Considering All Sides of the Era essays

Considering All Sides of the Era essays World Civilizations 10-7 Andrew Perron Thesis Paper 5/6/01 Between 1789 and 1799 France was going through great turmoil. Immense political and social upheavals were commonplace in the changing nation. New ideas were growing, ideas of freedom, government and of self-expression. Such new attitudes by the people gave rise to a new style of clothing. The clothing became more expressive and more ornate. People began to dress the way they wanted. French soon became the center stage for fashion. The French revolution, while failing in many aspects did one thing no one expected. The French revolution created a new image of fashion in France. There are several reasons that contributed to this occurrence. New beliefs of freedom, equality and self-expression each contributed to this new era of clothes. One major contributor to this new image in France was the new belief in freedom. This was a time in France were the tides were changing and the power over the country was moving from the hands of the Old regime to the Bougiose. As this occurred this working class felt a new freedom, and a respect for freedom that they had never felt before under the iron fists of the nobles. Such ideas broke the people away from their normal standards and every day drab. With a new freedom new ideas started to pop up everywhere. These new ideas led to the creation of the new costume... reproduced in Englands The Home Circle (Ewing, 123). With the new freedom people of all sorts started to speak up and voice their desires. This caused a revolution in fashion for France with the invention of the sewing machine and other cloth production machines the ideas quickly became vast quantities of fabrics (Ewing, 105). As restrictions gave way to freedom many old ideas gave way to new ones. With this newfou nd freedom womens wear especially went through a slow reform for wome...

5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma

5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma 5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma 5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma By Mark Nichol A simple lesson about the strength of the mighty little comma can be learned by noting the difference in meaning that results depending on its presence or absence at the end of a parenthetical phrase. More specifically, in the types of sentences shown below, when an attributive phrase one that identifies the source of the information provided in the framing sentence is inserted in the midst of the sentence and a comma precedes the interjection but none follows it, what is said is often not equivalent to what is meant: 1. â€Å"Every nine years, it was decreed that the fragment must be conveyed to another place of sanctuary.† The point of this sentence is that an action is described as having occurred every nine years, and that this action was decreed. That latter detail is the content of the attributive phrase. But without a comma closing the interjection, the implication is that the decree was issued every nine years. However, what the sentence means is that a decree was issued requiring the action to occur every nine years that’s a much different idea, and this slightly revised sentence correctly expresses it: â€Å"Every nine years, it was decreed, the fragment must be conveyed to another place of sanctuary.† 2. â€Å"By the end of the century, estimates are that one in three people will be living in poverty.† This sentence is not as far afield from the intended meaning as the original sentence in the previous example, but it does suggest that such estimates will be released by the end of the century, rather than that current estimates predict the stated outcome. This revision states the point more clearly: â€Å"By the end of the century, estimates are, one in three people will be living in poverty.† 3. â€Å"Instead of embracing our civil rights future, the commission’s report says the Bush administration has begun backsliding into the past.† At first glance, this sentence seems to have the same not-quite-right structure of the second example, but it actually introduces a serious miscommunication. The suggestion is that the commission report, not the Bush administration, is failing to embrace our civil rights future, and that the commission is making the statement in place of that responsibility. The mere insertion of a comma sets the sentence right (in this case, an optional that is not included, so no deletion of same is necessary): â€Å"Instead of embracing our civil rights future, the commission’s report says, the Bush administration has begun backsliding into the past.† 4. â€Å"Up to my junior year at the University of Michigan, I am forced to admit that I had always tried to get A’s.† The writer, this sentence suggests, was forced to make an admission until reaching their third year of college, at which time the confession was no longer required (but in that case, am should be replaced by was). But the admission is parenthetical to a different thought, which is that the writer strove for the highest letter grade for only their first two years in higher education: â€Å"Up to my junior year at the University of Michigan, I am forced to admit, I had always tried to get A’s.† 5. â€Å"As far back as his childhood, he told me he had wanted to be a scientist.† As punctuated, this sentence tells the reader that the would-be scientist had shared his ambition with the writer since the other person had been a child. If this is what the writer means, the beginning of the second part of the sentence should include had (â€Å"he had told me†). But if the writer is relating what the other person had shared more recently about his childhood goal, a comma should follow me to set off the attributive phrase â€Å"he told me†: â€Å"As far back as his childhood, he told me, he had wanted to be a scientist.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Does [sic] Mean?225 Foreign Phrases to Inspire YouNominalized Verbs