What’s the Difference

 

Affect vs. Effect

 

To use affect or effect, that is the question. If you are confused on which one to use, you are not alone! Many people get them mixed up, and for good reason! These words sound so similar that people often get them confused! But no need to fear, fellow scholars, I am going to break down this grammatical quandary for you.  

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The rule of thumb for affect and effect is that affect is generally used as a verb, while effect is used as a noun.

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Affect:

When used as a verb, affect means “to influence” or to create a change. A way to remember this is to remember that verbs are action words, and action starts with the letter a, just like affect.

Another defining factor of verbs is that they can change into the past tense. For example, if you see the sentence, The dog affected the boy’s hair, you know that affected is a verb because it has been used in the past tense. Nouns cannot change tenses.

Also! Verbs are interchangeable. You can replace the word affected with other words and the sentence would still make sense.

The dog licked the boy’s hair.

The dog fixed the boy’s hair.

 

Effect:

When used as a noun, effect means “a result” and indicates that a change has happened. A defining feature of nouns is that they can have an article placed in front of them.

For example, the is an article that can be placed in front of a noun. Take a look at this sentence:

The effect of the dog’s actions made the boy unhappy.

A way to remember that effect is a noun is to think of the article, the, and notice that it ends with an e, which is the first letter of effect.

Exceptions:

• Affect can be used as a noun if you are referring to the psychological state of a person, or a facial expression. Examples: The woman appeared to have a flat affect, or, The news of her dog’s death had a huge affect on her. 
• Effect can be used as a verb when it means to bring about a change or to cause a change. Examples: The advocate hoped to effect change in the audience, or, The professor has a positive effect on the student’s learning.

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If all else fails, an easy way to remember the difference between affect and effect is to imagine this handsome raven below us.

What does a raven have to do with remembering grammar, you may ask? Typically, absolutely nothing. However, in this case, the letters in raven contain the letters A–V and E–N, which can be used to remember that Affect is a Verb and Effect is a Noun.

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Think you are the master of affect and effect? Take this quiz and see if you understand the difference between the two! http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/effect_vs_affect_1.asp

This quiz is a great resource because it provides an explanation for each of the questions!

Have fun!

 

Getting Started Writing your Research Paper: The Outline

Example Outline 1: Roman Numeral Outline

1. Introduction:
   1. Thesis: Schooling can be affected by several factors such as school environment, teacher experience, and funding.
   2. Key Points:
      1. Inner city schools can tend to be less inviting and encouraging to schooling
      2. Teachers with less experience tend to approach schooling with an immature attitude and do not expect complications. They do not know how to adapt and promote effective schooling in some cases.
      3. Schools that have less funding tend to invest less in students learning because budgets are so tight.

The introduction section of the outline is where [stuff, things, explanation of what goes in the intro] goes. This section organizes the thoughts that will go into the introduction of your writing.

1. Body Paper:
   1. Topic 1: School environment is a heavy influence of the quality and quantity of schooling.
      1. Inner City vs Outer City Schools
         1. Source: Understanding the Institutional-Level Factors of Urban School Quality.
         2. Inner city schools do not have an encouraging environment for schooling
            1. Outdated
      2. Bullying
         1. Source:…

The body paper section of the outline is where the main topics of the paper will be discussed. This includes the usable sources and subtopics/supporting details for each of the main topics.

1. Summary Paragraph:
   1. Topic 1: Environments of schools have a dramatic effect on perceptions and experiences of schooling.
   2. Topic 2: Teachers with less experience seem to not know how to adjust to demands of schooling children which makes schooling less cohesive.
   3. Topic 3: Funding is a great impact on how schooling is provided.

The summary paragraph section allows you to restate what is in your introduction with more specificity that is included in your body paragraphs. It helps sum up your entire paper and it also gives you substance to add in your conclusion without creating new ideas.

1. Conclusion:
   1. Environments, teacher experience and funding heavily influence the schooling process as well as others’ perception of it.

The conclusion section of the outline is for the restatement of your thesis. This will be included in your conclusion paragraph.

1. References Page:
   1. GOTTFRIED, M. A. (2012). Understanding the Institutional-Level Factors of Urban School Quality. Teachers College Record, 114(12), 1-32.

The references page section allows you to keep track of all your sources without having to go back to each one to create a citation. This will go in your bibliography/works cited/references page.

 

An outline is an easy fix for getting lost in the mix of a research paper. A roman numeral outline is a super effective way to brainstorm and start your paper. With this type of outline, you can write down a few sentences about each point and be done with that topic. Outlining using a roman numeral style really helps to organize ideas for a research paper in a clear and concise way. You don’t get lost in this outline style because it is concise, specific, and organized the same way that your paper will be. Roman numeral outlining is best for organizing thoughts and ideas in a linear way. You won’t have to search high and far for a focus of your sentence because after doing this outline, you’ll already know what to write because you essentially already wrote it. Its also a great way to help you narrow down what topics you need sources for. Take schooling as an example. There are too many ideas to name that you could use in a paper regarding schooling. If you use this outline to pick a few specific topics then finding credible sources for support poses less of a fight. Overall, an outline is a great tool to use if you have too many ideas and need to pick just a few. Not to mention, it makes writing a whole lot easier.

Brainstorming isn’t for Dummies

Taking what you’re thinking and putting it on paper can be pretty difficult. How do you make the main idea, characters, plot, and the supporting details make sense? You, don’t. That’s the answer; it isn’t supposed to make sense when you’re brainstorming.

Brainstorming is a process of producing an idea by participating in self-discussion or a group discussion.  Brainstorming is writing down a few main ideas down then picking one, then you write a lot of secondary ideas and pick from those, then you write down a ton more supporting details and pick from those. It is a long process and there are times where you have to do it multiple time because you don’t like your secondary ideas or your supporting details. There’s a method to this madness though and it makes for a great paper!

Figure 1: Ugly-web-thingy

Take yourself back to when you used graphic organizers and webs and all that jazz in school. Well, sucks to say, but those are pretty useful even in college. Now, I’m not saying that you have to use a graphic organizer so if you want to have a piece of paper with random words and a bunch of scribbles then go for it; it’s all about what makes sense for you! Graphic organizers are just a great way of harnessing the writer’s block and helping to move your ideas forward. They are also great for keeping your sanity when you have 20 million ideas of which you can only pick one. Whether you want to do the ugly-web-thingy, or an organized- column-graph-whatever-you-call-it, or just a concept map, it can all be helpful! Or you can just start writing and sound like an idiot because you get disorganized between topics, lose your train of thought, start talking about how your life is a mess because you don’t know what to write about, and finish it with a few tear soaked words about how your readers need to love your writing. But, no judgment here!

Figure 2: You if you don’t organize your writing.

Hyphen Rule: Use Hyphens to Make Compound Adjectives

A hyphen can join words that modify the same noun to create compound adjectives.

The bruised-apple-red car crashed into the lake.
The bullet-proof vest was, unfortunately, not a viable defense against the snowballs of children.

“Can you feel them, Jenkins. The children, they’re all around us. The white storm cometh, 

Hyphens can also change an adjective modifying a noun into a more direct description of that noun, sometimes to humorous effect.

Hello, old friend
A pleasant greeting to a friend you’ve had for a long time.

Hello, old-friend.
A succinct way of pointing out how decrepit your friend has grown over the years. 

And did I mention your sunken eyes and receding hair? Don’t look at me like that, old-buddy.

Avoid Very

Very:

Adverb- used for emphasis

Adjective- actual; precise

It was a very peaceful day at the lake when we saw a very large monster creeping through the water. We could see its very shiny and very sharp teeth ready to chomp through our very soft skin. We couldn’t believe it; it was very unexpected. We tried to run off the dock but the monster was very fast and wiggled its way up the very thin dock. We turned around very quickly and found ourselves very scared and very upset. Here it came, the very judgmental and very harsh grammar monster.

Sounds lazy, huh? Pick up a thesaurus, you dumby! Here’s how it sounds with a little more effort.

It was a peaceful day at the lake when we saw a gigantic monster creeping through the water. We could see its gleaming and razor-sharp teeth ready to chomp through our delicate skin. We couldn’t believe it; it was surprising. We tried to run off the dock, but the monster was swift and wiggled its way up the narrow dock. We turned around hastily and found ourselves shivering in our own skin. Here it came, the judgmental and rigid grammar monster.

Comma Rule: Use a Comma to Separate Nonrestrictive Elements

Nonrestrictive elements are clauses that do not affect the fundamental meaning of a sentence. They provide information that is not necessary to the basic idea of the sentence.

Correct
Chudley, who is passionate about pigeons, lives on the roof of my building.
I had a dream that Barack Obama, who is the president of the United States, was disappointed in my grades.
“Who is passionate about pigeons” and “who is the president of the United States” are not essential information to the success of the sentence. Instead, they add details that the sentence doesn’t necessarily need. 

Oh jeez. He’s flashing his “I’m disappointed in your performance at school” smile.

Incorrect
Danbo the famous baker lost a thumb in a terrible egg beater accident.
Estelle who considered internet browsing aberrant behavior wrote letters to all her grandchildren via carrier pigeon.
To correct these sentences you would put commas around “the famous baker” and “who considered internet browsing aberrant behavior” because those two bits of information are nonessential to the meaning of the sentence. 

Pictured above: the last time he ever made that gesture.

Comma Rule: Appositives

Appositives are nouns or phrases that rename a noun that precedes them. Use a comma to separate appositives from the nouns they rename.

Correct
Clyve, the intern, was infatuated with smoothies, his one true love.
I am Fluffles, unforgiving slayer of mice, hurricane of the Eastern scratching post, chief threat to the free rodents of off-center Earth.
These examples are correct because the comma separates the appositive phrase from the noun it is renaming. 

Hear my roar, my battle cry!

Incorrect
Hello, smoothie, I am Clyve the love of your life.
Eggs the fruit of the avian world are delicious.
These examples are incorrect because there is no comma to separate the appositive phrase. It is noticeable as you read it because there are no commas to provide a natural pause between the pause and the noun it modifies. 

A good harvest this season.

Comma Rule: Use a Comma After an Introductory Clause

Introductory clauses are dependent clauses that introduce the second part of the sentence.

Correct
After she finished shearing it, the sheep bought an expensive leather jacket to keep warm.
Unknown to the intrepid adventurers, the minions of the great magician Dave were on their trail.
These sentences are correctly punctuated because the comma separates the introductory clause from the rest of the sentence. 

That’s classic Dave to send someone to do his evil for him; Dave is very lazy, but he enjoys pointing at things.

Incorrect
After I woke up I went back to sleep.
Once I had woken up a second time I realized life was an endless cycle of waking up and falling asleep punctuated only by tiny and infrequent joys.
These sentences are incorrect because the comma does not separate the introductory phrase from the clause that is being introduced; it’s chaos! See how sad that second example was; that’s what happens when you don’t punctuate properly: sadness abounds. 

“No, mother, there will be no more music. I punctuated improperly, and life lost its flavor.”

Avoid the Passive Voice

The active voice is more forceful and it is brief. The active voice provides the subject and verb in direct and concise relation to each other. The passive voice makes the sentence linger and takes the momentum away from the ideas.

Active
Tomandra stole a bag of corn.
Theodorus gave an impassioned speech about eggs.
The rabbit cuddled with the moose.

For whatever reason, the only corn Tomandra stole had the nutritional value of the bag that held it.

Passive
A bag of corn was stolen by Tomandra.
An impassioned speech about eggs was given by Theodorus
A moose was cuddled by rabbit.

The active sentences are direct, pointed, and tell you everything you need to know in as few words as necessary. The second is indirect, unnecessarily long, and makes the final details seem like an addendum. A few words difference may seem trivial but every word should work for you in making your point direct and clear to your reader.