Tutor profile: Kassidy M.

When writing, what is parallel structure and why is it necessary? What is subject-verb agreement and why is it important?

Parallel structure is when a writer keeps a list of items in a sentence within the same category. For example, if I start out using two verbs in my list, my third word needs to be a verb as well. Example: "My mom likes reading, swimming, and to eat." INCORRECT. "My mom likes reading, swimming, and eating." The idea is to keep infinitives, gerunds, adverbs, and the like, grouped together. Subject-verb agreement is the idea of keeping your subject and verb balanced. If I were to say, "The teachers awards the students," my subject and verb would be in disagreement. Teachers award, a teacher awards. These two writing techniques are necessary because they help to clarify meaning and smooth out the flow of the essay/writing.

What is point of view (POV)? How can a story differ if the point of view is changed throughout? What is gained through shifting the point of view?

The point of view is the perspective from which the story is told. It can be told from 1st-person POV, which is where a character in the story is telling the story and using "I." This can be the main character/protagonist, who is all-knowing, or it can be a secondary character who may not have all information about certain events/situations. This is referred to as omniscient (all-knowing) and limited. A story can also be told from 2nd-person POV, which uses "you." However, this mainly used in instructional writing. Last;y, a story can be told from 3rd-person POV, which is when the narrator uses "he/she/it." This can also be written in limited, omniscience, and multiple. Multiple is where the narrator is shifted throughout the story. If a narrator switches in a story, the reader can gain different ideas and perspectives on events, people, and situations, which can change the way a reader thinks. When the POV shifts, the reader can obtain a well-rounded view of a story and be able to create a balanced analysis of the story.

What is a poem with 14 lines referred to as? How is that specific type of poetry made up/ what is the structure?

A poem that is composed of 14 lines is referred to as a sonnet. A sonnet is structured with 3 stanzas and a couplet. A stanza is four lines, with the rhyming pattern of ABAB. A couplet is two lines that rhyme. William Shakespeare used sonnets often, with one of his most famous being Sonnet 116. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments. Love is not love/ Which alters when it alteration finds,/ Or bends with the remover to remove./ Oh no, love is an ever-fixed mark,/ That looks on tempests and is never shaken;/ It is the star to every wandering bark,/ Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken./ Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/ Within his bending sickle's compass come;/ Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,,/ But bears it out even to the edge of doom./ If this be error and upon me proved,/ I never writ, nor no man ever loved."