Grammar and I have a love/hate relationship. I hate it, because growing up I always had to use correct grammar. My great-grandmother was a grammar teacher, so she was very strict with my grandmother and mother, who ended up raising me to speak properly. My mom even made me start paying her ten cents any time I said the word “ain’t.” Even though it was put in the dictionary, it still was proper grammar. So that made me mad.

I love grammar, though, because it makes me feel intelligent. I can pick out when people use incorrect grammar, and if my friends use incorrect grammar, I correct them, which tick them off. I think grammar is important because it makes people sound more intelligent and competent in the professional field.

For most of my life, I have had difficulty distinguishing when to use “whom” or “who.” It is not that hard of a rule to remember, but for some reason I always seem to forget it.

I don’t know if there is anything that can help me understand grammar more as of now.

My biggest grammar pet peeve is when people end sentences with a preposition. It wasn’t that big of a deal to me until my freshman year when I took Environmental Science. My professor, Larry Lehr, mad a big deal about it in class, because people kept doing it on written assignments, so now I am more aware of when people end sentences with prepositions. When I look at it, it’s probably a dumb rule to get upset about.

The reason my group picked gun law debates is due to the recent shooting that rook place last week on a naval base. Also, with the one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting coming up, we thought that the discussion of gun law reform will be a topic of interest in Congress once again.

After following the debate for the next few months, I hope to learn as much as I can about gun laws. I want to know what kind of restrictions there currently are on guns. I, also, want to learn enough to be able to form my own educated opinion on how I think gun laws should be handled.

I did not like this assignment, because walking up to people that I do not know I something that I am uncomfortable with doing. I thought taking pictures of people was creepy, and they all affirmed my suspicions by saying themselves that it was creepy.

How do you think that the recent gun shooting on the naval base will affect gun laws?

“Because it happened on a military base, and there’s always guns there.” –Elizabeth Knowles

“Of course it is. I mean, what else are they gonna do? They have to have stricter gun laws. It happens every time.”-Paige Cicchillo

“I don’t think this will affect gun laws. The debates will run on, but the majority still wants guns so that’s that.”- Aaron Gladstone

“I don’t know if it will exactly change laws. I know it will stir up the conversation again on both sides.”- Beth Harris

“I saw a movie once where citizens weren’t allows to have guns; it was called “Schnidler’s List.” –Jack Rogers

“There’s been a lot of shootings over the years, and fun laws haven’t changed that much.” –Michelle Cler

“The government would be even more stupid than it is now if it changed gun laws because of this last shooting.” –Brian Shepherd

I read an article on the Lariat website called “BU to honor years at The Case.” It discussed the purpose and reasoning behind why Baylor Athletics is honoring past Baylor football players at every home game. There are a few quotes that from some of the key people involved in honoring the players that really give the reader a sense of what is happening and why. One of the quotes is from the director of Baylor Sports Network, Doug Fertsch, who said, “’We wanted to honor the teams and player s that have come before.” This quote really sums up the overall feeling that people have about past players. Fertsch went on to explain, “[the idea is] to commemorate previous players and say goodbye to The Case.” It is really a great honor, and many past players are showing up. Associate athletic director of the “B” Association, Walter Abercrombie, said, “Most of them [past players] want to be a part of this,” showing that honoring the players really means a lot. This quote really adds to the story, because it gives the reader confirmation on whether theses honors are actually appreciated by past players.

I wouldn’t want to be quoted in a newspaper, because I don’t want what I said to be taken the wrong way. Chances are that would happen.

On September 19 I read the Huffington Post. It is a media outlet that has a little bit of something for everybody. The topics discussed in this outlet range from news, business, and politics to art, entertainment, and tv. I generally liked this outlet, even more than The New York Times, because in the Huffington Post the paragraphs seem shorter and the sentences don’t tend to carry on as long.

The top story was Obama Takes On Coal With First-Ever Carbon Limits. This article discussed that the Obama administration is looking to push “tough requirements for new coal-fired power plants.” However, the reason that power plants haven’t met the new standards is because of the high cost. With coal accounting for 40 percent of U.S. electricity, the government will have a tough time regulating such a powerful industry.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/obama-carbon-limits_n_3958693.html

The next article I read was about Mindy Kaling, who played a role on “The Office” and is the star of “The Mindy Project.” Kate Arthur had accused her on twitter of being a Republican, which Kaling responded to as being a false statement. She thinks that her being a Republican is “ridiculous.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/mindy-kaling-republican_n_3950643.html?ir=Entertainment

The last article I read was “’Big Bang Theory’ Cast Working Together For Higher Salaries.” Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco are banding together to raise their salaries from $350,000 per episode to up around half a million per episode. They are using similar strategies that have worked in the past, such as with the cast of Friends. The show is such a huge asset to CBS that the three cast members know exactly how important they are to bringing in profit for CBS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/big-bang-theory-salaries-raises_n_3947318.html?ir=TV

I found an article about Northwestern football players tracking their quantity and quality of sleep. It is an excellent example of how a story uses the  “good writing rules.” There are short sentences that get the point across, such as, “the study has already had an effect.” The story also has a good use of short words so as to not confuse the reader. This also helps the reader read the article more smoothly. Use of different types of sentences is evident by the compound, complex, and simple sentences. One of the complex sentences read, “Before Northwestern’s season opener at California on Aug. 31, Fitzgerald shifted the team’s practice start times, nap times and meal times to a West Coast schedule in an attempt to minimize the effects of jet lag.” The article shows good use of short paragraphs; my example of short sentences is also a paragraph. So it is extremely short.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/sports/ncaafootball/at-northwestern-catching-naps-along-with-footballs.html?ref=ncaafootball

Writing our leads in an inverted pyramid style was harder than I expected. However, after practicing it, it is getting easier to write in inverted pyramid style. Sometimes deciding what is the most important information to the reader, or what will catch the reader’s eye the most, is hard to pinpoint. Other times, like when someone is killed, writing in inverted pyramid style can be extremely easy.

Now that I have learned what inverted pyramid looks like it will easier to recognize when writers use the inverted pyramid style. Recognizing when writers use inverted pyramid style will help me determine how much of an article I actually want/need to read to get the major points of the story.

Hearing the lead sentences of classmates helps me learn the better and not so better ways to write a lead. Being given examples of leads ends up being extremely helpful.

On September 12 I read some intriguing articles from the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal is definitely a media outlet for professional people. Its topics generally discuss world news, politics, and business. It is a very well put together outlet that informs its readers on what is happening in the world.

The top story was “Syrian Rebels Hurt by Delay.” It discussed the Syrian rebels’ struggle with fighting against President Bashar al-Assad. They wanted to overthrow him and sideline Islamist extremists. However, the rebels have not been getting the help they expected from the U.S. President Obama has put military momentum on a pause due to the proposal made by Russia and proposals presented by Britain and France. Now it seems like the rebels are giving up and accepting the fact that President Assad will remain in power.

“Patent Fight Erupts Over Kids’ Fad” is the next article I read. It appealed to me, because I remember all of the different fads that came about during my childhood. Rainbow Loom is suing Zenacon LLC, because Rainbow Loom is claiming that Zenacon LLC copied its idea for a clip that kids can use to make rubber band wrist bands.

The last article I read was “As ‘Derek’ debuts, Netflix slips on downgrades.” It was about how most stock analyst are saying that Netflix’s stock price is leveling out. At just over $300 a share, Netlfix has more than tripled its share price from the beginning of the year, and analysts are saying that it will not increase anymore. This article was very interesting to me, because I am interested in the stock market, and I own a Netflix account.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864604579067670192375310.html?mod=WSJ_SmallBusiness_LEADNewsCollection

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864604579068950953267912.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pandora-leads-tech-gains-netflix-slumps-2013-09-12?siteid=rss

I got to read the New York Times this week. I read the September 3 edition. The New York Times is a daily newspaper that is distributed all around the U.S., and is probably the most well-known newspaper in the nation. It covers a wide array of topics from world news and business to sports and entertainment.
The top story that I read was “Dreams, but Little Consensus, for a New Detroit.” This article talked about how Detroit is a city that is in very bad condition. It has a long way to go to become a thriving city once more. Many of the neighborhoods are filled with empty houses and lots that are wasting away. Some people believe that Detroit can make a comeback, while others are skeptical.
I like to read about sports, so I decided to look in the Sports section, and one article I caught my eye. That article was, “Federer Tumbles to Earliest Exit in 10 Years.” I am a pretty big Roger Federer fan, so to hear about him losing really hurt. I even have his autograph!
As a business student I am obviously interested in reading about business news, especially stock markets, so I perused the Business section. The article that got my attention was, “Factory Data Sends Market Up.” This article was short, but the main point I got from it is that stocks increased when it was reported that manufacturing activity reportedly increased. Stocks rose in multiple countries, including Italy and Spain, which are two countries that are focal points of Europe’s debt crisis.
I believe this outlet, The New York Times, is meant for mature audiences with different interests. When I say “mature,” I mean people who prefer to read newspapers and professionally written material versus blogs and little articles found on other websites or in magazines. Interests that the audience would have are: national, international news, business, sports, and entertainment news. I think that these reasons are the why The New York Times appeals to the more mature audiences.
The New York Times appealed to me, because I know that it is a widely used newspaper. For this reason, I believe that it is generally a factually correct outlet, and it would not purposefully stray its audience.