Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots

You can't really have one without the other, so when discussing one we must discuss them all.

Prefix- The small little piece which means something and is at the beginning of the word.
Suffix- The small piece which means something and is at the end of the word.
Root- The word which another word was derived from. i.e. dance to danced

These beginnings, endings, and words are used to help us know what we are reading, we know the basic definitions of words and then we know the additions to those words to make it mean something else. You can however use context clues to figure out the meaning as well.

Common Prefixes:
anti- against
de- opposite
dis- not, opposite of
en-, em- cause to
fore- before
in-, im- in
in-, im-, il-, ir- not
inter- between
mid- middle
mis- wrongly
non- not
over- over
pre- before
re- again, return
semi- half
sub- under
super- above
trans- across
un- not
under- under

Common Suffixes:
-able, -ible can be done
-al, -ial having characteristics of
-ed past-tense verbs
-en made of
-er comparative
-er one who
-est comparative
-ful full of
-ic having characteristics of
-ing verb form/present participle
-ion, -tion, -ation, -ition act process
-ity, -ty state of
-ive, -ative, -itive adjective form of a noun
-less without
-ly characteristic of
-ment action or process
-ness state of, condition of
-ous, -eous, -ious possessing the qualities of
-s, -es more than one
-y characterized by

Tenses

Extremely tense I would believe. ;)

Before we can discuss any more topics we have to discuss the power of the tense you write in. Many writers are known either for their ability to write in the same tense, or for not even knowing whether it is past, present, and future. Though, I must say at this point, I don't understand how someone could manage to write well while writing in future tense. While conversations between characters may have varying tenses inside them, the main writing will not.

Past

When you are writing in the past, it means you are writing something which has already "happened". I put the word "happened" into quotations for reference to different genres*. In Fiction all events are fictitious and have not actually taken place, compared to a Historical fiction/non-fiction where the event will most likely have happened sometime in the past and is merely a report.

Ex:

"At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.

‘Little tyke,’ chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four’s drive." (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, page 2, 1997)

Notice how action verbs end with an "ed" which is a perfect example of something which has already happen"ed".

Present

Quite a few books are written in present tense, but we tend to not notice as we read for quite sometime it is written as something which is going on as we read. There will be references to the past in the conversations between characters or in memories, but the main text will keep everything without the "ed" suffix. The present tense can be used to talk about things we know to be true or untrue, also ongoing situations or things which are happening right now, or even the laws of science. When speaking of "true" or "untrue" knowledge, there is a simple test. True statements are positive sentences, as where the untrue would be negative sentences. 

Ex:

"'Hey, Catnip,' says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I’d said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, page 8, 2008)

Make note of how the present tense stays in tact, even while reflecting to the past. While there may be words with the "ed" suffix, the story format is still present tense because Katniss is recalling a memory.

Future

Future tense. It means something which hasn't happened yet, but will. This doesn't mean like the movies "Back to the Future" because is it past January 26th, 2014 and I do not see several of the cool inventions they thought we'd have. Though, I bet we can still look to the future for those toys. We also tend to never realize how often we use the Future tense although it seems like we never use it. Who would want to read a book written like this:

Suzy will walk down the street and enter the book store, she will proceed to buy a book and spend a few hours reading it.

It's not terribly intriguing, nor is it something we find easy to read. It doesn't seem to fit in literature, but all over within book and daily conversations future tense is present. If you've ever made a bet on the outcome of future events, then you've used future tense. If you've won every prediction you've made, I suggest becoming a seer.

Future Tense is used in our daily conversations by our own affirmations as to whether we will do something or not. Even our activities are part of future tense, saying we are going skating or will be spending the night doing homework is future tense.

Next time you talk to someone, pay attention and see how many of the three tenses you use.

*For those who might not know what a genre is: the type or category something is in. e.g.: Pop, Rock, Classical, Rap. e.g.: Fiction, Historical, Fantasy, Non-Fiction.

CALLING ALL TEACHERS

Hey teachers from all over the world,

Do you see the little page right up top which says "PowerPoints"? It is for you! Or anyone who wants to study a little more in depth into a certain aspect of English. I'm hoping you'll be able to improve the literary skills of your students with them, so feel free to look through and see if you can use them in your class rooms. They are built by a teen for other teens. Literary skills are waning all over and this is to help combat it! There is all sorts of topics, more are being uploaded every so often. If you just want a quick overview to introduce your students to English, there is a PowerPoint to show. If you want to do something lesson by lesson, focusing on something different everyday, then there's some for those days as well. Whatever your needs may be, hopefully you can find it all right there. Feel free to check it out at any time.

Sincerely,
A High School Senior

P.S. If you want anything in particular feel free to contact me. I just might be able to whip it up for you.

Regarding the Art of FanFiction

FanFiction is a great test of your knowledge. You have to create a world off of one already created, pull the same magic, keep the characters within their same realm and personality, all while coming up with your own original plot and manipulating it to your advantage. If this process doesn't sound exhausting or something like a challenge, you need a little wake up call. Sure some author's say they don't like FanFiction, or they don't personally endorse it, but I do.

Wanna know a secret? Cassandra Clare, one of the best known author's of today's age has stated she got her start in writing from FanFiction. Everyone has a passion, so let it be known! There are amazing FanFiction's out there, because people put their heart and soul into keeping the magic of a book, movie, TV show, and more alive. It's not a matter of copying someone else's hard work, it's showing their love, willing enough to let complete strangers read their work and judge it.

There are sometimes things out there in the FanFiction universe, which may seem strange or out there, but that's the joy in writing. Have you heard Not Literally's new song "I Ship It!"? It's a cover of a song they love, "I Love It" by Icona Pop and within three minutes they describe a whole universe of people who aspire to be writers and more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCDgJiPBxfI

FanFiction is not a crime, it's a passion. Besides, anyone who has read and predicted what they think might happen has been writing FanFiction, even if it never made it to paper. Don't ever be afraid to let your feelings or thoughts be known, it just shows you are willing to write, no matter the subject.

Basics of Grammar

I spent days thinking about what I should blog next, I didn't really know what to cover, so in all cases like this- I consulted the internet. The internet, the most wonderful place full of writing tips and help on all sorts of subjects. I am sad to admit (and since this is the internet I deem it acceptable), I whimpered at the sight of all the beautiful grammar at my finger tips. As I aspire to have a Bachelor's Degree in English, nothing could strike me as more beautiful or glorifying than the art of grammar. This will be the start to many grammar discussions as it is a high ranked passion of mine.

When working with grammar it is important we start with the very basics. It may seem silly to start from the beginning when discussing usage, but everything always comes back to this point.

Categories.

Now, I'm sure I have you wondering, what does "categories" have to do with anything? Categories are the very start of everything grammar related. Example: there's a thing called "platerduff", this thing is a type of dog. Let's say I tell you a platerduff is a dog, you understand exactly what it is; perhaps not how it looks, but you know it will resemble other dogs. If we didn't have the category of dog, you wouldn't know what it was, or where to place it. It would be even harder to explain what a platerduff is.

We're going to play a little game, it may seem lame, but it'll teach you why we have to separate grammar and its rules. Find the item which doesn't belong:

• Violin
• Cello
• Trombone
• Bass
• Viola

The Trombone doesn't belong here because it is a brass instrument rather than a orchestral one. We wouldn't know the difference without categories.

The categories or grammar I will eventually be discussing more thoroughly are:

• Nouns
• Verbs
• Adjective
• Adverbs
• Pronouns
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Articles

Keep an eye out for these subjects to hopefully help improve your writing. I'm hoping to increase my understanding as well by studying and teaching these topics. Besides, there is always plenty of room for improvement, and I really want to improve. It's something which needs to happen every time you write, I can attest to the fact you do become smarter as you get older. "One year older and wiser too,"

The Difficulty of Grammar

Grammar is one of the hardest topics to breach, especially since there are so many people out there who will get in your face if you have one little slip up. Most of the time they are accidents and if you are a Grammar-Nazi you don't need to report every mistake. I catch many mistakes I ignore because I understand people are human and are only trying their best, but at times, I can't hold back. It's those extreme times when I tend to get off on those who are not using their basic grammar skills.

It's time to learn the difference between:

Their, There, and They're

Your and You're

Accept and Except

Affect and Effect

If you looked right there and thought any of these, it's time to learn the difference: There's three different types? There's two types? There's a difference between them? I get those mixed up all the time!

Guess what! The difference between them is really simple and quite easy to fix. We'll start with the first set. Their- It is a possesive term and references towards the owner of the object, animal, etc. An example of a possible sentence: "That is their dog." There- Usually generalizing a place where something is or should be. Ex.: "They live over there and this is their dog." They're- It is the contraction term for "they are", which is catagorizing them as something, most commonly an emotion or saying where they are. Ex.: "They're on vacation, they live over there, and this is their dog."

Your and You're, the difference may seem small, but it is actually quite extreme. Your- a form of possesion over a(n) object, person, animal, place, etc. Ex.: "Is this your beach ball?" You're- the contraction version of "you are", it characterizes an emotion or future action. Ex.: "If you're going on vacation I think you will need your beach ball."

Accept and Except, another difficult one which is disastrous to get wrong. It's quite annoying to see a mistake like this in writing, especially when they are so different from one another. Accept- you are gratefully or grudgingly receiving something from another person, you accept the terms and conditions, you accept the Christmas Present. Except- you are excluding something. "I accept your terms and conditions, except for the part about not earning any money." "I want you to pick up everything on this list except for the mushrooms."

Affect and Effect, the two most commonly confused words in the English Language, as far as my knowledge goes. Affect- to pull something in one way or another, to have influence over. "The rain had an affect on her mood and hair." Effect- Cause and Effect is one of the easiest ways to put it, an action caused a certain result. "The atomic bomb had a horrifying effect on the people of Japan,"

Just be careful when using words like these, if you're not sure which on to use look it up, otherwise the world of Grammar-Nazi may be banging on your door.

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Writing Fact #1: Etc. stands for End of Thinking Capacity, which means you can no longer think of examples but you know they are there, so you leave them up to the reader to think of.

Writing Advice

One of the best things I have ever heard was: "Write every day, even if you are not inspired." It's true, the only problem is finding the time to block out to fulfill this perfect goal. Writing can include so many aspects though, it doesn't have to be a full chapter, it doesn't have to be a story you are working on. Writing is broad and it means you can fill it with silly doodles, writing in your head, creating a beautiful poem, or working out an essay; writing does not pertain to one field only.

Another little piece of advice, which I consider to be a bunch of bull, is "Teenage Writers don't know how to write." With some teenagers this may be true, but those teens have never usually refined their writing skills in the way a true author has. Teenagers have some of the brightest ingenuity I have ever seen. Some of the best stories, with the richest plots, and some of the most well developed characters come from Teenagers, because they know how to create characters which connect to themselves and so many other people, they just don't know it. I say, trust a teenagers opinion, they know how to help you improve.

Something else you should have around, a dictionary or a thesaurus. Using the same words over and over can get dull and the more you try and fluctuate the use of your vocabulary, the more you'll find out you know. It improves your literary skills to use complex words. You don't have to use them in your every day conversations, but spice up your work.

Studying is great way to learn literature. You may think your course of study is over, but it never is. It's time to learn the basics of grammar, or just brush up on the fundamentals. Grammar is an amazing thing, but when used incorrectly you have people all over you to fix it. Those Grammar-Nazi can be annoying, but they're really only trying to help you improve. I'm a Grammar-Nazi myself, and I was recently told by someone it was annoying. It was their literary work I was trying to help along, if they didn't want it to be criticized they shouldn't have asked.

Learn how to take criticism. There are times when you don't want to be told: "your story is too dull," "it doesn't have enough flavor," "it doesn't appeal to me," "your grammar needs work," "your spelling needs work," "your plot line doesn't flow correctly," "I feel as though this chapter didn't connect together how it should have." We've all been there, and we've all not wanted to hear it. I was told this at a young age by my own mother, a person whom I trusted to read my work and lift it up, not put it down. I only realize now she was bringing out my true, and higher, potential. I have built up such a passion for writing and for searching out criticism from those around. I've learned how to accept it and let it come out in my writing. There are times when I want to pull a grumpy face and just tell the person they don't understand, but instead I straighten my stance, lift my head, and save their opinion in a box for later use. Their advice usually rings in my head months or years later when I realize I actively put it to good use.

Write about something you love, something you know, a world you want to know more about, your opinion, even a little FanFiction never hurts. A lot of Author's get their start in FanFiction. It saves a lot of time on descriptions and is actually a wonderful test. It tests the writer's ability to truly see a character and portray it as well as the original author intended. There are few who can claim to capturing the characters true essence; very rarely do they make the character appeal to readers if they change the way the "person" was originally mean to be. FanFiction also tests your ability to set a scene, create a plot line, and even master the art of conversation between two or more people. You are able to use a world which has already been created, one you hopefully enjoy or love, and expand upon its basis to create your own story. Never set your standards too high in FanFiction, and keep writing in your own stories. Your time should not be devoted to one story only, keep your options open because you never know when an idea may strike.

I like to think my writing has improved just by following these simple steps. I really think it has, after all, when I read my work from just a couple years back I cringe. Looking back on your old work helps you see how much you've improved, especially if it was a piece you were the most proud of. My favorite thing, is going back to my elementary school years. I find the stories our teachers had us write and as though someone turns on a switch I can remember: the epic saga of someone lost and kidnapped in the back of a white van, the detective solving the mystery of the missing best friend, even the hike up one of the most dangerous mountains to discover the crystal covens of a lost city. It all will come rushing back, and I can recall how the story was one of the best works I had completed, how it had flowed so perfectly from my head. Opening the soft paper cover and beginning to read, realizing your chapters are 3 pages long, there's no substance, and the whole story is maybe two-hundred words max. How deflated you feel at your most ingenious work being some of the worst literature you have ever read. Yet, it's only a testament to how much you have improved and worked towards bringing something real in your head to life. Words on a page only matter so much, it's the story and the emotion inside which shows the true joy in being alive.