English Composition
Online Writing: Tourism and Travel
Review from last week!
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Last week we talked about 'run-on' sentences.
What is a 'run-on' sentence?
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In grammar, two independent clauses that have
been run together without an appropriate
conjunction and/or mark of punctuation between
them.
The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.)
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1. Judy leads a charmed life she never seems
to have a serious accident.
1. The sentence is correct
2. life, she
3. life; she
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Which is correct?
#3!
The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.)
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2. The airport is about to shut down because of
the snow and if the plane doesn't land soon it
will have to go on to Boston.
1. The sentence is correct
2. snow, and
3. snow; and
4. snow. And
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Which is correct?
#2!!!
The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.)
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3. The show begins at 7:30 make sure you're
there before 7:15.
1. The sentence is correct
2. 7:30, make
3. 7:30. Make
4. 7:30; so please make
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Which is correct?
#3!!!
The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.)
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4. Having prepared himself well for the realtor
exams and having exhausted everyone in the
family with his requests that someone help him
with the true-and-false drills, Jeffrey, who had
never been a particularly good student in high
school, knew he was ready to take on the greatest
challenge of his life.
1.This sentence is correct
2. drills; Jeffrey
3. Jeffrey -- who had never been a particularly good
student in high school – knew
This sentence is correct! Long, but good!
The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.)
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5. People already believed the precious metals
to be divine so their use in money intensified its
allure.
1. This sentence is correct
2. divine, so
3. divine; so
4. divine their
5. divine. So
Which one is correct?
#2!!! (Did I trick you?)
This week
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Today we will talk about another aspect of
grammar and work on it together as a class.
We will discuss tourism and travel and you will
be assigned your next blog entry. (This is a big
one!)
You will also enjoy yourself, but English
Composition class is your favorite class at Sias.
Why tourism and travel?
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Why would I have you start your practical writings
with a blog and lesson about tourism?
The tourism industry is one of the largest
industries in the world. (focusing on service)
More and more people around the world are able
to travel every year, especially in China.
Many English speaking Chinese people end up
working in the tourism and travel industry
because English is the international language of
trade, and there is a large need for Chinese who
are fluent in the English language. This could be
you!
Tourism and Travel
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China is home of some of the oldest and richest
history in the entire world!
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So, we have all of these wonderful things in this
beautiful country, but how do we get people
here to want to see it?
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(You know this, I dont need to tell you!)
We sell it.
Not literally! We cannot just sell the Great Wall
of China to the highest bidder.
We can, however, convince people to come and
see it.
A couple of quotes...
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'To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong
about other countries.'
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Aldous Huxley
'More understand China, then more people will
have interest in China and more people will
come to China to visit us because I am a tourist
ambassador.'
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Jackie Chan
As I mentioned...
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China has some incredible areas to see and to explore,
including (but not limited to):
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Areas of Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple
of Heaven, etc.)
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Shanghai and the Pudong skyline
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The Mogago caves in Dunhuang
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Leshan Buddha, Sichuan
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Li River, Guangxi province
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Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an
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Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong
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Giant Pandas in Chengdu
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Lhasa
China is #1 in Asia!
China is #3 in the world!
Do you agree with this?
China is a wonderful country.
So...
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Don't you want to share this treasure with the
world? I know I do!
Being able to 'sell' something is a crucial part of
practical writing.
You will always need to know how to convince
your readers to want something. You will need
to convince them that they NEED something.
Writing a tourist blog is a great way to get this
started.
Tourism Assignment
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What you will be doing...
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You will write a 500 word essay focusing on a
certain place in China.
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You must 'sell' your readers the location you are
talking about
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You can choose your hometown OR a famous place
in China that you have visited(Beijing, Shanghai,
Xi'an, etc.), but do not choose a place you have
never been to.
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The object of this assignment is to help you with
your ability to 'sell' your words to another person, in
this case, someone who reads blogs.
Tourism Assignment
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Tourism Blog points:
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5% of your practical writing grade (under the 20%
practical writing percentage)
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2% Blog grade
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This is a very important assignment. If you neglect
to accomplish this task, it is an immediate 7%
deduction from your final grade in my class.
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Before class is over today, I would like to look at a
few travel blogs as a class to give you an idea on
how to sell a city to tourists!
Grammar Time!
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Misplaced Modifiers.
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Page 478, Chapter 32
What is a misplaced modifier?
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Book says, 'words that, because of awkward
placement, do not describe what the writer intended
them to describe.'
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Sometimes this causes confusion or it can be
humorous, which usually is not what the writer
intends on accomplishing in his/her writing.
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Ambiguity: uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in
language.
Page 478
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Take a look at the misplaced and correctly
placed words on page 478. Can you tell the
difference?
Complete the activity on page 478-479
(questions 1-10). We will review these as a
class.
Can change meaning!
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Sometimes, a misplaced modifier is not a mistake.
It just leads to an unintended meaning. Look at
these sentences:
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He lost nearly $5,000 in Las Vegas.
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(This means he lost just under $5,000.)
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He nearly lost $5,000 in Las Vegas.
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(Here, we don't know how much he lost. He might
have lost nothing at all.)
Dangling Modifiers
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'A modifier that opens a sentence must be
followed immediately by the word it is meant to
describe.
'While reading the newspaper, my dog sat with
me on the front steps'
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This implies that the dog was reading the paper.
It is a 'Dangling Modifier' because it takes on an
unintended meaning.
'While reading the newspaper, I sat with my dog
on the front steps.
Let's jump to the activity on page
482 in your book.
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Take a look at the Example in the Activity at the
bottom of the page.
Now complete sentences 1-5 on page 483.
When you are finished we will look at them as a
class (There are several correct answers to
each sentence.)
Modifiers
Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that add
description. In clear, logical sentences, you will
often find modifiers right next to—either in front
of or behind—the target words they logically
describe. Read this example:
'Horrified, Mom snatched the jiaozi from Jack,
whose fingers were covered in cat hair.
*Notice that horrified precedes Mom, its target, just as
whose fingers were covered in cat hair follows Jack, its
target.
Back to the blog!
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As students who will be trying to convince
people to come to their great country and visit a
specific place, it is also important to know the
likes and dislikes of people.
It is important to know what people look for and
what they see, feel, hear and even smell when
they are traveling in a new country.
I have a blog for you to read on our website
about a foreigner traveling in China.
I suggest you search the website for more blogs
like these.
Prewriting
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If we have time today in class, I would like for
you to start prewriting for your blog on tourism
to the city of your choice.
First, you must choose a place. (Your hometown
or somewhere you have been in China.)
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Make a list of reasons why it is a great place to
visit.
Keep in mind several aspects, including:
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Food, historical sites, interesting things, traditions,
festivals, beautiful views, etc.
Homework
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Tourism Blog
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500 word essay/blog focusing on 'selling' a certain
place in China.
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You can choose your hometown OR a famous place
in China that you have visited(Beijing, Shanghai,
Xi'an, etc.), but do not choose a place you have
never been to.
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The title must be 'Travel to ______' (insert city
name you will advertise. ie. Beijing, Luoyang,
Kaifeng, etc.)
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This assignment must be finished before next class.