a modal is an auxiliary/helping verb that gives additional information about the grammatical mood (or mode) of the main

verb that follows it. In other words, it helps to add the level of necessity: Can is used to (1) express ability: "I can speak English," meaning "I am able to speak English" or "I know how to speak English"; (2) ask permission: "Can I use your ball pen?"meaning "Do you permit me to use your ball pen?"; (3) express willingness: "Can you pass me the soy sauce?"meaning "Please pass me the soy sauce"; or (4) express possibility: "There can be a very strong rivalry between siblingsmeaning "There is sometimes a very strong rivalry between siblings." Could is used to (1) function as a kind of past tense for can; (2) replace can, although as a conditional: "I can help you with your homework" suggests that the speaker is ready and willing to help, whereas "I could help you with your homework" gives a more tentative sense of ability to help; and (3) carry the same meaning as might or may in the presentthat something is a possibility: He is not in school today, he could be sick. Will is used to (1) convey that the speakers intent will be carried out: You will leave now" or "I will find a way; (2) express agreements: I will go if you go" or "I'll go if you'll go"; and (3) indicate that something is likely the case: I suppose you will be hungry, after all that running you did? or that something is commonly the caseBoys will be boys. Would is used to (1) serve as the past tense of will; (2) express what would be the case if something were different: If they wanted to do it, they would have done it by now"; (3) show either politeness or formality of speech: I would like a glass of water, pleaseall of these uses can be described as displaying remoteness.

Shall is used (1) in the same sense as will, but in instances where an obligation, rather than an intention, is expressed: I shall go now; (2) to indicate mere intention in the first person, but in other persons shows an order, command or prophecy: "You shall go to your room!" therefore, its impossible to make shall questions like Shall we? in Shall you? (second person) and Shall they? (third person). Should (1) is to shall as would is to will: It is important that the law should be passed; (2) expresses wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgment, and statements that are contrary to fact at present: Should it happen, were prepared for it"; and (3) describes an ideal behavior or occurrence: "You should never lie." May is used to (1) indicate permission: "May I go out?"; (2) express possibility: "It may be done"; and (3) express irrelevance in spite of certain truth: "He may be smarter than I am, but he's certainly not handsome. Might serves (1) as the past tense of may: "He might have left when we got there, or he might have been hiding; and (2) as the conditional mood of may: If she were more polite, she might be better liked; and (3) as a more polite or formal form of may, just as would does for will and could does for can (see above). Must is used to (1) express that something is imperative or obligatory just as have to does: "You must leave now" or You have to leave now; and (2) express a strong belief that something is the case, but makes it clear that the speaker is not stating a fact but an opinion: "It must be here somewhere."

brief review on the various parts of speech o o o o o o o o o A noun is the name of anything: student, school. Pedro. A pronoun replaces any noun: she, we, it. A verb tells of something being done: read, write, is. An adjective tells what kind a noun is: small, black, pretty. An adverb tells how things are done: slowly, well, yesterday. A preposition stands before a noun: in, with, after. A conjunction joins words together: and, but, or. An article also stands before a noun: the, an, a. An interjection expresses feelings: Hi. Oh! How cute!

-------------------------- Rule 4. Words often come between the subject and verb. Such words usually modify the subject and may contain a noun that at first appears to be the subject, but by mentally stripping away such modifiers, can isolate the noun that is the subject: Mr. Perez, accompanied by his daughters, arrives at the party. The bottles of mineral water were recycled. Rule 5. Words such as athletics, economics, mathematics, statistics, physics, and news are usually singular, despite their plural form. Mumps is known as beke in Filipino. Recess was my favorite subject in grade school. Exception: When such words describe separate items rather than a collective body of knowledge/school subject, they are plural: Her dirty politics incite the soldiers to rebel. The countrys statistics make me want to seek greener pastures. Exception: On the other hand, some words ending in -s refer to a single thing but are nonetheless plural and require a plural verb: Our thanks go to the athletes who supported the games. The average workers earnings have gone down dramatically. Rule 6. Sentences beginning with there or here are invertedthe subject follows the verb. There are few children in the classroom. Here is your ticket.

 Rule 7. Simple questions allow Ss to answer with yes or no. When they make a simple question, they put the auxiliary verb before the subject; thus, it should agree with the noun/pronoun that follows: Has Gracia eaten dinner? [Gracia has eaten dinner.] Are your brothers at home? [Your brothers are at home.] Rule 8. A subject with two or more parts is said to be compound, and if the parts are connected by and, then the subject is nearly always plural: The teacher and the students are listening to the principal. Cats and dogs make her sneeze. Exception: When the parts of the subject form a single unit or when they refer to the same person or thing, treat the subject as singular. His bread and butter is selling street food. Sonias friend and adviser, Pamela, was surprised by her Decision Rule 9. In a compound subject joined by either-or, neither-nor, and not onlybut also, the verb must agree with the part closer to it: Neither the table nor the chairs are new. Tea, coffee, soft drinks, or beer is his usual drink. Not only Mark but also the grandchildren want to visit grandma. Rule 10. Indefinite pronounseach, every, none, either, neither, everyone, somebody, etc.do not refer to specific persons or things, and most are treated as singular even when they are followed by prepositional phrases: Everybody is present. Neither is able to attend the meeting. Every member and guest seems satisfied. Each of the stockholders receives a dividend. Rule 11. Some indefinite pronounsall, any, someare singular or plural depending on what they're referring to. Must check whether the word referred to is countable or not, or a collective or abstract noun: All of the books were lost. (count noun) All of the jewelry was stolen. (non-count/mass noun) Is any of the audience laughing? (collective noun) Some of her charm is gone. (abstract noun)

Rule 12. Collective nouns name a class/group and are nearly always treated as singular, because they emphasize the class/group as a unitcommittee, squad, family, team: The crowd cheers for the STI basketball team. The audience is going wild. Exception: When there is some reason to draw attention to the individual members of the group, a collective noun may be treated as plural: The class are debating among themselves. The couple were arguing on what movie to watch. [Only individuals can debate and argueit takes at least two persons to do so.]

Exception: Sometimes a word that is usually an adjective is used as a noun. It is preceded by the and usually means "people," as in the poor (people who are poor), the old (people who are old). It takes a plural verb. The poor get poorer as the rich get richer. Thus, the young sometimes want to change society. Exception: Similarly, nouns of nationality which end in -ese, -ch, or sh (Japanese, French, Swedish) are treated as plural, unless they refer to the language: The Chinese are friendly. Chinese is a difficult language to learn. Rule 13. Words such as glasses, pants, pliers, and scissors are regarded as plural, unless they're preceded by the phrase pair of; in which case the word pair becomes the subject: Daguls pants make him look tall. A pair of plaid trousers is in his closet. Rule 14. Nouns not ordinarily countable are mass nouns (or abstract nouns, as opposed to concrete nouns), and they are singularmilk, jewelry, soap, courage. To test, try using the articles a or an before a noun; if they do not fit, it is a noncount/uncountable noun. Adding a count noun such as a piece of or a glass of expresses an amount; in which case the word piece/glass becomes the subject: The broken equipment was sold to the junk shop. Several pieces of furniture were damaged by the fire.

Rule 15. When units of measurementhalf of, majority of, percentage of, part ofare used collectively or refer to uncountable nouns, treat them as singular; when they refer to individual persons or countable things, treat them as plural: Two-fifths of the population was killed during World War 2. Half of the soldiers were wounded in battle. Rule 22. Like most pronouns, the relative pronouns who, which, and that (as well as demonstrative adjectives this, that, these, and those) have antecedentsnouns/pronouns to which they refer and must agree: The book that Lualhati wrote was a best-seller. The professor who everybody respected remains single all her life. Exception: Problems can arise with the construction one of the and only one of the. As a rule, treat one of the as plural, only one of the as singular: Our ability to use language is one of the things that set us apart from animals. [The antecedent of that is things, NOT one. Several things set us apart from animals.] Bakekang knew that Burnik was the ONLY one of her sons who was responsible enough to sell balut at night. [The antecedent of who is one, NOT sons. Only one son was responsible enough.] Rule 23. Personal pronouns have two possessive forms: one precedes a nounpossessive adjectiveand describes the thing to which the noun refers like an adjective; while the other is used independentlypossessive pronoun. The boy visits his mother. His mother is sick, but mine is well. [My mother is well.] Do your parents play bingo? His do. [His parents do.] Rule 24. Plural nouns describing a mass, a quantity, or a number require a singular verb when the subject is regarded as a unit. Sums, products, differences, and quotients of mathematical processes are also expressed as singular. Ten pounds was all the box could hold. Five thousand pesos is too much for her to pay. Fifteen divided by three is five

---------------------4th week topic GENERATING WRITING IDEAS the worst part in writing is starting to write. words just wont come together- "stuck" and can't think of anything to write or know what to write, but when they try to write it, what comes out is just awful. even professional writers suffer from writers block from time to time. TERMS and PROCEDURES writers block - begin by generating ideas and sketching a plan. - to attempt an initial draft, rough it out, concentrating more on content than on grammar and mechanics. - If possible, they rest and get away from their first draft for a while. situation as the context that generates the need for writing. It is composed of external elements like current events, location, social customs, and cultural changes that affect your writing. internal elements: their subject, purpose, audience, sources of information, and constraints (length, format, and deadline) in writing. Subject is your topic. It covers the content of what the essay is about. select a subject that you already know, something about or one that you can reasonably investigate/research on in the time you have. After you have selected their subject or developed some ideas about it, it is possible that you have chosen a subject that is just too big (too broad or too general) for the amount of writing that they are planning to do so that they need to choose a specific topic on which to focus on. Restrict your paper to a topic more manageable in the space (or number of words) allowed. subdivide your subject, break it down into topics/parts and then write about only one of the parts. Answer the following questions: o Will they really be able to cover their subject adequately, or will they just scratch its surface? o Could they do a better job if they concentrated on just one aspect of their topic? look through the small hole every time you write. Zero in on it and write about it in depth. For example, you will not see all of their favorite things/ activitiesjust YOUR favorite food perhaps, or favorite book or favorite TV show. focus on just one aspect/ detail of their subject and write about itand not write an entire history/autobiography or a bit about every thing or every activity you like.

 Purpose. What is your essay trying to accomplish? o to inform or explain a o to argue a position concept/idea o to theorize o to persuade o to summarize o to call readers to o to evaluate or review a action text/selection o to change attitudes o to recommend o to analyze or o to request investigate a problem o to propose a solution

o to provoke thought o to express feelings o to entertain o to narrate an episode from the past o to give pleasure

For example, narrate how you spent your Saturday evening at the mallwhich is much more specific than just "to narrate an episode from the past." Audience. Who will you be writing for. The style, tone, organization, and content of their writing will be dependent on who exactly it is you want to be affected by your ideas. Rhetorical Situation. an adjective that means by the act of communication or intending to transmit meaning. Context, as earlier stated, is the situation that surrounds any event. Hence, the rhetorical context is the situation that surrounds their act of writing. various elements affect the content and comprehension of your wordslike the identity of the writer, purpose, audience, subject, and context for writing. Sometimes one of the components in the rhetorical triangle is emphasized more or takes a more important role. For instance, YOUR personal characteristics and interests affect what you write about and how you write about it. In turn, the audience is affected by the same factors that influence the writer.

the writer is not very important to the message; rather, the message emphasizes much more the audience/readers and the context (purpose or topic). This is probably more appropriate for advertising where the writer is not mentioned in the ad copy; instead, the contextproduct/service being advertised and its usesand the audience (consumers) are given more attention.

In the preceding model, two of the components become secondary to the thirdcontext. A newspaper/journalism would be a good example of this rhetorical situation, where the topic (whats happening) is twice as important as the writer and audience. Although the writers name and opinions are also published (not like in advertising), and the audience (readers) still needs to be considered in terms of clarity, word choice, and knowledge. YOU need to be aware that a rhetorical situation exists EVERY TIME you write. Sources of Information. personal experience, direct observation is an excellent means of collecting information about a wide range of subjects, interviews and questionnaires can supply detailed and interesting informationnot to mention direct quotationson a variety of subjects. reading and research documentation (citing references) is required. Constraints. control over length, format, and deadlines. Prewriting stage- the range of activities in which the writer engages before setting fingers on the keyboard (for computer/typewriter) or pen to paper. invention is the process of generating and recording ideas, and the main distinction between this stage and planning is that it is the creative phase rather than the more critical phase of planning.

Exploring the subject a) Listing d) Freewriting b) Clustering, branching e) Outlining c) Asking questions, talking Listing. simply listing random ideas, putting them down in the order in which they occura technique known as brainstorming. In brainstorming, creates a storm of ideas, not passing judgment on any of them or censoring any idea that comes to mind, no matter how apparently absurd it is. This is not the time to think about whether or not an idea will actually fit into their paper. at this stage in the writing process, anything goesmain ideas, details, feelings, whatever comes to your mind. Later, rearrange your list, cluster the terms under general categories, delete some ideas, or to add others. In Clustering. Unlike listing, clusteringalso known as concept mappinghighlights relationships among ideas. To cluster ideas, you must write your topic in the center of a sheet of paper, draw a circle around it, and surround that with related ideas connected to it with lines. If some of the ideas lead to more specific clusters, you must write them down as well.

Branching. To use the branching technique, put the main idea/topic at the top of a page and then list subtopics/major supporting ideas beneath it, leaving plenty of space between each term. branch out to minor ideas/details, drawing lines to indicate the connections.

Asking questions. Ask relevant questions, who, what, when, where, why, and how. Talking. (hence, group study)debating a point with friends, or engaging in conversation with the instructor. Freewriting. Is simply non-stop writing. set aside 10 minutes or so and write whatever comes to your mind, without pausing to think about word choice, spelling, or even meaning. If you get stuck, you can write about being stuck, but you should keep your pen moving. Outlining. Clustering and branching diagrams/drawings not only generate ideas but also serve as rough/informal outlines. The outline is a useful hierarchical planning and organizing tool, because the more knowledge you have of the topic you are preparing to write about, the more detailed an outline you can create. The outline is a purely verbal representation of your diagram in that the main topic is divided into subtopics which are in turn subdivided into more narrowly defined details and sub-details. keep the following guidelines in mind: o Put the main topic/thesis at the top. o Make items at the same level as parallel as possible (parallelism). That is, nouns should be made parallel with nouns, verb forms with verb forms, adjectives with adjectives, and so on. o Use complete sentences and correct punctuation (sentence outline) for all entries, unless words/phrases are clear even without punctuation after entries (topic outline). Including possible topic sentences will make writing the final paper faster and easier. o Use the conventional system of numbers and letters (Roman) or the decimal form. Roman I. (Main topic) A. (Subtopic) 1. (Detail) a. (Sub-detail) 1) (Additional details) a) (1) (a) (b) (2) b) 2) b. 2. B. Decimal 1.0 (Main topic)

1.1 (Subtopic) 1.1.1 (Detail) 1.1.1.1 (Sub-detail) 1.1.1.1.1 (Additional details) 1.1.1.1.1.1 1.1.1.1.1.1.1 1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 1.1.1.1.1.1.1.2 1.1.1.1.1.1.2 1.1.1.1.1.2 1.1.1.1.2 1.1.1.2 1.1.2 1.2 o Always use at least two subdivisions for a category, since nothing can be divided into fewer than two parts (division). Therefore, there can never be an A without a B, a 1 without a 2, an a without a b, etc. Also, items which are of equal significance must have comparable designations (coordination): an A is equal to a B, a 1 to a 2, an a to a b, etc. o Limit the number of major sections in the outline; if it begins to look like a grocery list, find some ways of grouping the items. Arrange the order of ideas from general to specific or from abstract to concrete; the more general or abstract the term, the higher the level or rank in the outline (subordination). o Be flexible; in other words, be prepared to change their outline as their drafts evolve. ---------------- Roughing out an initial draft a) Drafting an introduction b) Including a thesis c) Filling out the body d) Attempting a conclusion keyhole of course

 Introduction. draft an introduction that includes a thesis. then, gradually, narrows that subject before introducing the thesis statementthe essays controlling idea near the end of the paragraph. sentences leading to the thesis should hook the reader, perhaps with one of the following openings: o a statement of the main idea o a paradoxical statement o a preview of what theyre about to read o a quotation or bit of dialogue o a startling statistic or unusual fact o a question o a vivid example o an analogy o a description o a joke or an anecdote hooks Thesis. an effective thesis should be a generalizationnot a fact; it should be limited, not too broad; and it should be sharply focused, not too vague. Although a thesis must be a generalization, it must not be too general, since you cannot adequately develop it in the space allowed. explicit main idea may be found anywhere in the paragraph/introduction, but is typically written in these locations: first sentence, last sentence, middle of paragraph, or a combination of two sentences. As for an implied main idea, it is not found in the essay, but a sentence that the reader composes from the writers statements. This reader-developed sentence answers the same basic questions: Who or what did I just read about? and What was the main point the writer made? Main Body. What does my thesis promise the readers? Each topic sentence reveals its connection (unity) with the essays thesis and reveals the bodys organization (climactic order) according to examples that follow a chronological pattern. In addition to being well-organized, the body paragraphs must contain facts, details, and examples that adequately develop the subject introduced in the topic sentence. Of course, unity is a must in the body paragraphsno information should be introduced in the paragraph unless it directly supports the paragraphs topic sentence. In filling out the body, use: o facts and statistics. o sensory details. o examples. o personal feelings, memories, and anecdotes. o definitions and explanations. After the last body paragraph, the essay is ready to be concluded with an invertedfunnel paragraph.

Conclusion. Referring to the keyhole concept, First, it consists of a restated thesis statement and, second, of sentences following the restated thesis which present a broadening discussion of the topic of the essay before a closing statement is written. By restating the thesis, the conclusion presents once again the essays subjectit brings the subject fullcircle, just as the keyhole image suggests. In this way, the reader is reminded of the essays controlling idea, the conclusion should echo the main idea, without dully repeating it. Often the concluding paragraph can be relatively short. By the end of the essay, readers should already understand the writers thesisthe conclusion simply drives it home and perhaps suggest its significance. In addition to echoing their main idea, a conclusion might summarize the essays key points, pose a question for future study, offer advice, or propose a course of action. avoid introducing wholly new ideas at the end of the essay, as well as apologies and other indeterminate endings. a good conclusion might do any of the following: o Summarize. o Restate their main idea. o Leave a strong impression. o Recommend a course of action. o Bring their main idea to life by illustrating with an anecdote o Avoid a weak ending: Dont introduce a new idea or afterthought that hasnt already been developed. Dont announce that youre going to conclude. Dont apologize for your work.