Monday, May 6, 2013

Welcome to Week Number One of the Class, “Inspired to Write, But How”




Congratulations and Welcome to Week Number One of the Class, “Inspired to Write, But How”.   You are here and that says that you are ready to become a writer of poems, short stories, articles, essays, university assignments, and books.  This is a long distance learning experience.  Consultation via email is available.

The Six Weeks Class Syllabus

·        Monday, May 6, 2013 – Focus on the Eight Parts of Speech
·         Monday, May 13, 2013 – Focus on Types of Sentences and Punctuation
·         Monday, May 20, 2013 – Focus on Writing Paragraphs
·         Monday, May 27, 2013 – Focus of Developing a Writing Outline
·         Monday, June 3, 2013 – First Draft of 750 – 1000 Words Writing Project
·         Monday, June 10, 2013 – Final Draft of 750 – 1000 Words Personal Writing Project

For Class Number One, we will accomplish the following:

·         Glimpse the influence of English across Planet Earth
·         Identify the Eight Parts of Speech of the English Language
·         Learning Activity
·         Assignment and Email Consultation
·         Preview of Class Number Two

Glimpse the influence of English across Planet Earth

How many people in the world speak English?  The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: United States (215 million), United Kingdom (61 million), Canada (18.2 million), Australia (15.5 million), Nigeria (4 million), Ireland (3.8 million), South Africa (3.7 million), and New Zealand (3.6 million). This information is derived for the 2006 Census.




English is an official language or language of government in 60 sovereign states and 28 non-sovereign states.   English is a de facto national language of India.  The national language of Pakistan is Urdu. English is an official language and used in business, government and law.

English is the primary spoken and written language of education, commerce, and politics in America.  We will be learning how to write in English. 

We begin identifying the Eight Parts of Speech of the English Language. They are:


  1. Nouns
  2. Pronouns
  3. Adjectives
  4. Verbs
  5. Adverbs
  6. Conjunctions
  7. Interjections and 
  8. Prepositions 
Nouns:  a noun is a person, place, or thing. 

Examples for person include woman, man, boy, girl, aunt, uncle, mother, father, sister and brother.
Examples for place include Hawaii, Australia, America, Virginia, China, and Africa.
Examples for thing include shoe, house, ball, food, car, hospital and water.
Nouns are persons, places and things that act or receive action.

Pronouns: a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.  Instead of having to say or restate the noun repeatedly, a pronoun may take the place of the noun. 

Examples include the man went to the store.  He drove his car.  He bought milk, bread and eggs.  The girl wanted to learn how to play soccer.  She bought shoes to play.  She asked her friends to play.

In the examples, man and girl are the nouns.  Instead, of saying man and girl repeatedly, the pronouns he and she take their place.

Further example includes the book is very old.  The author wrote it 70 years ago.  It sold millions of copies.
In the example, book is the noun.  Instead of saying, book repeatedly, the pronoun it replaces the noun book.

Other pronouns include we, us, their, them, they, your, mine, and ours.

Adjectives:  an adjective is a word that describes or provides more information about a noun in the sentence.

Example includes the crispy southern fried chicken strips dipped in barbecue sauce was the favorite tasty appetizer.  The candy apple red car ran out of gas just outside of the city.

In the examples, the adjectives in the first sentence are crispy, southern, fried, and chicken. Each adjective described or provided more information about the noun strips.  The adjective barbecue described or provided more information about the noun sauce.  The adjectives favorite and tasty described or provided more information about the noun appetizer.  The adjectives candy, apple, and red described or provided more information about the noun car.

There is a note of exception to remember.  The words “a, an, and the” are also adjectives.  They are article adjectives because they point specifically to the noun that follows them.

Examples include the car, the house, and the train; or, a car, a house, and a train; or, an eye and an ear.   

Article adjectives point directly to a specific noun.

Verbs: a verb identifies the action of a noun or a pronoun.

Examples include the man scared her.  Scared is the verb identifying the action of the noun, man.  The baby cried all night.  Cried is the verb identifying the action of the noun, baby.  The horse fell after the jump.  Fell is the verb identifying the action of the noun, horse.

Adverbs:  an adverb is a word that describes or provides more information about a verb, adjective or other adverb.

One example is he walked extremely slowly.  Extremely is an adverb describing or providing more information about the adverb slowly.  Slowly is an adverb describing or providing more information about the verb walked.

Another example is the boy created a beautifully original painting.  Beautifully is an adverb describing or providing more information about the adjective original.

Conjunctions:  a conjunction is a connecting word like for – and – nor - but – or – yet – so.  Conjunctions connect words and sections of sentences.

Examples include:

Wayne believed he had an excellent opportunity to be chosen as a cast member, for his friend was a member of the cast screening group.
The Carson Family had to stop by the travel agency first and they would go to the airport later.
The weather was neither sunny and bright nor warm and comfortable.
The team let the coach down but he still believed in them.
You can work hard for the money or you can be without money.
The children do not like the cold yet they love to play in the snow.
Joanna was not the only nurse, so are Greg, Isabella, and Katie.

Other conjunctions include because, as though, and unless.

Prepositions:  a preposition is a word that describes the relationship between nouns, pronouns and other words or sections of a sentence.  Prepositions include the words through, of, on, to, at, in, by, during, before, until, after, throughout, before, in front of, behind, under, beneath, beside, next, between, into, off, over, upon, across, concerning, like, about, except, around, toward, for, past, without and against.

Examples:   She stood behind the desk.  The group walked around the park.  Throughout the year, the work continued.  They worked into the evening.

Note:  When prepositions precede other words as in the examples, the group of words is a prepositional phrase.

Interjections:  An interjection is a word that has extra energy, emotion, enthusiasm, and power.  They exclaim with emphasis, protest, and command.  Interjections can stand-alone or be parts of sentences.  Words of Profanity serve as interjections.  Interjections follow with exclamation points identifying strong emphasis.

Examples include Wow!  Yes!  No!  Stop!  Hoo Ray!  Hurry!

Learning Activity

Listen to :
·         The Eight Parts of Speech Rap http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DnCFGqm8qY
·         Parts of Speech – Running Through the Parts of Speech http://www.flocabulary.com/parts-of-speech/

Assignment and Email Consultation

1.      Write Examples of the Eights Part of Speech.
2.      Use each part of speech in two sentences.
3.      Read a paper, book or magazine and observe how the parts of speech are used.
4.      Record your notes.  Write what you have learned from this lesson.
5.      Email questions or observations to oscarcrawfordmedia@gmail.com

Class Number Two

We will examine:
·         Types of Sentences
·         Punctuation Marks

Inspired to Write, But How is a production of Oscar Crawford Media
© 2013 Oscar Crawford Media  

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