Friday, March 20, 2020

Dougy essays

Dougy essays In the novel Dougy by James Moloney, the town and community is destroyed by racism and prejudice between the whites and blacks. This made them forget about the flood and worry about how they could shoot each other. This essay will discuss the ways in which the town was destroyed. In the novel Dougy, racism plays a major part in the destruction of the town. The racism in the town begins when Gracey got free money to go to the state championships. This made all the whites angry because the government never gives them any free money blacks get things for nothing that every one else has to work hard for. This quote shows how angry the whites are about Gracey getting free money and it is part of their reason to hate the blacks. Prejudice is another reason why the town was destroyed. It is obvious that the town has been split into two sides. You are either in agreement with the whites or blacks. Prejudice is very bad in the town for example the blacks arent allowed in the pub. This means when the slightest thing goes wrong they start fighting maybe after an hour or two of stand off they will come to there senses. The quote is saying that they fight over the smallest of things and turn it into the biggest of things. The physical destruction of the town from the flood is symbolic to the destruction of the community. The flood destroyed the town because the community abandoned attempts to stop the flood because of there racist attitudes against each other. They were to busy worrying about how they will get the other side back there whities and they are shooting at whities dont they know what side they are on. This quote shows that the people are worrying about the war and not about the flood. The flood in Noahs ark has a lot in common with the flood in the town. They both wash away all the bad stuff for a fresh start to rebuild. The worse the war gets the higher the river rises b ...

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Why its Important to Write Right in the Legal Profession †And 5 Common Writing Pitfalls to Avoid

Why its Important to Write Right in the Legal Profession – And 5 Common Writing Pitfalls to Avoid The following article, by Brenda Bernstein, was first published on MyLegal.com. In a well-publicized case, a federal judge in Florida denied a lawyer’s motion (without prejudice, so he can re-file the motion) stating that it was â€Å"riddled with unprofessional grammatical and typographical errors that nearly render the entire motion incomprehensible.† Read the full article here: Judge Labels Lawyers Motion Nearly Incomprehensible, Marks Up Errors ABA Journal The judge highlighted the following problems, among others: Incorrect use of apostrophes. Typographical errors (using the word â€Å"this† instead of â€Å"thus† and the word â€Å"full† instead of â€Å"for†). Incorrect placement of periods and commas outside of quotation marks. Wrong word use (using the phrase the plaintiff â€Å"had attended on filing† this action, instead of saying the plaintiff had â€Å"intended† to file an action). One very long sentence. Don’t let this happen to you! If you write legal documents in any way, shape or form, it is absolutely essential to use correct spelling and grammar. In a famous case in England, a traffic ticket was thrown out because it was issued for illegal â€Å"stoping† instead of â€Å"stopping†; the alleged perpetrator had conducted no mining activities (â€Å"stoping† is a mining term) and so was found not guilty. I bet that police officer never issued another â€Å"stoping† ticket. Past or Present? One extremely common error I see amongst law students is using the word â€Å"lead† to mean the past tense of â€Å"lead.† This mistake could get you in trouble, since the past tense of â€Å"lead† is â€Å"led† (with no a). You could be writing in the wrong tense! Example or Complete List? Another place you can easily convey the wrong meaning is with â€Å"i.e.† and â€Å"e.g.† When you use â€Å"i.e.† it means â€Å"that is† or â€Å"in other words.† The proper way to follow â€Å"i.e.† is with a definition or complete list. For example: The defendant was charged with illegal stoping, i.e., mining activity. â€Å"E.g.† means â€Å"for example.† The proper way to follow â€Å"e.g.† is with a partial list of possibilities. For example: The motion was denied for bad grammar, e.g., typographical errors and wrong word use. If â€Å"i.e.† were used here, we would need to provide a complete list of the examples of bad grammar. (For a more thorough explanation of i.e. and e.g., read my post Common Grammatical Errors: Should You Use i.e. or e.g.?) Law or Liberty? Do you know the difference between a statute and a statue? Statutes are laws. Statues are sculptures. We have statutes of limitations and a Statue of Liberty. Don’t get these confused. You might want to remember the extra â€Å"t† for â€Å"time† when it’s a statute of limitations, or for â€Å"text† when it’s any written law. And you might think of following those statutes to a â€Å"T† (or 3)! Proper Punctuation: Periods and Commas Inside Quotation Marks To touch on one of the Florida judge’s beefs, periods and commas, in the United States, always go inside quotation marks, even when they are not part of the quotation, e.g., The defendant was arrested for â€Å"illegal stoping.† Although there are rare exceptions to this rule, they will probably not appear in legal writing (they are more likely to show up in technical writing). For a detailed discussion of this issue, see my blog post The Quandary of Quotation Marks ( ). Proper Punctuation: Apostrophes Many people incorrectly use apostrophes to make plural words. Don’t do it! Did you notice that the plural of apostrophe is NOT â€Å"apostrophe’s†? It is â€Å"apostrophes†! The plural words lawyers, judges, laws, statutes, DUIs and the 1990s do NOT take apostrophes. Use an apostrophe and then an â€Å"s† to make a singular possessive. The lawyer’s brief was riddled with errors. The judge’s ruling was final. Use an â€Å"s† and then an apostrophe to make a plural possessive. The five lawyers’ arguments diverged widely. All the county judges’ courtrooms contain the latest in audio-visual equipment. Put your apostrophes in the right place – and avoid annoying the judge. So Many Chances to Err! There are multiple ways to make writing errors in legal documents, and I have only covered a few. My most important advice is to proofread and proofread again! Get a second pair of eyes to check your work. If you have grammar questions you want answered, I will answer them to the best of my ability in the comments section of this blog. I look forward to hearing from you†¦ Happy writing!