Autobiography of Mark Twain: Ninth Post (Responsibility)
Twain’s views on politics and civic responsibility were brilliant. I absolutely loved the section about how it is more patriotic to act on your conscience than to do what is expected of you, even if...
View ArticleAutobiography of Mark Twain: Tenth Post (Suzy’s Biography)
Suzy’s biography of her father is wonderful and it’s clear that Clemens treasures it. At first I was annoyed that he’s only giving us little pieces of the biography at a time but now I think that it’s...
View ArticleAutobiography of Mark Twain: Eleventh Post (Wife)
Twain speaks very lovingly of his wife and how she raised his children. He talks about how she allowed Suzy to decide for herself if a crisis was large or trivial and he describes how she managed a...
View ArticleThe Little, Brown Handbook: Second Post (Verbs)
Verbs are why English is such a complicated language. Over 200 verbs are irregular and there isn’t really any way to make learning them any easier – each simply needs to be learned individually. This...
View ArticleAutobiography of Mark Twain: Twelfth Post (White House Visit)
The story about Twain’s visit to the White House when he got Mrs. Cleveland to sign a card for his wife verifying that he followed her instructions was funny. It may be one of the funniest stories I’ve...
View ArticleAutobiography of Mark Twain: Thirteenth Post (News)
Twain has very biting remarks to make about various things he hears about in the news. I have to agree with him if the “battle” in the Philippines that he described really was what he says it was. He’s...
View ArticleThe Little, Brown Handbook: Third Post (Examples)
This book does a pretty good job of giving clear examples of why things should be a certain way. The examples for things like number agreement and other issues commonly messed up, especially in...
View ArticleAutobiography of Mark Twain: Fourteenth Post (Patience)
Twain has little patience for unnecessary and illogical things. This results in a general annoyance towards any bureaucracy and a perfect willingness to ignore or otherwise give up on any endeavor...
View ArticleAutobiography of Mark Twain: Fifteenth Post (Misadventures)
Twain’s “scheme” for finding a desirable job was great, but I don’t think that it would likely work today. I loved the section where he talked about the post office and the odd ways that people have...
View ArticleThe Little, Brown Handbook: Fourth Post (Sentence Structure)
There are great guides to creating and improving sentences here. The book discusses repetition, emphasis and flow in a clear, concise way. As before, I found the examples to be some of the most...
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