English 1301

Nine Things

This semester let's learn nine concrete things about writing.  These certainly aren't the most important things, but they're not trivial, either.  In fact, I hope that each of them conveys an important principle of some sort that has wider application to all the writing that you do.

I'll expect you to actually learn these things, which means that if I ask you about them, you'll be able to explain to me and to others what each of these means.  Let's start with these:

1. The difference between a noun and a verb, and why the difference makes a difference.
2. The difference between "affect" and "effect."
3. The single most valuable thing we'll learn this semester.
4. The difference between "there," "their," and "they're."
5. What's a paragraph for?
6. How to indicate possession.
7. What's a fragment?
8. The difference between "it's" and "its."
9. All you need to know about so-called M.L.A. formatting?