Katie’s School of Grammar
Wearing your shirt inside out. Sneezing after you put on mascara. Promising your mom that you CAN wear a white shirt all day and then spilling ketchup on it. These are just a few of the things that come to my mind when I think about what makes me look stupid. Fortunately, through my exhaustive job search over the last year, I have found out that above all, one thing can make you look so ridiculous that employers won’t look at you twice, and boys will mutter that they can hear their mothers calling and leave: bad grammar! Now, while I’m sure that makes several people groan and have bad visions of classrooms that smell like Playdoh- in my opinion, correct grammar is one of the biggest (and easiest) ways to make yourself look good and impress important people. Now, while I don’t claim to know everything, I feel pretty confident with my grammar. I can remember growing up, my parents would say things like “it’s GOOD that you’re doing WELL” that I think have really stuck with me over the years. If you ask me, I think one of the biggest reasons people use incorrect grammar isn’t because they’re stupid, it’s because they’re insecure and don’t want to risk looking silly, so they just stick with what they know. BUT- that’s just ridiculous! So, it order to help boost some confidences, here are some of my tips and tricks to proofreading.
1.) Stick to the basics. Think back in your mind to all of those little tricks you learned in elementary and middle school. The difference between adjectives and adverbs- if the word can answer the question “how?” it’s an adverb! Prepositions at the end of a sentence? No sweat! Just remember- if the meaning of the sentence is clear without them- lose ‘em! “Who” and ‘Whom” Use the “he/him method” He= who. Him= whom.
2.) Read your works out loud! It might sound silly, sitting and talking to yourself, but I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to catch my mistakes, is to finish writing, get a drink of water or just take a 5 minute break, and then read everything out loud. Once you get into the rhythm of speaking, you’ll start to notice the ways that your sentences are structured and the way your work flows.
3.) The absolute easiest way that I know to be certain that your paper/resume/essay/blog is totally correct: www.grammarly.com. Their Grammar Checker is so easy to use, it feels like child’s play. Literally, all you have to do is copy and paste your text into the box, and it will tell you everything that is wrong! My favorite part, is that it not only shows you your mistakes, but it explains WHY they’re mistakes, and what the correct fix is. I know you’re probably thinking that Microsoft Word and other programs also have Grammar Checkers but this is way more comprehensive.
I hope this has helped everyone- I know it may seem weird to do a post about grammar, but trust me, in this economy, everyone (especially women) need every advantage they can get!
Christmas!
So, I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I have been SOOOO overwhelmed with the Christmas spirit that I felt like I had to share some sories with everyone. This Christmas was oddly a little sad at my house, a very important member of our family, our dog, Gus has gotten suuuuper old, and it became clear that this would probably be he last Christmas.
Now, before I start sharing funny cute stories about him, it’s important to point out that growing up, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Gus. I’ve always been more of a cat [...] Continue Reading…
New American Girl Dolls??
Hey everyone! Sorry for the hiatus, but I’m back! So check this out- the other day I was visiting a friend and her family still gets the American Girl doll catalogs in the mail! So of course, Little Katie popped out and was like “OMG! I haven’t seen these in years! I have to look at this!” Let me just say that Little Katie was the MOST upset.
Here’s a little background for those of you who don’t know what exactly American Girl dolls are. The Pleasant Company first introduced the dolls in 1986. Originally, they were an array [...] Continue Reading…
Review: Are Men Necessary? By Maureen Dowd
Ok, so sorry this is a little delayed, guys, but I’ve been on the job hunt all week, so I’m just now getting around to reviewing a book. This week I chose “Are Men Necessary” by Maureen Dowd. At first glance, I had my suspicions about the book. The pupl-fiction-y cover coupled with the title made me a little nervous. HOWEVER, on the first page of the book, Down explains that this book is not to be seen as a tool to eliminate men, but just as a collection of her personal experiences and observations dealing with relationships.
No [...] Continue Reading…
Miss Representation cont
Anybody out there?? I hope everyone’s watching! So far- I’m really impressed– the clips of high schoolers talking about the lack of respect for women intellectuals was really powerful to me. As sad as this sounds, I really don’t think that I was that aware when I was in high school. Commercials over– keep watching!
Miss Representation tonight!!!!
Hey everyone- don’t forget to watch Miss Representation tonight! It comes on Oprah’s channel – OWN at 9/8c! I will be blogging throughout the movie so stay tuned for comments or discussions!
For those of you who don’t know- Miss Representation is a movie that premiered this year at the Sundance Film Festival. It deals with the way that the public represents women and how that impacts the way we look at women in general- but more specifically, women in positions of power. You can read more about it in a previous post of mine, or by going to missrepresentation.org! [...] Continue Reading…
Woman of the Week: Nancy Goodman Brinker
Ok- so due to some scheduling conflicts, I was not able to do a spotlight on a woman in the Danville community, however, since it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I decided that instead of skipping the post all together, I would highlight a name not often associated with this month: Nancy Goodman Brinker. Most people know of her sister, Susan G. Komen–it’s her name on the foundation, the race and the commercials, but the woman behind the pink ribbon doesn’t get quite as much publicity. So, in honor of her devotion to her sister, I figured I’d let everyone [...] Continue Reading…
Miss Representation
A few years ago I wrote a speech (with a lot of help) about the misrepresentation of women in the media, particularly politicians. The speech was about the different ways that the media scrutinized women as compared to men and the different types of coverage they got, and how that influenced the way we viewed them. The speech was pretty good, but it was just a start. Recently, my good friend, Maggie turned me on to a new movie that came out at the Sundance Festival called “Miss Representation.”
Check out the trailer here:
Miss Representation
The film looks really [...] Continue Reading…
Review: The Lolita Effect by M. Gigi Durham
So, I randomly came across this book at the library the other day and the cover alone made me grab it instantly. According to urbandictionary The Lolita Effect is the sexualization of young girls and projecting girls as sex objects before they have even reached puberty and are sexualized beings. It is perpetuated by the media. The title comes from the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Durham uses this book to expand on the different way that this is taking place right under our noses today. The first thing explained is the difference between the actual “Lolita” and the [...] Continue Reading…
I’m back!
Back from the wedding! Book review to come tomorrow, and stay tuned for the Woman of the Week! In the meantime…check out this article– I’m not too sure what to think of it so far. Kudos to Dr. Pepper for realizing that not all women want to drink diet soft drinks, but does the slogan really need to be “not for women”?? And why does the can have bullets on it? Dr.Pepper Ten