Reviews for Latin American journalism

The average rating for Latin American journalism based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-07-31 00:00:00 Peter E Randazzo Jr I taught middle school grammar for six years, and my favorite part of the grammar book (didn't you have a favorite part of the middle school grammar book?) was always the glossary of usage. I saved that part of the curriculum for the end of the year, like a desert that you look forward to throughout a long meal. "Class, do you know when to use 'fewer' instead of 'less'? No? Oh, goodie." After the joyful experience I had reading A Short History of Nearly Everything, I wanted to check out more Bryson, and when I saw this title, I knew I was going for it. This book is just what it says it is, a dictionary, and it is arranged as such. So I started with the "a/an" entry and went along all the way through"z" and onto the appendix. It would take a pedant to write such a book, and Bryson does not disappoint. Some people might find his points to be esoteric and his tone to be that of a humorless martinet. I sure did, and I loved just about every minute of it. Here's what I learned. 1. I make many, many mistakes in my writing. Bryson could look at the four short paragraphs above and find multiple errors in usage. Look! I misspelled "dessert!" The comma after "title" in the third paragraph is suspect. I could have used hyphens to introduce the non-essential phrase ("a dictionary") instead of commas. Bryson's disapproving voice reverberates in my mind every time I write a sentence. 2. It's okay to end your sentence with a preposition. If you are the kind of person who will break his back to avoid ending your sentence with one of these offenders (or, like me, even ending with a prepositional phrase), you need to get over yourself. There's nothing wrong with it, and the rule you are following has been deemed unnecessary for over a hundred years. 3. You should read his rule on when to use "shall" versus "will." Authorities have been trying to pin down the vagaries and nuances of "shall" and "will" since the seventeenth century... The gist of what they have to say is that either you understand the distinctions instinctively or you do not; that if you don't, you probably never will; and that if you do, you don't need to be told anyway. 4. The show Good Morning America should be called Good Morning, America. Of course it should.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-03-25 00:00:00 Mike Jacobus I read this book two times in about six months, so I think I'm done with the cover to cover work. I have it marked and highlighted and handy for reference. Along with discussions of spelling and usage, Bryson includes many examples of incorrect usage from well-known publications and authors (including his very august self). The examples let you see what it looks like when it's done wrong, and you may recognize your own errors in those of other people. It's also nice to know that even the professionals make mistakes and get away with it. Best of all, Bryson reminds us that English is a blissfully messy and uncooperative language. He encourages writers to ignore convention and flout the rules if they choose, provided they know what those rules are prior to breaking them. (If you're going to screw up, be sure it's intentional.) Not even the experts can agree all of the time on what is right, so Bill Bryson humbly offers us this book as "a compilation of suggestions, observations, and even treasured prejudices." It's worth having on hand if you're a word geek with a lousy memory like me. I refer to it frequently.