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I can't believe this! Just when I need my computer the most it crashes! Now I'm going to have to rewrite my entire term paper from scratch. #Sad. If anyone knows a good tech guy please let me know!

Parents

Dear Mum and Dad,

I sincerely hope that you are doing well back home and everything is o.k. So far, this semester has been good for me, although the workload seems to be increasing at a very high rate. As you are well aware, my computer is 4 years old, and was repaired after it crashed 2 years ago. Unfortunately, it has crashed once more, just when I was in the middle of writing of my term paper. I will have to get it repaired as soon as possible, as I cannot return it to the company. Please send me some money as soon as possible, since I rely on my computer heavily for my schoolwork.

Regards

Computer Company

Dear Tech Support,

I am writing to you in regards to the repair of my computer. I bought it from your company 4 years ago, and had it repaired 2 years ago after it crashed. At the time, it was not out of support. Unfortunately, it crashed today, and it is out of support. Please let me know how much money you will charge me to fix it, as I rely on it for all of my schoolwork.

P.S/ Attached to this email is a picture of the computer, showing the model number, and the error message that is displayed on the screen when I try to boot it up.

Warm Regards

First Drafts

            Lamott used the adjective “shitty” to describe the essence of the first drafts because from the semantic point view this word serves the purpose the best. This is exactly how she feels about the first drafts of any written piece she produces. Writing the “shitty” drafts is not less important than reviewing them and proofreading the final version. This is the beginning of the writing process and it is helpful because “very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it” (Lamott 93). You just have a topic and a broad idea what you are going to write about, but you may have no idea what exactly you are going to write. The “shitty” drafts are useful at finding some key points or words that deserve to become the basis of the final version and, more generally, “you need to start somewhere” (Lamott 95).

            The choice of the adjective is not accidental as the first drafts, as a rule, represent a flow of random phrases and word combination that relate to the topic. They are so premature and ill-structured that you do not want anybody to see them. It is not to say that they are completely bad. They may contain genial ideas or sentences, but overall they are not cohesive and do not constitute a complete sophisticated story. Therefore, the word “shitty” implies that it is something you need to do to get a well-written final version, but which you do not like itself. This is how it is because even nobody out of the famous writers “writes elegant first drafts” (Lamott 93). We need to take it for granted that only by writing “shitty” first drafts can we achieve good results and be pleased with what we have written at the end.

Lamott, Anne. Shitty First Drafts. Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed. by Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005: 93-96.

Frederick Douglas

Even though the language style that Douglass uses is stilted to us, the techniques are usually straightforward. His primary objective is to make us comprehend him and his predicaments as a slave in Master Hugh’s family. He wants the readers to understand him; therefore, he refrains from using complicated and very long sentences. He also tries to speak informally just as though it were you and him. However, he still uses extreme language which is elevated hence part of the passage seems hard to comprehend (Losh et al. 25). It seems though as he wants to emulate the style adopted in King Jame’s version, which is a book that every reader seems to familiarize with. He also shows off to some extent since he wants us to know that he fought so hard to attain his knowledge in reading and writing. “My mistress who had commenced to instruct me, in compliance, had, with the advice and with the direction of her husband, not only ceased to continue instructing but had set her against my being instructed”(Douglas 191-5). Douglass provides evidence, which expressed his point in describing the slavery and the kinds of right that he was limited to and how he was treated. Words like ‘cased’ indicate what he remembers as he tried to educate himself. He seems to be showing us that he succeeds in his hard-earned education. He is also aware of the limitation that a language can have. He wants to remind us that language cannot adequately capture the pain of the experience he underwent. He is remembered as one of the greatest anti-slavery heroes through his actions and writings.

 

Douglas, Frederick. “Learning to Read.” New York: The Norton Reader, 2008. Print.

Losh, Elizabeth M, Jonathan Alexander, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon. Understanding

         Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. Boston : Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. Print.

 

 

 

         George Orwell defines dying metaphors as outdated phrases used by people as a mere short-cut to creating new ones that in turn lead to the degradation of the English language (Orwell). Unfortunately, some people still do not fully understand the meaning of some phrases and often confuse various metaphorical expressions. On the example of President Nasheed's Speech, it can be said that Mohamed Nasheed  resorted to the use of  encouraging metaphors in order to make his speech more illustrative. He uses such phrases as “in spite of the odds”, “we won our battle”, “Mother Nature”, “will be the winners of tomorrow”,  and “these pioneering countries” that clearly show his attempt to convince the audience in own words as well as to make his message more powerful (President Nasheed). However, these dying metaphors do not create a visual image; instead of this, they seem a bit distracting and lessen the President’s message. Thus, it can be said that that Orwell was right in his judgments about the impact of  dying metaphors as  they with no doubt make this speech more meaningless and probably take away an attention of the audience from the message that Mohamed Nasheed was trying to deliver.

“Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell. Published April of 1946 in the journal Horizon, volume 13, issue 76, pages 252-265.

President Nasheed. “President Nasheed's Speech.” 350.org. 2009. Web.
 

Hi,,,

Hi everyone,

my name is Ahmad, I'm a senior student in Mechanical Engineering. This is my first time to use a blog, I hope this term goes very well.