Don’t forget to complete your Mid-Semester Reflection!  You can access the form HERE.

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I have to say, Ice cream never fails to be by my side when I need it the most. From heartbreaks, to accomplishments and overload of homework, Ice cream has always been there to comfort me. Something about the overload of sugar gives me an adrenaline rush, it brings me back to life and lifts my mood. There have been far too many times where icecream has been the only push to keep me going and for that, I owe it my life. 

Ice cream has been a reward for me my whole life. In elementary school, whenever it was a parent teacher conference and my parents were happy and satisfied with my grades, I would be treated with three scoops on Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream. I was never able to finish it but just looking at the worker scoop up three huge scoops onto my cup made my mouth water and I couldn’t wait to devour the ice cream. Whenever it was my birthday, I would always get an ice cream cake that day and I couldn’t wait to hide the left overs in my fridge so I could be able to eat it the next day for breakfast, an act my mother only allowed me once a year to do, which was on my birthday week. Whenever I was sad over something or just genuinely had a bad day, my mom would be so understanding and bring me ice cream to lift up my mood and make me feel better. To me, eating ice cream is more of a comfort to brighten up my best and worst days. 

I have always been on top of my classes in school and school has always been pretty easy for me. The first time I ever had difficulty was in the first semester of my freshman year in college. I was genuinely struggling with learning online and adapting to the changes that come with transitioning from high school to college. I was especially struggling in math. 

Every time I had to take a test for my pre-calculus class, I would study every single day prior to the test. What motivated me to continue doing this was that I always treated myself with some ice cream at the end of the day. I wasn’t the healthiest choice but it kept me going. Knowing that at night I was able to treat myself to a soft, creamy, cold vanilla ice cream made me want to keep studying. 

I could never understand those who say they don’t like ice cream. How could they not?! They say it’s too cold, but don’t realize  how much ice cream can warm up someone’s life. What is so amazing about ice cream is the fact that it is not seasonal, and comes in all different types of flavors.  It is never a bad day to have some ice cream. Ice cream may be a bit unhealthy and high in calories but the amount of happiness it brings makes it all worth it.

As an accompaniment to the sentences I distributed to you on Monday, I wanted to offer you some brief explanations of some of the important categories of error you may discover through this exercise and in your own writing and that of your peers.  This is meant to be a very quick review; more more detailed explanations as well as the opportunity to practice working on these concepts, I recommend the Purdue OWL, Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab.

I.  Sentence Fragment:  A sentence fragment, as the name suggests, is a sentence that is grammatically incomplete.  In order to be grammatically complete, a sentence needs three things:  a subject, a verb, and to express a complete thought.  A sentence fragment is missing one of these three things.

Subject in grammar refers to the person or thing doing the action.  For example, in the sentence  “The chef cooked the meal,”  the grammatical subject is “chef.”  In the sentence, “Her mood seemed tense,” the grammatical subject is  “mood.”

Verb in grammar refers to the word or group of words in a sentence that expresses an action or a state of being.  The word predicate is sometimes used as a synonym for verb. In the sentences I used above (“The chef cooked the meal.” and “Her mood seemed tense.”), the verbs are cooked and seemed.

Express a  Complete Thought: Sometimes we may encounter a group of words that contains both a subject and a verb, yet fails to express a complete thought.  For example, if the sentence were “After the chef cooked the meal,” that would be a sentence fragment.  There is a subject and a verb, but it doesn’t express a complete thought.  The same would be true if our sentence were “Because her mood seemed tense;”  we have a subject and a verb, but not a complete thought.

How to fix a sentence fragment? Sometimes in order to fix a sentence fragment, all you need to do it to attach the fragment to the sentence it properly belongs to – which could be the one that comes right before or after it.  Another way to fix a fragment is to provide whichever of the three elements I mentioned above  (subject, verb, complete thought) is missing

II. Comma Splice: The  verb “splice” means to join or connect.  A comma splice is a type of error in which the author has connected two independent clauses with a comma rather than using more appropriate punctuation.  You know you have a comma splice if you read the words that come before the comma and see that they could stand on their own as a complete sentence and then look at the words that come after the comma and see that they could stand independently too.  For example if I wrote, “Many students have questions, the instructions were not clear,” that would be a comma splice.  I can tell that that’s the case because I could have a sentence that read, “Many students have questions,” and I could also have a sentence that said, “The instructions were not clear.”

How to fix a comma splice? Fixing a comma splice is pretty straightforward.  You have three options.  You can simply replace the comma with a period. Or you can replace the comma with a semi-colon:  Many students have questions; the instructions were not clear. We use a semi-colon to join two sentences that are closely related in meaning.  It is a slightly softer break than a period.  A third option to fix a comma splice would be to add a word or group of words to create a complex sentence.  This could look something like: Many students have questions because the instructions were not clear.

I hope this short post helps to clarify these two types of sentence error.  Please post any questions in the comments.  You can also use the comments to let me know what other grammatical or mechanical issues you would like us to cover in ENG 2150!

I recommend eating…

I definitely recommend eating seafood boil. Eating this could honestly change your life and I say this in the most positive way ever. Not only does the juicy, cajun sauce taste of it make your taste buds jump in excitement, but it is also fun to eat. Cracking the crab shells and pulling out that nice smooth crab meat is my personal favorite part and then dipping it in the savory sauce, your stomach will definitely thank you later. This mixture consisting of crab legs, lobster, shrimps, small potatoes, corn, and the buttery cajun sauce all good great together, and it can be a mixture of sweet and spicy at the same time. But the overall unity of all these foods creates the most mouth-watery meal you could ever come across. 

Seafood boil does not have an exact date from how it originated, but the arrival of the Cajun people from Maritime regions of Canada in the 1700s did bring along the culinary tradition of the seafood boil. What makes seafood boils so unique is the different ways they are prepared and the many different dishes that are put together. This includes the seafood being steamed, baked, eaten raw, or boiled. These dishes are the perfect party meals and are also served at reunions large groups of friends, family gathers, or even at restaurants. It is fun to eat because of the cracking of shells, which at times could be frustrating, but there are different tools to help open the shells and eat this. 

I was not always a big fan of seafood when I was younger, and as I got older, I had ended up realizing what I was missing out on. Shrimp always disgusted me for some reason, but one day I was curious as to why I hated it so much without even knowing how it tasted. It was like heaven in my mouth and from that one day forward, seafood is my most preferred food. Shrimps especially are my favorite which I tend to want to eat with everything. From shrimp tacos, to just nicely seasoned shrimp with white rice, to seafood, I think I could say that shrimp is my “go-to” food. And when my mom makes her seafood boils, those days feel like the best days ever. Seafood is not cheap and so when we do get to enjoy this at home, I end up taking my time and enjoying every bite and every crack of crab legs. Dipping it in the garlicky, spicy, yet a bit sweet, cajun sauce is my favorite part and sometimes I would get a spoon and eat it just as is, because of how flavorsome it happens to be. The first time I did encounter seafood boil I was at my cousin’s house in Pennsylvania and since I was starting to eat shrimp around that time, I was in a mindset where I wanted to try EVERYTHING I never tried before. When I ended up eating that crab meat and dipping it in that sauce, It was the best thing I had ever encountered. From there on I wanted to eat anything consisting of seafood and my love for this food item grew as I grew up. 

The fact that I would never even look at seafood the way I do now really shocks me because I feel like I let all that time go to waste where I never wanted to discover my real love for seafood. Since I am Catholic, I do not eat meat on Fridays for lent, but now this is really not a problem for me because I am able to enjoy my favorite foods with no problem and not worrying about what I would have to eat besides the meat I could not have. This helped me also open my eyes to how I am not a picky eater and how I enjoy trying new foods anywhere I go.

I recommend eating potatoes. Potatoes are versatile and easy to work with. So much so that you can cook them several ways. For instance, you could make french fries, baked potatoes, fried slices of potatoes, home fries, hash browns, and more. You could even pour any sauce or condiment on top of it or beside it. Additionally, it pairs well with other food such as vegetables, rice, or fish. It adds more to a dish and can make the eating experience much more enjoyable and unique.

Potatoes originated in modern-day Peru but can be found in some parts of The Americas. The round, lumpy vegetable came in various colors such as purple, red, gold, and more. In fact, it comes in 4,000 varieties, meaning you could never get tired of the potatoes the world has to offer! Ever since its discovery, the potato has spread throughout the world and left an impact on dishes.

The potato found me quite seamlessly. My mother had introduced me to the potato at a young age. Taking the first bites of french fries, I had no idea how the potato can transform into several other food forms. As I got older, I noticed how my family cooks and enjoys the potato. French fries were addicting at first bite, mashed potatoes complimented the chicken on my plate, and hash browns were soft and salty. Even simple sliced cooked potatoes were enjoyable to have on your dinner plate.

As mentioned before, french fries were my first introduction to the potatoes. For as long as I can remember, I would always get fries with chicken whenever I went out with my parents for dinner. I loved eating them with ketchup on the side. Once I grew out of that phase, I was introduced to mashed potatoes when celebrating Thanksgiving at school. Confused and reluctant to try the plain-colored lump of potatoes, I was surprised to find that it was not that bad and better with turkey or chicken. I found hash browns when I was at a friend’s house and was once again surprised at how delicious it was. Although home fries are a recent discovery for me, they became an occasional breakfast option when my family had leftover potatoes. Before I knew it, potatoes became an essential vegetable at home. It baffles me to know that as much as I love potatoes, I still haven’t tried all of the varieties the vegetable has to offer. So while I haven’t tried every type, I would still recommend potatoes not just because of how delicious they are but because I am confident that the potato has something to offer for everyone. You can cook, bake, fry, season, or roast potatoes and add them to almost any dish you can think of. If you’re looking to switch up your usual plates, then the potato is for you. So go ahead, buy a bag of potatoes from your local grocery store, and savor the exquisite taste the potato can offer!

I recommend eating a slice of chocolate cake. Feeling down like a plant without water or feeling happy with a grin from ear to ear, a slice of cake awaits you. It turns a frown into a smile or adds more to to my happiness. With each bite, the flavor melts in to my mouth. As it hypnotizes me to the memories that surround it.

An echoing of Happy Birthdays surrounds you. A bright light sparkles on top of you ready to be blown out. Once it is blown out, it is time to eat. I grab the knife and with a seesaw motion, I slice through the layers of chocolate. The fudge slowly falls like lava coming out of a volcano. I take a bite. Mesmerized by the flavors that are combing. My tense shoulders drop down as I let the flavor invade me. Remembering how each birthday, a chocolate cake is at the table decorated with balloons, confetti splattered on the table cloth, and different colored bags next to it. Counting down the days, crossing them out one by one. As my birthday would soon come. The candle numbers change as each year goes by. As I get older, I understand more of what the world has to offer. Learning through different experiences and getting stronger as I go. Discovering my passions and my dislikes. But one thing stays the same, it is you. I take another bite

O Chocolate cake, O Chocolate cake, how much I adore you! Especially when I am feeling sad. While I focus on the dark clouds rather than the rainbow that comes after the storm. Arriving when I need you the most. When it is that time of the month. Where it seems that everyone is trying to get me mad or annoyed. When I open the fridge, I see you, through your clear cover on that white pearly cake stand. I take you out and I take off the cover, and the sweet chocolatey smell immediately impacts my face. I smile, knowing that soon I would be able to enjoy you. The craving for chocolate cake slowly diminishes and the monster within me starts to creep away. Chocolate cake makes everything so much better.

I remember when I tried to recreate a recipe that one time. It was awful. However, now I feel like I got the hang of it. Trying to make a delicious chocolate cake is hard, but the challenge is always fun. I take out a bowl and whisk all the ingredients together. The last step is the cacao powder. Adding too little would give it a light taste, adding too much would make the taste dense. Three-fourths of a cup seems to be right. Then a dash of salt to balance out the sweetness. I put it in the oven and I let it rise. Thirty-five minutes later, I take you out. Once it is cooled, I begin frost and decorate it. I pipe little swirls on the top and then sprinkle colorful sprinkles over it. Finished. All ready to eat!