Another week of GRAMMAR

Another week of grammar! Thankfully, I'm feeling more comfortable than last week with the grammar rules. I just hope to be ready for the exam that we have next week. I haven't started the practice exam but I am very certain that it will be helpful in preparing for it. I did notice that it is multiple choice not "incorrect or correct" like the quizzes we've been given and I am grateful for that. Multiple choice should be a little more manageable.

On a different note, I felt a little awkward when Professor Middleton asked us to raise our hand if all of the information about networking was helpful to us, as I did not raise my hand. Don't get me wrong, I personally think MCOM 320 has been helpful so far and will continue to help me, but the networking topic doesn't really apply to my career choice. As many of you may know based on the questions I have asked during class activities, I am headed to medical school and I plan on setting up my own practice somewhere. While some of the information that we talked about was useful, most of it just seemed over the top, or unapplicable to my profession. I do realize that those taking this class are mainly business-type majors, who most certainly find this information helpful. I will continue to try to take the most out of every class event and lecture even though it may not be entirely applicable to me.

A Humbling Experience

This Thursday was a humbling experience for me. I admittedly am not the best writer in the world but I have always thought that grammar is where I shine. When to use they're, there, and their? - Child's play. When to put commas, semi-colons, etc? - Simple and straightforward. Well, on the first sentence structure quiz I got a 27/38 and before correcting the second quiz with my team I probably would have received maybe 50%. I'm usually not the arrogant type or the kind of person that thinks he's better at something than he really is, but these realities sunk in fast.

 While I say these quizzes humbled me, I am obviously half-joking, because, for starters, the quizzes didn't count. Also, I think it's important to keep everything in perspective and even if those quizzes did count, it would have taught me the same lesson that I have learned anyway: I need to study grammar. Thankfully, I think that these quizzes helped me most by realizing the importance of paying attention all aspects of the sentence. There are many possibilities for error and each one of those possibilities should be checked (and in my case double-checked). I struggle a little with noticing everything the first time, as I try to be as efficient with my time as possible. My goal for the grammar exam is to check for these "possibilities of error" previously mentioned in a timely fashion and to study the material thoroughly.

Week 1- Successful communication

The first pre-test that was given to us  was an opportunity for me to really think about something for a moment: What is successful communication? It's been years since I've taken a writing course, but one of the things that I do remember is that successful communication through writing should be clear and concise. What then, should be included in a formal letter to Mrs. Middleton requiring us to answer 3 simple questions? I think the answer to this question is subjective and changes from person to person. I'm curious to know how successful communication is defined and how we will be taught to execute it throughout this semester.

 
Some of the pointers that we received on the first day of class were that in order to successfully communicate, shocker- you have to talk about something! Sadly, I know people that struggle with this, but as a man of few words, I have never really had a hard time giving significance and meaning to what I say. What I do feel is applicable to me though, is not being vague when communicating. As we saw in class, when the police phone operator told the man to "make sure he was dead" the man understood that he needed to kill his friend to make sure he was dead. The English language unfortunately has a lot of ambiguity and I think it's important that we learn how to avoid that and to be precise as possible when communicating. I intend on applying this by conscientiously paying attention to how I communicate with others and think if I'm being specific enough to successfully communicate my thoughts.