I fixed the participle errors in my last post...
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Oppression, as defined by society, expands far beyond what are considered unalienable equalities and into the realm of what one assumes is an automatic right. When considering how members of society face oppression, education seldom presents itself as a main issue because the “ability” for someone to be educated has always been seen as a need and unchangeable right. However, digging deeper into the issue of educating the population, one must consider the level at which students are taught [PRESENT PARTICIPLE]. In his novel, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire reveals some of the major issues with modern education.
Students are rarely taught anything that expands past “receiving, filing, and storing the deposits” (pointed out in the second part of the novel) of whatever information is sent their way (Freire, p. 53) [PAST PARTICIPLE]. While there are many creative techniques that can be used within a classroom to promote long-term comprehension and use of information, students are often only expected to regurgitate information without applying it or finding a deeper meaning, relying far too heavily on this ‘banking’ system. In his piece, Freire further explains the assumptions of the banking system: that the “teachers know everything and the students know nothing” to “the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher” (Freire, p. 54) [APPOSITIVE]. Understanding that the oppressive assumptions of the banking system do not allow for room for student-discovery emphasizes the point that the system is flawed. In more forward teaching methods, students are able to explore information, young minds experiencing what they are being taught, whereas the banking system simply allows for surface-deep absorption of knowledge [NOUN ABSOLUTE].
According to the authors of Social Justice, Peace, and Environmental Education, “human rights are standards…that outline the conditions necessary for people to live full of dignity” (Andrzejewski, 66). With this mindset, standards can be described as the laws (governing what an individual is free to do) that function within the bearing of society [APPOSITIVE]. However, when dealing with education, standards take on a vastly different meaning. They no longer describe the rights that individuals have, but rather the goal that everyone is expected to live up to. As found in problem-posing education, educators and students become “[subjects] of the educational process” (Freire, 67). Standardized education strives for a common goal, sometimes disregarding varied methods of learning in order to get there. Fortunately, the need for “high” scores - "real" evidence of learning - does not always beat out the need for students to come to an understanding within education [APPOSITIVE]. The No Child Left Behind Act greatly emphasizes the need for students to reach a commonly established standard, placing responsibility on the schools and communities to do so (NCLB Act). While it does set a standard that the schools have to achieve, the act leaves room for schools, the hub of learning, to go about reaching the goal in their own ways [APPOSITIVE]. Within Washington state, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, test was used for many years in order to gauge student learning and overall success. Using a single exam that all students would be taking presents schools with an idea of how to go about rating student learning, but its limitations do not accommodate for varied styles of learning, unique and diverse [ADJ. OUT OF ORDER].
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
So...I'm not quite positive about all of these appositives, but I'll give it a go!
Okay, so here's a bit of a paper that I recently wrote for my T&L 465 course...
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Oppression, as defined by society, expands far beyond what are considered unalienable equalities and into the realm of what one assumes is an automatic right. When considering how members of society face oppression, education seldom presents itself as a main issue because the “ability” for someone to be educated has always been seen as a need and unchangeable right. However, digging deeper into the issue of educating the population, it is vital to consider the level at which it is taught [PRESENT PARTICIPLE]. In his novel, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire reveals some of the major issues with modern education.
Pointed out in the second chapter of his novel, students are rarely taught anything that expands past “receiving, filing, and storing the deposits” of whatever information is sent their way (Freire, p. 53) [PAST PARTICIPLE]. While there are many creative techniques that can be used within a classroom to promote long-term comprehension and use of information, students are often only expected to regurgitate information without applying it or finding a deeper meaning, relying far too heavily on this ‘banking’ system. In his piece, Freire further explains the assumptions of the banking system: that the “teachers know everything and the students know nothing” to “the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher” (Freire, p. 54) [APPOSITIVE]. Understanding that the oppressive assumptions of the banking system do not allow for room for student-discovery emphasizes the point that the system is flawed. In more forward teaching methods, students are able to explore information, young minds experiencing what they are being taught, whereas the banking system simply allows for surface-deep absorption of knowledge [NOUN ABSOLUTE].
According to the authors of Social Justice, Peace, and Environmental Education, “human rights are standards…that outline the conditions necessary for people to live full of dignity” (Andrzejewski, 66). With this mindset, standards can be described as the laws (governing what an individual is free to do) that function within the bearing of society [APPOSITIVE]. However, when dealing with education, standards take on a vastly different meaning. They no longer describe the rights that individuals have, but rather the goal that everyone is expected to live up to. As found in problem-posing education, educators and students become “[subjects] of the educational process” (Freire, 67). Standardized education strives for a common goal, sometimes disregarding varied methods of learning in order to get there. Fortunately, the need for “high” scores - "real" evidence of learning - does not always beat out the need for students to come to an understanding within education [APPOSITIVE]. The No Child Left Behind Act greatly emphasizes the need for students to reach a commonly established standard, placing responsibility on the schools and communities to do so (NCLB Act). While it does set a standard that the schools have to achieve, the act leaves room for schools, the hub of learning, to go about reaching the goal in their own ways [APPOSITIVE]. Within Washington state, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, or WASL, test was used for many years in order to gauge student learning and overall success. Using a single exam that all students would be taking presents schools with an idea of how to go about rating student learning, but its limitations do not accommodate for varied styles of learning, unique and diverse [ADJ. OUT OF ORDER].
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Dora the Explorer...kind of.
The main thing I took away from the story about Dora, and our class discussion, was the fact that almost all of us could relate. While Dora's story was a bit extreme (or at least that seemed to be the thought of many classmates), there was a lot that could be taken away from it. Students need trial and error in order to learn, and by supporting them throughout the process, teachers can help students become independent learners. I appreciated that in Dora's learning journey, her teacher did not automatically tell her the answers when she was struggling with a topic. Instead of skipping the exploration aspect, Dora's teacher gave hints to help her learn. Having taken part in the T&L 317 practicum, I understand the importance of letting students come to their own conclusions - to an extent. Obviously students need help if they do not fully understand a concept and are struggling with it greatly, but there is an advantage in leaving room for the students to explore.
After our discussion in class, however, I did not feel like we had discussed this very much. While it was beneficial for us to talk about our own experiences and how they related to Dora's, I think it would have been much more beneficial for us to think about how it would apply to secondary classes, considering that is where we are planning on teaching. I fear that a lot of secondary education majors do not think they will have to deal with struggling readers and writers because students "learn" to read and write at a much younger age, but that is not really always the case.
During my practicum, I encountered a number of students who were reading at low levels, and it was the responsibility of the secondary English teacher to make sure they advanced in reading enough to be successful in all of their classes. A class full of advanced learners may be ideal, but it might not be completely realistic. I do not expect that we will necessarily have classes full of students reading and writing at the primer level, but we will have students performing at a variety of levels and it is important to be prepared for that. The grammar lessons we have gone through, and the recent use of workshops, have provided me with some insight as how to encourage cooperation of students at different levels, and I look forward to receiving more ideas. I think it is important to make sure we (as teachers) are aware of the different levels of our students, but the varying levels are not necessarily something we need to share with the rest of the class. By having students interact using their writing, everyone can benefit and learn editing techniques as well as receive feedback on their own pieces.
I hope that as a class we delve into this a bit more. We seemed to repeat each other for a majority of the discussion on Thursday because we were so concerned with relating Dora's experience to our own. While it is important to see the connections between her learning journey and our own, I personally believe it is more important to draw on our experiences in order to help our future students, not to relive our own glory (or non-glory) days.
After our discussion in class, however, I did not feel like we had discussed this very much. While it was beneficial for us to talk about our own experiences and how they related to Dora's, I think it would have been much more beneficial for us to think about how it would apply to secondary classes, considering that is where we are planning on teaching. I fear that a lot of secondary education majors do not think they will have to deal with struggling readers and writers because students "learn" to read and write at a much younger age, but that is not really always the case.
During my practicum, I encountered a number of students who were reading at low levels, and it was the responsibility of the secondary English teacher to make sure they advanced in reading enough to be successful in all of their classes. A class full of advanced learners may be ideal, but it might not be completely realistic. I do not expect that we will necessarily have classes full of students reading and writing at the primer level, but we will have students performing at a variety of levels and it is important to be prepared for that. The grammar lessons we have gone through, and the recent use of workshops, have provided me with some insight as how to encourage cooperation of students at different levels, and I look forward to receiving more ideas. I think it is important to make sure we (as teachers) are aware of the different levels of our students, but the varying levels are not necessarily something we need to share with the rest of the class. By having students interact using their writing, everyone can benefit and learn editing techniques as well as receive feedback on their own pieces.
I hope that as a class we delve into this a bit more. We seemed to repeat each other for a majority of the discussion on Thursday because we were so concerned with relating Dora's experience to our own. While it is important to see the connections between her learning journey and our own, I personally believe it is more important to draw on our experiences in order to help our future students, not to relive our own glory (or non-glory) days.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Everyone makes mistakes.
I'm not sure if I actually learned a new skill this week in class, but I definitely think that the magnetic letter activity and our class discussions helped me understand the current subject/verb rules more clearly.
The magnetic poetry helped solidify my understanding of transitive and intransitive verbs. I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES; THEY MAKE GRAMMAR LESSONS SO MUCH MORE FUN! Moreover, it's not just that the lessons are more enjoyable for students, but they would also make more sense in the end. In my education classes, my teachers are constantly going on about how students need hands-on experience in order to fully understand a concept, and I can't agree more.
True, some students are able to learn something just by hearing it mentioned once. Some students could make it through their entire academic experience and prefer lectures over discussion classes purely because they learn best when they hear something. Is that a common occurrence though? Probably not. I think fun activities dealing with sentence diagramming would certainly help make grammar seem less daunting to students, and hopefully they'll remember the rules in the long run.
I have learned one eye-opening thing this week; even professionals make mistakes. I have found that while they are rare, errors in professional work are not completely impossible to find, and I've noticed them both in this class while preparing my scrapbook and in a few of my other classes. I recently copy-edited a New York Times article for my Journalism 330 class, and before I realized I was tearing apart a professional piece that had been printed rather than the copy my professor had added errors to, I had found numerous errors. Much to my dismay, my professor realized that he hadn't given us the mistake-ridden copy of the article. HOWEVER, SEEING THE ERRORS IN THE PUBLISHED NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WAS A BIT OF A WAKE-UP CALL; EVEN PROFESSIONALS MAKE GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES.
While this isn't a grammatical lesson per-say, I think that teaching students that it is okay to learn mistakes - that it helps to learn from them - they will be more willing to try. This thought may just come from my need to normalize things...if I see someone make a mistake I have this instinct to make them feel as though they are not alone. I would argue that this lesson is just as valuable as any grammar lesson we could drill into our future students. If they are comfortable enough with us (teachers) and with the idea that it is okay to make mistakes every once in a while, they will probably be more likely to take risks with their own writing and fully understand the fundamentals of grammar in the long run.
Okay, now that I think about it, will showing students that professionals make mistakes in their writing and are able to get away with it actually be a good thing? Will students think that since professionals are able to make mistakes they don't have to be perfect either?
The magnetic poetry helped solidify my understanding of transitive and intransitive verbs. I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES; THEY MAKE GRAMMAR LESSONS SO MUCH MORE FUN! Moreover, it's not just that the lessons are more enjoyable for students, but they would also make more sense in the end. In my education classes, my teachers are constantly going on about how students need hands-on experience in order to fully understand a concept, and I can't agree more.
True, some students are able to learn something just by hearing it mentioned once. Some students could make it through their entire academic experience and prefer lectures over discussion classes purely because they learn best when they hear something. Is that a common occurrence though? Probably not. I think fun activities dealing with sentence diagramming would certainly help make grammar seem less daunting to students, and hopefully they'll remember the rules in the long run.
I have learned one eye-opening thing this week; even professionals make mistakes. I have found that while they are rare, errors in professional work are not completely impossible to find, and I've noticed them both in this class while preparing my scrapbook and in a few of my other classes. I recently copy-edited a New York Times article for my Journalism 330 class, and before I realized I was tearing apart a professional piece that had been printed rather than the copy my professor had added errors to, I had found numerous errors. Much to my dismay, my professor realized that he hadn't given us the mistake-ridden copy of the article. HOWEVER, SEEING THE ERRORS IN THE PUBLISHED NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WAS A BIT OF A WAKE-UP CALL; EVEN PROFESSIONALS MAKE GRAMMATICAL MISTAKES.
While this isn't a grammatical lesson per-say, I think that teaching students that it is okay to learn mistakes - that it helps to learn from them - they will be more willing to try. This thought may just come from my need to normalize things...if I see someone make a mistake I have this instinct to make them feel as though they are not alone. I would argue that this lesson is just as valuable as any grammar lesson we could drill into our future students. If they are comfortable enough with us (teachers) and with the idea that it is okay to make mistakes every once in a while, they will probably be more likely to take risks with their own writing and fully understand the fundamentals of grammar in the long run.
Okay, now that I think about it, will showing students that professionals make mistakes in their writing and are able to get away with it actually be a good thing? Will students think that since professionals are able to make mistakes they don't have to be perfect either?
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Subject/Verb/Object
This week I didn't completely learn a new skill, but I did learn a new part of the structure of sentences. I have never really struggled with the subject-verb-object order of a sentence, and I rarely mess up on subject/verb agreement, but I did not know that there was a different name for a verb if no object followed it!
I'm sure I had heard the terms 'verb-transitive' and 'verb-intransitive' somewhere along the journey of my grammar education, but I don't think I have ever been able to apply them to what I was doing. It was very helpful to break down the different sentences and take out the adjectives and adverbs, and even the object itself, to change the structure of a sentence but still keep the meaning the same. However, while doing this, we did come across a few exceptions that end in a different meaning do to suggested meaning of words (ie. uses). BUT, even with this, I still found the lesson to be very helpful and I learned a lot about transitive and intransitive verbs!
However, though I enjoyed the lesson and felt like I learned something new about verbs, I think that parsing sentences in general is helpful in understanding proper grammar. It would be interesting to have my future students do an activity like this in class because they would be able to pick out the different parts of speech, and perhaps I would have them substitute words to see if they actually understood the lesson or if they were just assuming that the first word was the subject, the second was the verb, and so on. I think it would be a good way to assess learning without the activity seeming too overwhelming.
I also feel as though this is a lesson that I will be able to use in my future classrooms. I am constantly looking around for fun and interesting ways to teach grammar so that it actually sticks with the students, and I think breaking down a sentence in this way might be just the ticket to success! I think that this has been the most applicable lesson so far and that it would be easy to modify for use in a high school classroom. The lesson on apostrophes might seem to overwhelming, but even with the oddities in this one, I think it would be easy for students to pick up fairly quickly. Also, since sentence structure is the basis for writing, it will help them in the long run to learn the basics of it right off the bat! Students won't only benefit in their English courses, but any classes that also assign writing (which should be most other classes) would find use of this lesson.
However, after ending up with "Seth uses" and its double-meaning in our mature class, I wonder, how will high school students take the odd exceptions to converting a sentence from transitive to intransitive? Are there very many cases like the one we faced on Thursday?
I'm sure I had heard the terms 'verb-transitive' and 'verb-intransitive' somewhere along the journey of my grammar education, but I don't think I have ever been able to apply them to what I was doing. It was very helpful to break down the different sentences and take out the adjectives and adverbs, and even the object itself, to change the structure of a sentence but still keep the meaning the same. However, while doing this, we did come across a few exceptions that end in a different meaning do to suggested meaning of words (ie. uses). BUT, even with this, I still found the lesson to be very helpful and I learned a lot about transitive and intransitive verbs!
However, though I enjoyed the lesson and felt like I learned something new about verbs, I think that parsing sentences in general is helpful in understanding proper grammar. It would be interesting to have my future students do an activity like this in class because they would be able to pick out the different parts of speech, and perhaps I would have them substitute words to see if they actually understood the lesson or if they were just assuming that the first word was the subject, the second was the verb, and so on. I think it would be a good way to assess learning without the activity seeming too overwhelming.
I also feel as though this is a lesson that I will be able to use in my future classrooms. I am constantly looking around for fun and interesting ways to teach grammar so that it actually sticks with the students, and I think breaking down a sentence in this way might be just the ticket to success! I think that this has been the most applicable lesson so far and that it would be easy to modify for use in a high school classroom. The lesson on apostrophes might seem to overwhelming, but even with the oddities in this one, I think it would be easy for students to pick up fairly quickly. Also, since sentence structure is the basis for writing, it will help them in the long run to learn the basics of it right off the bat! Students won't only benefit in their English courses, but any classes that also assign writing (which should be most other classes) would find use of this lesson.
However, after ending up with "Seth uses" and its double-meaning in our mature class, I wonder, how will high school students take the odd exceptions to converting a sentence from transitive to intransitive? Are there very many cases like the one we faced on Thursday?
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Apostrophes' rules are numerous, but I'm understandin' them more and more.
Apostrophes kind of overwhelm me, to say the least. I know when to use them, and I can generally tell when they are used incorrectly. However, there are so many random situations in which it is acceptable to use apostrophes - I lost count on Tuesday - and when it is kind of okay to use them, but that falls into the gray area we discussed.
So far, this is what I have gathered, and feel fully comfortable with.
Apostrophes are used to show a few different things: possession, contractions, extra clarification (ie. M's = Mariners, not Ms so it doesn't look like Ms.), slang, and plural numbers. So, basically, apostrophes are POSSESSIVE, CLARIFYING, CONTRACTING. Or maybe INFORMAL, OVERUSED, MISUNDERSTOOD.
Okay, so I say they are overused and misunderstood because too often people use them incorrectly for the simplest of things, such as "it's" vs. "its"...and I'm not quite sure I can blame them because there are so many exceptions and various rules. I hope that after this class I will have a better sense of how I can teach proper apostrophe usage to my future high school students, because I know it is a struggle for a lot of people. Another thing I struggle with is the use of contractions in literary writing. I was taught to avoid "informal" language within my writing, unless it was a creative writing piece of some sort, and I constantly find myself surprised when classmates choose to use contractions within their own formal writing - but maybe it's a new trend? I'm not quite sure. I have found that I use contractions when I'm writing blogs, but that is because I see this form of writing as more of a conversation with the reader, and I have trouble imagining formal writing for a class at this level of communication.
Perhaps I'm being a bit too picky though. And I have gotten a little side-tracked...the point is that I now have a strong understanding of the proper uses of the apostrophe within writing, and I feel more accomplished now that I know why I'm using an apostrophe. I also think it will make me seem more credible with my future students, because I won't just be telling them how to use apostrophes, but will instead be able to include my own struggles and misunderstanding with apostrophe usage in the past. However, even now I know there are still different opinions on when and when not to use apostrophes, and I imagine there will never be one complete universal rule.
I found it very interesting that not only has apostrophe usage changed within the past few decades within formal education, but that there were also differences regarding preference just in our small class. Personally, I don't like to add an extra "s" to show ownership. Now, while I am a tad overwhelmed by the various proper uses of apostrophes, I think that I have a better grasp on the punctuation. The only remaining frustration I still posses remains in the fact that from source to source, the expectations for apostrophe usage changes. So, as a teacher, how should I instruct my students to properly use apostrophes? Or should I let them use them all sorts of ways?
Hmm.
So far, this is what I have gathered, and feel fully comfortable with.
Apostrophes are used to show a few different things: possession, contractions, extra clarification (ie. M's = Mariners, not Ms so it doesn't look like Ms.), slang, and plural numbers. So, basically, apostrophes are POSSESSIVE, CLARIFYING, CONTRACTING. Or maybe INFORMAL, OVERUSED, MISUNDERSTOOD.
Okay, so I say they are overused and misunderstood because too often people use them incorrectly for the simplest of things, such as "it's" vs. "its"...and I'm not quite sure I can blame them because there are so many exceptions and various rules. I hope that after this class I will have a better sense of how I can teach proper apostrophe usage to my future high school students, because I know it is a struggle for a lot of people. Another thing I struggle with is the use of contractions in literary writing. I was taught to avoid "informal" language within my writing, unless it was a creative writing piece of some sort, and I constantly find myself surprised when classmates choose to use contractions within their own formal writing - but maybe it's a new trend? I'm not quite sure. I have found that I use contractions when I'm writing blogs, but that is because I see this form of writing as more of a conversation with the reader, and I have trouble imagining formal writing for a class at this level of communication.
Perhaps I'm being a bit too picky though. And I have gotten a little side-tracked...the point is that I now have a strong understanding of the proper uses of the apostrophe within writing, and I feel more accomplished now that I know why I'm using an apostrophe. I also think it will make me seem more credible with my future students, because I won't just be telling them how to use apostrophes, but will instead be able to include my own struggles and misunderstanding with apostrophe usage in the past. However, even now I know there are still different opinions on when and when not to use apostrophes, and I imagine there will never be one complete universal rule.
I found it very interesting that not only has apostrophe usage changed within the past few decades within formal education, but that there were also differences regarding preference just in our small class. Personally, I don't like to add an extra "s" to show ownership. Now, while I am a tad overwhelmed by the various proper uses of apostrophes, I think that I have a better grasp on the punctuation. The only remaining frustration I still posses remains in the fact that from source to source, the expectations for apostrophe usage changes. So, as a teacher, how should I instruct my students to properly use apostrophes? Or should I let them use them all sorts of ways?
Hmm.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Pesky Punctuation
Over the years, I have found that I only really know of one reason to use a colon: lists. Unfortunately, even that was not a list, so I probably used the colon incorrectly, which brings me to my next point. I tend to avoid colons in all of my writing, whether it is creative or a literary an assignment for a course. All in all, I just do not see the point in them. A semi-colon separates two complete clauses, a comma is used within lists and between introductory clauses and the remainder of a sentence (as well as in other random places that a slight pause or interjection is needed), and end punctuation, well, is used for everything else. So where does that leave the colon?
I have never really had a problem with misusing colons on assignments or in my personal writing because I generally avoid them altogether, and I think that might be my biggest issue. I have never had a professor mark on a paper in order to tell me that I have done something wrong because I never give anyone the chance. I am sure that, at some point during my education, I was taught the proper usage of various forms of punctuation, but I have since forgotten each and every lesson pertaining to the colon, providing that there ever were any. I wish I could remember back to the moment that I “learned” about the proper usage of the colon, because I am starting to think that maybe such a lesson never existed.
I recently looked back through old papers that I have saved, and I have noticed a pattern in my writing. I use a lot of commas, occasionally I throw in a semi-colon or two, and, to no avail, I never use colons. I rarely have issues with other forms of punctuation within my writing, but my avoidance of colons altogether is bound to be an issue, at least in the long run.
That brings me back to my question. Where exactly should one properly place a colon? In front of a list? I guess that when I am thinking about using a colon in my writing, that is the only scenario that I ever see fit to add one. Can you even use a colon if it doesn’t directly precede a list? I am not even sure if a complete clause can follow a colon, but maybe I am incorrect, maybe if functions similar to a semi-colon sometimes. Perhaps it is just for style and really has no true purpose. Or maybe there really are no other uses for the colon besides starting a list, and maybe I have not been misusing it all along. I am just full o f a whole lot of maybes regarding the annoying punctuation right now. I hope that throughout the course I will fully come to terms with the pesky punctuation and finally realize its value, because at this point, I just see it as a nuisance.
I have never really had a problem with misusing colons on assignments or in my personal writing because I generally avoid them altogether, and I think that might be my biggest issue. I have never had a professor mark on a paper in order to tell me that I have done something wrong because I never give anyone the chance. I am sure that, at some point during my education, I was taught the proper usage of various forms of punctuation, but I have since forgotten each and every lesson pertaining to the colon, providing that there ever were any. I wish I could remember back to the moment that I “learned” about the proper usage of the colon, because I am starting to think that maybe such a lesson never existed.
I recently looked back through old papers that I have saved, and I have noticed a pattern in my writing. I use a lot of commas, occasionally I throw in a semi-colon or two, and, to no avail, I never use colons. I rarely have issues with other forms of punctuation within my writing, but my avoidance of colons altogether is bound to be an issue, at least in the long run.
That brings me back to my question. Where exactly should one properly place a colon? In front of a list? I guess that when I am thinking about using a colon in my writing, that is the only scenario that I ever see fit to add one. Can you even use a colon if it doesn’t directly precede a list? I am not even sure if a complete clause can follow a colon, but maybe I am incorrect, maybe if functions similar to a semi-colon sometimes. Perhaps it is just for style and really has no true purpose. Or maybe there really are no other uses for the colon besides starting a list, and maybe I have not been misusing it all along. I am just full o f a whole lot of maybes regarding the annoying punctuation right now. I hope that throughout the course I will fully come to terms with the pesky punctuation and finally realize its value, because at this point, I just see it as a nuisance.
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