To indicate an omitted word or phrase. To indicate a meaningful silence. [Colloq.] To indicate that a sentence has trailed off, leaving a meaningful silence. When not to use ellipses: In place of a punctuation at the end of a complete sentence. I keep getting Emails today in which requests or mere statements are punctuated… Continue reading When to use ellipses
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Scenes of Unsolicited Literary Criticism
This post was original published on Peachleaves blog. Last fall My GP is usually an in-and-out kind of guy, which I appreciate; no need to hang around getting to know one another once I get what I came for. But while I was undergoing the first round of thyroid tests, I guess he realized we’d… Continue reading Scenes of Unsolicited Literary Criticism
“An I-word Salad”
This post originally appeared on Peachleaves blog. A friend sent me this link to an article about a psychologist’s study of pronoun use: The Secret Language Code In brief, the study notes the frequency with which speakers or writers use different pronouns (first person singular words like I, me, my vs. first person plural words… Continue reading “An I-word Salad”
Whoa whoa whoa!
This post was previously published at Peachleaves blog. Slow day at work, so I finished reading Louis Menand’s The Marketplace of Ideas. In the final chapter, my leisurely read-while-at-work pace was jarred when I reached this paragraph: What the surveys suggest is that if doctoral education in English were a cartoon character, then about thirty… Continue reading Whoa whoa whoa!
Found Object: Heat
This post was originally published at Peachleaves blog. So it’s hot and gritty in Philadelphia, the kind of summer in which I seem to be swimming to work, because I arrive slightly damp and tired as though all of my limbs have been resisting warm water. (I still eat lunch outside though. It’s preferable to… Continue reading Found Object: Heat
Maybe we teach it to them
This post was originally published at Peachleaves blog This article has been making the rounds of my Facebook peer group. It’s a thoughtful piece that puts a lot of effort into describing the conditions and causes of the current graduate school dilemma. I don’t think I agree with his conclusions (though I certainly haven’t any… Continue reading Maybe we teach it to them
Sara Davis 