Online Writing: Tourism and Travel English Composition Online Writing: Tourism and Travel

Review from last week! Last week we talked about 'run-on' sentences. What is a 'run-on' sentence? In grammar, two independent clauses that have been run together without an appropriate conjunction and/or mark of punctuation between them.

The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.) 1. Judy leads a charmed life she never seems to have a serious accident. 1. The sentence is correct 2. life, she 3. life; she Which is correct? #3!

The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.) 2. The airport is about to shut down because of the snow and if the plane doesn't land soon it will have to go on to Boston. 1. The sentence is correct 2. snow, and 3. snow; and 4. snow. And Which is correct? #2!!!

The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.) 3. The show begins at 7:30 make sure you're there before 7:15. 1. The sentence is correct 2. 7:30, make 3. 7:30. Make 4. 7:30; so please make Which is correct? #3!!!

The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.) 4. Having prepared himself well for the realtor exams and having exhausted everyone in the family with his requests that someone help him with the true-and-false drills, Jeffrey, who had never been a particularly good student in high school, knew he was ready to take on the greatest challenge of his life. 1.This sentence is correct 2. drills; Jeffrey 3. Jeffrey -- who had never been a particularly good student in high school – knew This sentence is correct! Long, but good!

The run-on sentence (Quiz yourself.) 5. People already believed the precious metals to be divine so their use in money intensified its allure. 1. This sentence is correct 2. divine, so 3. divine; so 4. divine their 5. divine. So Which one is correct? #2!!! (Did I trick you?)

This week Today we will talk about another aspect of grammar and work on it together as a class. We will discuss tourism and travel and you will be assigned your next blog entry. (This is a big one!) You will also enjoy yourself, but English Composition class is your favorite class at Sias.

Why tourism and travel? Why would I have you start your practical writings with a blog and lesson about tourism? The tourism industry is one of the largest industries in the world. (focusing on service) More and more people around the world are able to travel every year, especially in China. Many English speaking Chinese people end up working in the tourism and travel industry because English is the international language of trade, and there is a large need for Chinese who are fluent in the English language. This could be you!

Tourism and Travel China is home of some of the oldest and richest history in the entire world! (You know this, I dont need to tell you!) So, we have all of these wonderful things in this beautiful country, but how do we get people here to want to see it? We sell it. Not literally! We cannot just sell the Great Wall of China to the highest bidder. We can, however, convince people to come and see it.

A couple of quotes... 'To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.' Aldous Huxley 'More understand China, then more people will have interest in China and more people will come to China to visit us because I am a tourist ambassador.' Jackie Chan

As I mentioned... China has some incredible areas to see and to explore, including (but not limited to): Areas of Beijing (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, etc.) Shanghai and the Pudong skyline The Mogago caves in Dunhuang Leshan Buddha, Sichuan Li River, Guangxi province Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong Giant Pandas in Chengdu Lhasa

China is #1 in Asia!

China is #3 in the world!

China is a wonderful country. Do you agree with this? China is a wonderful country.

So... Don't you want to share this treasure with the world? I know I do! Being able to 'sell' something is a crucial part of practical writing. You will always need to know how to convince your readers to want something. You will need to convince them that they NEED something. Writing a tourist blog is a great way to get this started.

Tourism Assignment What you will be doing... You will write a 500 word essay focusing on a certain place in China. You must 'sell' your readers the location you are talking about You can choose your hometown OR a famous place in China that you have visited(Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, etc.), but do not choose a place you have never been to. The object of this assignment is to help you with your ability to 'sell' your words to another person, in this case, someone who reads blogs.

Tourism Assignment Tourism Blog points: 5% of your practical writing grade (under the 20% practical writing percentage) 2% Blog grade This is a very important assignment. If you neglect to accomplish this task, it is an immediate 7% deduction from your final grade in my class. Before class is over today, I would like to look at a few travel blogs as a class to give you an idea on how to sell a city to tourists!

Grammar Time! Misplaced Modifiers. What is a misplaced modifier? Page 478, Chapter 32 What is a misplaced modifier? Book says, 'words that, because of awkward placement, do not describe what the writer intended them to describe.' Sometimes this causes confusion or it can be humorous, which usually is not what the writer intends on accomplishing in his/her writing. Ambiguity: uncertainty or inexactness of meaning in language.

Page 478 Take a look at the misplaced and correctly placed words on page 478. Can you tell the difference? Complete the activity on page 478-479 (questions 1-10). We will review these as a class.

Can change meaning! Sometimes, a misplaced modifier is not a mistake. It just leads to an unintended meaning. Look at these sentences: He lost nearly $5,000 in Las Vegas. (This means he lost just under $5,000.) He nearly lost $5,000 in Las Vegas. (Here, we don't know how much he lost. He might have lost nothing at all.)

Dangling Modifiers 'A modifier that opens a sentence must be followed immediately by the word it is meant to describe. 'While reading the newspaper, my dog sat with me on the front steps' This implies that the dog was reading the paper. It is a 'Dangling Modifier' because it takes on an unintended meaning. 'While reading the newspaper, I sat with my dog on the front steps.

Let's jump to the activity on page 482 in your book. Take a look at the Example in the Activity at the bottom of the page. Now complete sentences 1-5 on page 483. When you are finished we will look at them as a class (There are several correct answers to each sentence.)

Modifiers Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that add description. In clear, logical sentences, you will often find modifiers right next to—either in front of or behind—the target words they logically describe. Read this example: 'Horrified, Mom snatched the jiaozi from Jack, whose fingers were covered in cat hair. *Notice that horrified precedes Mom, its target, just as whose fingers were covered in cat hair follows Jack, its target.

Back to the blog! As students who will be trying to convince people to come to their great country and visit a specific place, it is also important to know the likes and dislikes of people. It is important to know what people look for and what they see, feel, hear and even smell when they are traveling in a new country. I have a blog for you to read on our website about a foreigner traveling in China. I suggest you search the website for more blogs like these.

Prewriting If we have time today in class, I would like for you to start prewriting for your blog on tourism to the city of your choice. First, you must choose a place. (Your hometown or somewhere you have been in China.) Make a list of reasons why it is a great place to visit. Keep in mind several aspects, including: Food, historical sites, interesting things, traditions, festivals, beautiful views, etc.

Homework Tourism Blog 500 word essay/blog focusing on 'selling' a certain place in China. You can choose your hometown OR a famous place in China that you have visited(Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, etc.), but do not choose a place you have never been to. The title must be 'Travel to ______' (insert city name you will advertise. ie. Beijing, Luoyang, Kaifeng, etc.) This assignment must be finished before next class.