She includes a great run down of the ways that The  Chicago Manual of Style, Gregg’s Reference Manual and Garner’s Modern American Usage differ in the punctuation guidance they give.

This bulleted list isn't quite parallel and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Image by Ben Ostrosky and licensed under cc by 2.0. Visit's Ben's blog at http://sylvar.livejournal.com/

My pet peeve is bulleted lists that don’t follow the rules of parallel structure.

Eric Anderson is an English and history tutor in Wesley Chapel, Florida.

To be fair, the clerks were nice and took good care of me, and I was in and out in record time.

I was a little disconcerted by the security guard asking me to stand against the wall but that’s only because of bad memories of other encounters with cops. Just teasing.

I asked for free WiFi and free soft serve and cake on the service comment card, but I’m not holding my breath.

However, the Pasco County tag offices are really missing the boat by not running bingo to balance the  budget. They wouldn’t even need to hire a caller.

No charge for the genius idea, Mike Olson.

This post really does not have much to do with tutoring but still might be useful to you because of a few things the clerks shared with me.

My step daughter turns 19 in a few days and is moving out. Although I was at the tag office to renew my license, I happened to ask a question or two about a car that we are planning to gift to her. What I learned might help you if you are planning to let the kid take wheels when he or she blows town for college or for good.

This image created by Brian Cantoni who writes about software development, mobile websites, and occasionally sports with wit and grace. Visit his blog at http://www.cantoni.org/. The image is his and is licensed under CC by 2.0.

First, I learned that if convenience is your aim, it is better for married persons to title a car with OR (rather than AND) between the names, so that either half of the couple can do business with the title office. Fortunately, we followed this tip with the car in question.

Second, I learned that if you have a kid leaving home and are going to gift a car to him or her, do it before he or she leaves and changes driver’s license addresses.

When the kid’s and your driver’s licenses match home address, the plate can be transferred at a lower cost because of a “family exemption.”

Using the exemption lowers the cost by $200.

OK, now back to your regularly scheduled educational programming….

Eric Anderson is an English, history, SAT, and writing tutor who resides in lovely Wesley Chapel, FL. Reach him at 813 787 8959 or at Tampa tutor at Tampa bay dot rr dot com. He shares his thoughts about whatever tickles his pickle here.

Although I do not subscribe to the belief that test results are always a valid measure of the quality of teaching, I do think parents should know that they can take a look at how well the students of a particular AP teacher do on the exam that he or she is preparing them for.

Image by Jixar and licensed under CC by 2.0. See more of Jixar's photos on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/j1x4r/sets/

I think the information might be useful to examine so that parents could try to get their son or daughter into the  AP classes with instructors that have the best pass rates.  If I were a parent and the school that my son or daughter attended had several teachers of the AP course, I would look at the numbers.

If you feel the same way, get AP Exam pass rates for Hillsborough County by teacher at http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/interactives/ap-scores/

(This link has scores for both Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties…keep scrolling for Hillsborough County AP Test scores by school and teacher….)

I could not find the data for Pasco County AP results by teacher, so if anyone knows where it can be found, please post a link in the comments.

Eric is a private tutor in Wesley Chapel. He tutors writing and history, SAT, AP American Government, AP American History and AP World History. Call him at 813.787.8959 or email him at TampaTutor (@) tampabay dot rr dot com.

We reviewed all of the major grammar rules tested on the SAT in one marathon session.  At any rate, our work together and the practice tests he took helped him make a 150-point increase! He already had a decent score, so getting to an elite level really took some doing.

Way to go, JV!

The shirt sported by many Princeton partisans at the Yale-Princeton game.

Princeton-Yale game photo courtesy of Peter Dutton. Photo is licensed under CC by 2.0.

Visit Peter’s world at http://joeshlabotnik.livejournal.com/

This image by Sakura licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Only 2.0 Generic. Visit Sakura's blog at The Little Things at http://sakura.blogsome.com/

I am thrilled for her and hope that the higher score will help her get into the university of her choice.

Great work, KM!

Eric

There’s a secret to reading books and Tampa English Tutor is going to fill you in. Students who score high on the SAT test, smart kids, already know the secret and it’s high time you knew it, too. Before I fill you in, however, I’m going to touch on an exception.

In the unlikely event that I turn on the TV, more often than not one of my all-time favorite movies, The Princess Bride, is playing on some channel or another, and more often than not I end up watching it again. If you’ve never heard of the 1987 classic, click on the title and hundreds of thousands of Facebook fans will be happy to tell you what you’re missing.

Thankfully Facebook can fill you in, because I’m more interested in the fact that – oddly enough – William Goldman’s 1973 book The Princess Bride is also one of my all-time favorite books. This is unusual because I’m normally disappointed with film interpretations of my favorite books.

Why is that?

This is one of the secrets smart kids know about reading. A book isn’t page after page of little black squiggles. A book is a doorway into an alternate universe. Smart kids read books with their imaginations fully engaged. They may not be the screenwriters, but they put themselves right into the middle of the action and you can, too.

Think! Draw From Your Own Experiences and Use Your Imagination

When you think about what you’re reading and use your imagination, you become the casting director. You decide how the characters say their lines. You design the costumes. You design the sets. As cinematographer, you create the atmosphere.

Contrast that involvement with your role in a movie. When you watch a film, you have no control over the actors chosen to play each part. You can’t object when a favorite line is used to tug on heartstrings when you used it as a bit of comic relief. The setting might be a shock when you see how far off the mark it is from your own ideal. You might find yourself watching the final credits roll before you finally get the fact that one of your favorite scenes was cut from the movie altogether. The ending might have been completely different. Why did they mess with success?

The answer is: Hollywood has nothing on your imagination. There are no special effects, no actor with enough star quality and no editing genius that can compete with what you can imagine.

Smart Kids Put Themselves in the Action

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th-century American poet, essayist and philosopher, summed this secret up long before movies existed.

“In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine,” he wrote.

Smart kids know books are their own private movie productions. Good readers engage their imaginations along with all of their senses. Smart kids invest in books when they join the action and become emotionally involved.

Guest blogger Kate Rowland is a multiple-award winning journalist on state and national levels. She enjoys blogging for I-Tutor-English.com, a private tutoring company serving Florida students in New Tampa, Lutz, Wesley Chapel and Odessa.

I felt betrayed, angry, ignored, and misunderstood. I love this country and am afraid that it will not be what it was for me for those who are coming of age right now. I believe in the goodness of America and value the long traditions that produced a Republic dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” I respect the sacrifices that have been made by people to open the pursuit of happiness to every American.

Despite the challenges that we face, I am blessed to be able to do work that I enjoy. I take great pride in knowing that I have helped a student write better or think more clearly or appreciate the artistry of a work of literature.

This summer, I worked with a Jesuit High School student. We read A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I remember hating A Separate Peace when I read it in high school, but I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. I had never read Fahrenheit 451 and had fun helping the student see how the pieces of the book fit together.

The students I work with give me reason to be optimistic and to feel I am blessed.

This post written by English tutor Eric Anderson. Eric is a private tutor in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Contact him at eanderson@tampabay.rr.com. The photo in this post is the work of H. Kopp Delaney (http://www.koppdelaney.de/koppdelaney.de/Willkommen.html). It is licensed under CC by no Deriv 2.0.

This image by Cortney Carmody. Catch more of her images in her Flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/41185766@N03/ . Image licensed under CC by 2.0They came up with a good list:

• Read the letter backwards – Start with the final sentence and read each sentence. The student that contributed this tip said that reading “backwards” lets him look at the words without getting caught up in the letter’s content.
• Read the letter out loud – Let the ear catch what the eye misses.
• Read the letter with an awareness of the sins of its creator -  Look carefully for the kinds of errors that are typical of the person who wrote the letter.
• Print the letter and proof a hard copy – Errors are easier to see on paper than on screen.
• Let some time pass between writing and proofing – Let a final draft sit for a while before proofing it. Come at it with fresh eyes.
• Find the office English major – Let another person give the letter a look before it goes in the mail.

If you have a good technique that you use to proofread, I would love to add it to our list.

This post written by Tampa English tutor Eric Anderson. Eric tutors grammar and writing. Contact him at 813.787.8959 or using the magic of e-mail at Tampa tutor (at) Tampabay.rr.com.

Tampa English Tutor Reveals How Smart Kids Read, Part II

There are secrets that smart kids know about getting the most out of books and Tampa English Tutor filled you in on one of them in Part I: Let your imagination take over and interact with books as though they’re your own private movie productions. Smart kids, kids who do well on the SAT, know how to do this, and now you do, too.

Some authors dislike writing screenplays. Why? Well, if you have pretty rigid ideas on how characters should look and read their lines, imagine how an author feels. When you read a book, pretend you’re the author and argue your ideas with a director. Ask yourself what you want to see in a movie. Consider the book’s key points. Smart kids consider plot, atmosphere, dialogue and whether the story rings true. Why did the author choose a particular setting? What tone did it set? Did it match the action?

If you’re reading a horror novel and atmosphere is established with the opening sentence, “It was a dark and stormy night.” I hope you take a moment to laugh. One secret that smart kids know is that the more you engage, the more a book stays with you. What would you have used as an opening line instead? Someone else wrote the book but your ideas are valid. Keep asking questions throughout the book. Allow your mind to meander. Take an alternate path in your imagination. Hopefully, the author had a good reason to point the action in a certain direction. If you ask yourself, “Why?” you’ll notice when the answer is given later on. When you notice these things, you’re catching on to the author’s plot devices and character-development tools. You’re a smart kid!

Problem Solve, Make Predictions and Guess Solutions. Identify Key Concepts,

When you think about what you’re reading, you might catch key points early on and guess where the book is going. Some books are more obvious than others, but you can catch the more subtle points, too. I’m currently reading a cozy murder mystery. Spider Web is the 15th book by Earlene Fowler about a California folk art museum curator and rancher. Benni Harper is a hospitable and friendly character. In the second or third chapter, however, Benni takes an instant and irrational dislike to a new acquaintance. Fowler explains that this is because Benni is tired and overworked. Right. I’m guessing the only surprise I’m in for is if this woman is not the bad guy. Now that I’ve made this prediction, I’m tempted to look ahead to make sure – but that’s cheating. Thankfully, since I finished the book last night, I don’t have to cheat to tell you I was wrong. That can happen when making predictions, but the important thing is that you’re thinking!

If I had been right, that would have been okay, too. It’s part of the cozy’s charm. No blood, no gore and often predictable endings. Cozies are brain candy. Not very nutritious, but a yummy dessert after Stieg Larrson’s riveting-yet-lengthy Millenium trilogy. Larrson was a newspaper reporter who handed in his masterpiece, suffered a massive heart attack and promptly passed away. If you want to read the first installment before the movie taints your imagination, move fast. I find it hard to believe anyone could improve on the Swedish-subtitled version, but Hollywood is trying. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has not yet been released, but it’s ready to go.

Image created by fostersartofchilling. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 only. See more of fostersartofchilling’s photos on Flickr.

Another secret smart kids know about reading is to apply personal background to gain insight. While it may seem there’s little in my background that shines a light on Sweden – and probably less in yours to comprehend 17th-century morality – reading other books provides background, too.

Publishing companies appear convinced that Sweden is currently chock full of best sellers and I’ve read five or six translations in the last year or so. I understand a little about Swedish politics and journalism, recognize some of the larger cities and have a fair picture of its citizens – they’re a lot like us. I understand the impact of vanishing fisheries since I witnessed the same on the Oregon and Florida coasts. I grew up in Michigan and know more than I’d like about snow, ice and frigid temperatures.

Image created by stevendepolo. Licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 only. See more of stevendepolo’s photos on Flickr.

Narrow a Plot’s Twists and Turns into a Few Key Points. Decide What’s Important and What Isn’t.

Smart kids get lost in page-turners just like everyone else. You don’t need to scrutinize every word. Not everything has an impact on a book’s major and minor themes. With practice, you ;earn which language sets atmosphere and which dialogue is used to develop a key theme. Recognizing the important and discarding the unimportant becomes habit.

Smart kids, kids who excel on the SAT test, know a few strategies to avoid dictionaries. There’s no excuse not to zip over to dictionary.com to look up a word if a computer is handy. But if you read in bed and the laptop is shut down – does anyone use hard copies of dictionaries anymore? – smart kids have a few tricks that can help. If they’re really smart, they know they could be wrong, too, and refrain from using their new vocabulary before consulting a dictionary. If you read Shakespeare, my heartfelt advice is to use a copy that includes lots and lots of footnotes. But if you’re reading a book that is written in English, and you just can’t get a handle on what you’re reading – whether it’s a word, a phrase or a couple of pages, Tampa English Tutor can help.

Reread the bit you don’t understand a couple of times. Try reading it out loud. You might be tired and that may be all it takes to power the overhead lightbulb. Skip ahead until you understand what’s going on and see if that helps you decipher the mystery part. Ask an older sibling or parent. Ask your SAT tutor. It’s a good idea to pick the brains of someone who is already awake. Maybe a picture or graphic can clue you in. Good readers know they’re not expected to know every single word. Give yourself a break, but don’t neglect learning new vocabulary, either.

Guest blogger Kate Rowland, a multiple-award winning journalist on state and national levels, enjoys writing for I-Tutor-English.com, a private tutoring company serving Florida students in New Tampa, Lutz, Wesley Chapel and Odessa.

Photo of American flag taken by Jenny Brookins at the Aldersgate Camp and Retreat. Pastel on paper by Mark Waltz (2006). Photo licensed under CC by 2.0. See more of Mark’s photos in his Flickr photostream.