas. Today, we're going to take look at most other commonly-used punctuation marks.
Why is punctuation so important? The meaning of your sentence can change dramatically depending on the punctuation you use (or don't use). For example, in the book Eat, Shoots & Leaves, the author tells the story of a panda that goes into a restaurant, and after eating, he pulls out a gun and shoots it. The bewildered waiter asks, "Why did you do that?" The panda pulls out a wildlife magazine [from where, I'm not certain] and points to an article. "See?" he says. "This article says that a panda eats, shoots, and leaves." "Umm," says the waiter. "I believe there's a faulty comma here. It should say, 'A panda eats shoots and leaves.'"
Get it?
I've said before that the only way we writers can communicate to our readers is the words we use ... and the way we use them.
So let's look at how you can communicate to your readers by the simple use of punctuation:
Periods are hard stops that let your reader know your sentence is complete.
Exclamation points show excitement or anxiety. I can't believe you bought me a car!
Question marks ... Well, this one is clear, isn't it?
Apostrophes have two uses:
1) They show possession. The blue BMW is Scott's car.
2) They facilitate contractions. I don't want to go to the store.
IMPORTANT KEY: Two notable exceptions are the pronouns it and you. The possessive form of it is its; it's is the contraction it is. The possessive form of you is your; you're is the contraction you are.
Quotation marks indicate dialog or a quote that will be cited. Always use double quotation marks.
Sharon said, "I want to go to the store."
Discussing the importance of proper punctuation, Professor Rinehart wrote, "The meaning of your sentence can change dramatically depending on the punctuation you use (or don't use)."
NOTE: Single quotation marks are used only with quotes within quotes. I have an example of this at the end of the panda story. IMPORTANT KEY: Periods and commas alwaysgo inside of quotation marks UNLESS you're using a citation. If I were including a citation (and I'm using MLA here) with the above quote, I'd write:
Discussing the importance of proper punctuation, Professor Rinehart
wrote, "The meaning of your sentence can change dramatically depending
on the punctuation you use (or don't use)" (Writing Is Painless).
On the other hand, where you place exclamation points and question marks are determined by the meaning of your sentence.
If either is part of the quotation, then it goes inside of the quotation mark.
Susan asked, "Where is the remote?" Lisa cried, "I lost my phone!"
If either is not part of the quotation, then it does outside of the quotation mark.
Was it John who said, "I don't agree"? I was so excited when I heard you say, "I'll be home Thursday"!
If I were standing in front of you, this would be the time I'd ask, "Any questions?" If you have some, feel free to comment! I'll get back to you by next Friday, at the latest.
Next week, we'll finish up punctuation marks, including semi-colons, colons, hyphens, m-dashes, and more!
This is "crunch" week for me. I'm finishing up the grades for a summer class, just started four online classes, and am gearing up for my two on-campus classes that start on Tuesday. Suffice it to say, it's a bit crazy. I love what I do, though, so I'm doing what I need to get done. This time reminds me of all the concepts of grammar and how students often struggle with them.
Today's blog and video deal with the lowly comma. It's such a tiny, teeny punctuation mark, but it's misused so often. Students tend either to overuse it or under-use it. The good news? You can learn the most common uses, and when you use them correctly, your instructors will be quite impressed! Before we start, let's look at it from the comma's point of view (yes, we English teachers do have a warped sense of humor!):
Okay. Now to more serious matters.
First, take a look at the video ...
Now that you've learned the concepts, go back to my introductory paragraph. Can you see real-life examples of the concepts? Test yourself. Feel free to comment your answers, and I'll respond next week.
Speaking of next week, come back and we'll look at other punctuation marks (the apostrophe, the semi-colon, and the colon, among others).
Today's lesson is going to be short ... but sweet (well, maybe not sweet, but important to know).
Prepositions tell us time, placement, or direction. One of my favorite sites for help in writing is Purdue University's OWL (online writing lab). The site defines a preposition as a word that denotes time and place, or introduces objects.
On their own, prepositions don't mean much. Words like on, at, through, above, below, or behind just ... well, fill up space. So we have what we call prepositional phrases. These are phrases that start with the preposition and then end with a noun or pronoun, which is called the object of the preposition.
I'm getting in my car, driving to the store, and walking down the aisles. In, to, and down are prepositions. Car, store, and aisles are objects of the preposition.
I'm sitting on my desk, going through my papers, while my dogs sit at my feet.On, through, and at are prepositions. Desk, papers, and feet are objects of the preposition.
Simple, huh?
One key here: When you're using a pronoun as an object of the preposition, make certain you're using the objective form of the pronoun (see the blog on nouns and pronounsfor more information). For example, if the sentence is:
Please give the tickets to Sharon and _____ as soon as possible.
what form of the pronoun I/me would you use? If to is a preposition (and it is!), then you want to use the objective form of the pronoun. Is that I or me? Hopefully, you recognize that the correct sentence should be:
Please give the tickets to Sharon and me as soon as possible. NOT ... to Sharon and I ...
Prepositions, like other parts of speech, are building blocks that help us give more information to our readers. As I often say (and if you watch my videos or read other blogs, you've heard this before), when we communicate in writing, we only have our words (parts of speech) and how we use them (sentence structure, punctuation, paragraph structure).
Last week, we looked at the four ways sentences are structured in English writing. Can you name them? (No peeking! Okay, if you need to peek, go ahead and do so!) Even more, can you use them correctly in your writing?
As I said, once you grasp the proper way to structure sentences, you're well on your way to building a solid foundation in your essays. However, it's really easy to make mistakes. Take a look at today's video about common sentence errors (good news: there are only three!):
Come back next week and learn about the exciting world of prepositions!
Keep pen to paper!
Professor Rinehart (or Saundra or Sauni ... you pick a title!)
Writing is a skill, and just like any other skill, you can learn how to write more effectively. It just takes your knowing the concepts. One of the basic concepts of effective writing is sentence structure. Today's blog covers this concept in a couple of different ways. For you audio/visual learners, here's a video:
May I encourage you to do one thing: PRACTICE! After all, it's not practice that makes perfect; it's PERFECT practice that makes perfect.
So ... I'm telling you about my day at the beach, and I say, "The sunset was lovely."
What do you know about that sunset? You know it's "lovely," but what does lovely mean to you? Do you really see that sunset? What if I said this instead?
Yesterday, I took my nephew to the beach. After a fun day energetically playing in the surf and sand, we quietly sat on the shore. With him closely cuddled by my side, we watched the vibrant hues pervade the horizon. Extraordinary oranges and astonishing reds quickly filled the sky. "Isn't that the most amazingly beautiful sunset you've ever seen?" I whispered. "Yes, auntie," he lisped. "It's the prettiest sunset ever!"
When we speak face-to-face, we communicate with more than just our words. In fact, only about 7 percent of our face-to-face communication happens through words. The rest is body language and facial expressions. When we write, however, the only way we communicate is through our words, and how we use them changes how our readers understand what we're trying to say.
We can certainly write basic sentences and adequately communicate, but using modifiers can help us more than just adequately communicate. Let's talk about how to to this.
Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns (see "Let's start at the very beginning ..." for more on nouns and pronouns). If the noun is "man," adjectives describe him. What does he look like? What other characteristics does he have?
The man came into the restaurant.
OK. That tells us the person who came in was male rather than female, but that's about it. We don't know much, do we?
The tall, thin, dark-haired man came into the restaurant.
Do you have a better picture of what this man is like? Adjectives not only tell us about how something looks, but they also describe characteristics.
The loud-mouthed, obnoxious man came into the restaurant.
Adjectives add richness and depth to our writing.
Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs (see "Lights. Camera. ACTION!" for more information about verbs), adjectives, and other adverbs. Most (but not all) adverbs end in -ly. Adverbs help to tell us to what extent something is or does. For example:
I cheered joyfully as I watched my son run really quickly across the finish line and win the especially important award.
The adverb joyfully modifies the verbcheered, and tells my reader how I cheered. Really modifies the adverb quickly, which in turn, modifies the verb run. These adverbs tell my reader how he ran. Especially modifies the adjective important, and tells my reader how important the award really is.
Adverbs help us communicate more effectively to our readers.
Before I finish this blog on adjectives and adverbs, let me share one of my biggest pet peeves (in a few weeks I'll be dedicating an entire blog to all those things that drive English instructors crazy!).
Really is an adverb. It means "truly" or "genuinely." Real is an adjective. It means "true" or "genuine."
I become really frustrated when people say, "You're real frustrated, aren't you?"
To test this, substitute "true" for "real." You wouldn't say, "You're true frustrated, aren't you?"
