Thesis Statements & Nouns Week 10, Mon 10/26/15

Todd Windisch, Fall 2015

Announcements

• Classroom visitor today

• Last day for reading response extra 5 points is today

• Last day for writing packet #2 extra 5 points is 11/9

• Computer lab on Wednesday: • Building 26B, Room 1555

Today’s Agenda

• Collect homework

• Questions about connectors? • Section 1: matching connectors of contrast

• Section 2: editing sentences

• Section 3: combining sentences

• Thesis Statements

• Nouns

The Thesis Statement

• You should be able to tell exactly what an essay is about by the thesis statement alone

• The thesis statement is (usually) the last sentence of your introduction

• However, many people prefer to write this sentence first • It gives your essay direction

The Thesis Statement

• There are two types of thesis statements: • Stated Thesis Statements

The main problem facing South American countries are a lack of job opportunities for citizens, increasing demand for better health care, and limited university programs for poor students.

• Implied Thesis Statements The important problems facing South American countries today require immediate action.

Examples

• Living together for one year before marriage is essential in order to work out any differences between partners and ensure that the marriage lasts.

• The health dangers of second-hand smoke and the infringement on the personal freedom of healthy non-smokers are just two of the reasons that smoking should be banned in all public spaces.

• Overall, watching television is not a good way for young people to spend their free time.

Nouns

• What do you already know about nouns?

• Consider: • Plurality

• Possession

• Regular/irregular

• Position in a sentence

• Etc.

Irregular Plurals (p. 101)

• Man

• Box

• Potato

• Shelf

• Fish

• Phenomenon

• Datum

• Thesis

• Octopus

Possessive Nouns (p. 105)

• How do we show possession in English? • My, your, his, her, their, our = pronouns

• ‘s or s’ for nouns

• When do we use s’? • We use ‘s when the noun already ends in an “s”

• The boys… Their birthday is tomorrow.

• The boys’ birthday is tomorrow.

• What about when we have two nouns? • Jane and Candice… Their table is on the right side of the room.

• Jane and Candice’s table is on the right side of the room.

Practice

1. (Mrs. Smith) _________________ husband often gives her flowers. • Is this acceptable?

• Mrs. Smith, her husband always gives her flowers.

• NO!

2. (The children) _______________ toys are all over the floor.

3. (Bess) __________________ last name is Young.

4. There are many problems in (today) ________________ world.

5. We went to (Jack and Larry) __________________ house.

6. It would cost me a (month) ___________ salary to buy that fridge.

Nouns as Adjectives

• Are these correct? • I have a twenty-years-old son.

• I am a children psychologist.

• When you place a noun in the position of an adjective it is always singular! • This vegetable soup is delicious.

• I bought five New York cheesecakes.

• This is a two-hour test.

• She has a ten-year-old son.

• When you include numbers, you need a hyphen (-)

Count/Noncount Nouns (pp. 109-110)

• Nouns can be count or noncount

• What does this mean? • Count nouns are usually things you can count on your fingers

• Noncount nouns cannot be counted

• Noncount nouns usually include: • A “whole” made up of different parts

• Whole masses made of tiny particles

• Abstractions

• Natural phenomena

Nouns that Are Both

• Some nouns can be both count AND/OR noncount, but the meaning changes • I opened the curtain to let in some light.

• Don’t forget to turn off the light before you go to bed.

• Ann has brown hair.

• Tom has a hair on his jacket.

• I’d like some water.

• We’ll take two waters, please.

Practice

• Noncount nouns do not use an “s”, they are always singular

• Look at Exercise 17 (p. 111)

• Add a final “s” if it is necessary (count plural), but do not add an “s” if it is noncount

Quantity w/ Count/Noncount Nouns (p. 122)

• We do not use numbers, “each”, or “every” with noncount nouns • Every sand is in my sandwich!

• One evidence was found.

• Each advice he gave me, I followed.

• “A little” , “much”, and “a great deal of” are ONLY used with noncount • A little rice

• Much rice

• A great deal of bananas

Few vs. Little (p. 126)

• A few and few • COUNT

• A few has a slightly positive meaning • She has a few friends.

• Few has a negative meaning • She has few friends.

• A little and little • NONCOUNT

• A little has a slightly positive meaning. • I have saved a little money this

month.

• Little has a negative meaning. • I have saved little money this

month.

Articles (Handout)

• Articles are one of the most difficult things to master in English • Articles: “a/an”, “”, and “the”

• Basically, “a/an” and “” are general and “the” is specific

• Let’s look at the handout to decide when to use which articles

Pronouns

• What do you already know about pronouns?

• What are the four categories of pronouns?

• Let’s do exercise 1 on p. 135 to see what you already know about pronouns

Agreement w/ Collective Nouns (p. 140, 142)

• A student walked into the room. ________ was looking for the teacher. • How do I finish this sentence?

• If I know the gender: • She was looking for the teacher.

• He was looking for the teacher.

• If I don’t know the gender: • He or she was looking for the teacher.

• Is this ok? • They were looking for the teacher.

• This is very informal, but should not be used in writing.

Collective Nouns

• Some nouns are “collective” • Family

• Audience

• Class

• Etc

• These can refer to one whole unit OR individuals

• Context is important to decide which pronoun to use • My class is really great!

• They are understanding everything about nouns!

Reflexive Pronouns

• Reflexive pronouns are used in the object position when the subject and object are talking about the same person • Myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves,

themselves

• I saw ________________ in the mirror. • The dog was licking _____________. • The students e-mailed their essays to _____________.

• We often use reflexives in “by” phrases as well. • I live by ________________.

You, One, and They

• “One” and “You” both mean “any person, people in general” • These are used to describe general truths • You should always be polite. • When one passes 43W, one moves on to 67.

• “One” is more formal than “you”

• “They” can also be used to describe “people in general” (always plural), but it is very informal, and I would not recommend using it often • Iowa is an agricultural state. They grow a lot of corn there.

Other vs. Another (p. 148, 152)

• The students in this class come from many countries. One of the students is from Mexico. Another student is from Mexico. Another student is from Iraq. Another is from Japan. Other students are from Brazil. Others are from Algeria. • What do you notice? • “Another” and “other” can both be adjectives or nouns • “Another” is always singular • “Other” is often plural (but not always)

• There are many expressions with “other”, see box 8-7 on p. 152 for examples

Another vs. Other

Adjective Pronoun

Singular Plural

Another book (is) Other books (are)

Another (is) Others (are)

Singular Plural

The other book (is) The other books (are)

The other (is) The others (are)

• Notice the difference in the second line when we use “the”

• Also, we use “another” with expressions of time, money, and distance (even when they are plural)

• I will be here for another three years. • I need another five dollars.

HOMEWORK

• When I assign homework from English Grammar, there is a specific way I would like you to do your homework: • Complete the homework on a separate sheet of paper (not in your book)

• Correct your own homework using the answer key in the back of the book

• Try to understand why you got the answer wrong; if you cannot find out why, make a note and ask me during class

• Tonight’s homework: • Chapter 7: Exercises 17, & 19

• Thesis Statement worksheet