How to Use Quotation Marks and Italics

     Names of certain things, such as books, articles, movies, airplanes, and ships, must be placed either in quotation marks or italics. How do you know which to use? All items that require one or the other may be divided into four groups: 
1.) intellectual property that may be copied, 
2.) means of transport, and works of art that are one of a kind, 
3.) nicknames for machines.
4.) words are numbers

     Intellectual property is any printed matter or recording, such as books, movies, and poems. Works of art that are one of a kind include paintings and sculptures.

Intellectual Property

     If it’s “big,” you put the name in italics; if it’s “small,” you put the name in quotation marks. Here are some examples:

Big 

The Swiss Family Robinson (book) 

Small

“Return to the Wreck” (chapter)

Big

Selected Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan :Poe (book) 

Small

“The Gold Bug” (short story)

Big

The Odyssey (epic poem) 

Small

“If” (poem)

Big

Roy Orbison’s Greatest Hits (record album) 

Small

“Only the Lonely” (song)

Big

Three’s Company (television series) 

Small

“Jack’s Bistro” (episode from the TV series)

Big

Taipei Times (newspaper)

 Small

“Photographer freed” (newspaper article)

     (Note: Movies that are part of a series of movies (for example, Star Wars II: The Empire Strikes Back), and short films, such as It’s Grits, must be in italics. Segments from a television miniseries—that is, a made-for-television movie that is shown in two or more parts—must be placed in quotation marks. The name of the television miniseries itself, however, must be italicized.)

Transport and Works of Art

     Regarding one-of-a-kind works of art and means of transport, it doesn’t matter whether it is big or small. It’s always italicized. Here are a few examples:

Spruce Goose ( huge airplane) Gossamer II (small plane)

Titanic (ship) Minnow (boat)

David (statue) Wolf Running (figurine, or statuette)

Last Supper (mural, or large painting) Golden Retriever (miniature painting)

Other Items or Objects

     Brand names, such as Ford or BMW are not italicized or placed in quotation marks. Personal names for things that are not ordinarily named require neither quotation marks nor italics. Some examples are personally-owned guns, such as Davy Crockett’s famous rifle Old Betsy. Common nicknames for mass produced items such as Henry Ford’s Model T Ford (called the “Tin Lizzie”) require quotation marks.

     Landmarks, even if they are considered works of art, are neither italicized nor placed in quotation marks. Three examples are the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, and the Colossus of Rhodes.

Words, Letters, and Numbers
     When you use a word, a letter, or a number, not for its meaning or value, but simply as a word, letter, or number, you italicize it.  Here are some examples:
     "When you write  the letter z, try not to make it look like a 2."  (The speaker is talking about the letter z and the number 2.  He's not referring to z as having a meaning or 2 as having a value, as in "two oranges.")
     "People sometimes misspell the word misspell."  (The first time the word is used, the speaker is talking about misspelling something.  The second time it's used, the speaker is talking about the word itself.)
     You also italicize foreign words and phrases.  Here are some examples:
     "Audrey Hepburn had a certain je ne sais quoi." 
     "My favorite Chinese dish is tsongtze."

How to Use Prepositions

Location

At, by, in, on, near, past, up with, below, above, among, beneath across, around, beside, inside, before, between, against, beyond, behind, over under, with, without, within, in front of, along.

Direction

By, to, from, down, off, through, up, out, past, about, along, after, between, against, behind, over, under, into, upon, throughout, out of, by way of.

Relationship

In, from, of, with, for, about, above, beneath, against, before, over, under

Process

By, on, to, from, through, along, throughout, by means of, by way of

Example

For, like, as

Condition

But, but for, under, through, throughout, with, without, upon, on, from, because of, as to, beyond, over and above, according to, on account of, aside from

Relative to Time

At, by, in, on, almost, though, throughout, of, about, after, beyond, over, under, upon, over, within, in, subsequent to, prior to.

Sample phrases

Location

At the well. near the house. He lives past the traffic light. It is located along the coast. Place it in the box [see Direction].

Direction

He passed by the market. He is coming from Canada [See Relationship]. Put it into the box [See Location] He was walking about the park.

Relationship

He is from Canada [See Direction]. Without friends

Process

By way of analogy, along those lines, from what you say

Example

For example, love is like a rose.

Condition

He rose above his humble beginnings. Within this context, He thought about her.

Relative to Time

Within two weeks, beyond the year 2010, prior to 1968, about three o’clock

Allegories, Fables, and Other Types of Tales

Allegory: (n) a story that uses figurative language to comment on a political, religious, social, or other matters. Many of the elements in an allegory represent lessons to be learned.

Fable: (n) a story that gives human characteristics to non-human characters and teaches a moral lesson.

Fairy tale: (n) a story of adventures in which fantastic forces and beings (such as wizards, goblins, elves, etc.)

Quest story: (n) a story in which the main characters must make a journey in order to achieve an important goal.

Episodic: (adj) made up of a number of individual stories that don’t have to be told in the same order that you find them in the book.

Figure 1.

Parallels in Five Fantasy Stories

Figure 2.

Parallels in Five Novels involving Quartets of Main Characters

*Structurally, the main protagonist of Journey to the West was Tang San-jiang; but, from a literary perspective, the main protagonist was Sun Wu Kong.

Gerunds and Infinitives

Verbals

A verbal is a word that looks like a verb, but it’s used as something other than a verb. There are three kinds of verbals:

1. Gerunds

2. Infinitives

3. Participles

A gerund is a verbal that ends with ing or ed and is used as a noun. A gerund is always an activity of some kind. Here are two examples:

1. Fishing is a popular pastime.

2. He likes fishing.

“He is fishing.” (This is a verb—not a verbal. If it’s a verb, it always has a helping verb before it.)

     An infinitive is a verbal that begins with the word to.  It may be used as a noun or as an adverb. Here are two examples: “To know him is to love him.”

“He took a bath to smell better.” (“To smell better tells why he took a bath. It's an adverb.)

Infinitive phrases: A phrase is a group of words that does not have both a subject and verb, and it doesn’t express a complete thought. An infinitive phrase is a phrase that is used as an infinitive.

Example:

“He uses Photoshop to make pictures of his friends look funny.”

“To swim in this pond is against the law.”

When you try to make sense of a sentence, look for the verb. Then answer the question, “Who or what?”That will tell you what the noun is.  Then you can more easily identify the other parts of speech in the sentence.

From Mind Map to Topic Sentences

Each of these topic sentences originally appeared as points of interest in a mind map.  Here, I've turned each point into a topic sentence for a paragraph.  Later, I'll show how each sentence can be used as the topic sentence for a whole paragraph.

The Shih-lin Night Market is one of the most popular night spots in Taipei City.
Many Taiwanese and foreigners enjoy the hustle and bustle and the crowds.
It’s a great shopping area, both for bargains and for the latest styles.
Along its main passageways and alleyways, a wide variety of local foods and drinks may be found.
Video games and games of personal skill draw many teenagers to the night market’s arcade area.
One can easily see why the Shih-lin Night Market is a popular venue.

How Paragraphs are Developed

Types of paragraphs:

By examples:
“The desert is home to many kinds of animals. (Name a few.) (Give summarizing sentence.) Far from being deserted, the desert is teeming with life.”


By size:
(Large to small):
Beneath the vast, blue sky lies a shimmering lake. On the lake, in a boat, sits a fisherman. The fisherman puts the point of his hook into a cricket he’s using for bait.

X
Chiasm:
Beneath the vast, blue sky lies a shimmering lake. On the lake, in a boat, sits a fisherman. The fisherman puts the point of his hook into a cricket he’s using for bait. He looks out across the lake and sees a reflection. It’s the reflection of the vast, blue sky.

Near to far or far to near:
The entrance to the gate is small and covered with flowers. It leads to a winding path with flowers on each side. Beyond it is a beautiful cottage.


By time:
The man looked at his watch and grew impatient. He looked down the street. Finally, the bus was arriving.

By reasons:
I believe that someone hired him to shoot the candidate. He had very little money, but he was using an expensive gun. He could not have bought the gun with so little money; therefore, someone else must have bought the gun for him.

By importance:
I love my friends. I love my family.  I love my country.  I love God.


Homework: Create a mind map for the article you plan to write for the mid-term exam project.

News English Students and Investigative Reporting

     The 2010-2011 News English students are getting into investigative reporting during this second semester.  Here is a listing of areas they'll be investigating and which students will investigate each area:

Does the U.S. government have a secret UFO project?

Hunter Lee 951507004

Eric Chan 951507902

Leo Huang 951507025

Samansa Chen 951507009

Dianne Huang 951507030

What is the truth behind the chemtrails controversy?

Jennifer Cheng 951513032

Ruby Huang 951507028

Sharon Lin 951513038

Vivian Chang 951507023

What is the truth behind the Sean Lien shooting?

Lily Chen 951507010

Anita Chen 951505040

Amy Chen 951507903

Susan Liao 951513040

Alice Tai 951507033

What is the truth behind the Chen/Lu shooting?

Albert Peng 951501022

Columbus Chen 951507906

Mika Qiu 951507034

Is HAARP changing the weather?

Kristen Tseng 951513051

Rita Lu 951507014

Caresse Chen 951513037

Leslie Peng 951507015

What is the truth behind the events of September 11, 2001?

Jane Huang 951507017

Dick Chen 951507012

Rebecca Dunn 941507056

Sophia Lin 951507022

Nicole Lee 951507005

Does Bigfoot exist?

Joseph Lin 951507027

Neal Liao 951507011

Sunny Yu 951507029

Ivy Lin 951507003

Krista Cheng 941507015

Has the cure for cancer been found but hidden from the public?

Isis Huang 951507901

Eileen Wang 951507018

Andrea Tseng 951513042

Joyce Liao 951513046

What is the real purpose of the FEMA camps?

Lillian Huang 951513041

Peggy Wu 951513048

Jill Chang 951513049
Amber Chien 951507002

Who is responsible for polluting the rainforest in Ecuador? Chevron or the Ecuadorian government?

Eunice Wu 951513045

Joanna Lee 951507007

Miki Ji 951513047

Sandy Peng 951507024
Jill Cheng 951507016

What are the sources of weapons used by Mexican drug lords?

Tina Lai 951507020

Katherine Liao 951513050

Locate some missing children

Kiki Liu 951507905