Hanged vs. Hung

It's Grammar Thursday! Today I'll be explaining the difference between "hanged" and "hung." A lot of people know this rule, but a surprising amount don't. Including my history teacher. U.S. history. Generally that involves a lot of people being hanged. Um . . . Salem Witch Trials?

So, the rule is:

Hanged is the killing one.
Example: "Martha, did you hear? Mark was hanged yesterday for murdering his baby koala!"

Hung is used for everything else.
Example: Yesterday after work, Isabelle dejectedly hung her jacket on the hook. She had been fired.

Image from: taaroko.deviantart.com

Vacation Time!

Going to New Jersey to visit relatives! I might not be able to post anything for a few days, sorry!

Lynx kitten:

Image from: www.zooborns.com

And again:

Image from: www.treehugger.com

The Literary Double-Edged Sword

I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (yes, I know, everyone has already read it) and I've been thinking about some literary double-edged swords.

In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel has cancer. She is dying. Dying. DYING. As in, going to die, about to kick the bucket, preparing to retire from being a human. Now, as an author, you have two choices: Hazel lives, or Hazel dies.

Personally, when a character who should die ends up living, it seems too happily-ever-after. The girl who was on her deathbed at the beginning of the book is miraculously cured by the end, even though in real life it would never happen that way. I feel like when authors do this they are taking the easy way out and not taking any chances by having someone die in their book.

But if the character who should die does die, there is still a problem. If the person dies, I just think, "Oh well, of course she was going to die. That's so obvious. I can't believe the author just let the character die like that. Maybe they could have been more creative and had some sort of plot twist to save the character."

See the double-edged sword?

Here are some examples of a plot twist:

1. Character lives, best friend dies.

2. Character lives, parents die in fatal car crash.

3. Character lives, but is confined to a wheelchair, loses a sense, gets brain damage, etc.

4. Character dies, comes back as a ghost, and haunts her family and friends.

5. Character dies, cavorts around this afterlife being a ghost . . . la la la . . .

Feel free to share some of your favorite plot twists! Leave them in the comments below.

Croak by Gina Damico

I know that in most book reviews the book is given a rating between 1 and 5, but I'm not going to do that because it seems like a very black-and-white way to describe writing that is not in the least black-and-white.

I just finished reading this book a few days ago. Here's a link to the summary: http://www.amazon.com/Croak-Gina-Damico/dp/0547608322/ref=la_B005HJ023Y_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405099475&sr=1-1

From the summary, I assumed this book would be pretty predictable: Juvenile delinquent girl (Lex) stays with uncle for the summer; uncle is a grim reaper; uncle tells Lex that she's a grim reaper; she has adventures being a grim reaper; her family doesn't want her to live in the grim reaper town; she has to convince them; Lex ends up living happily ever after in GrimReapersVille.

I was so so wrong.

This book was really about the juvenile delinquent girl who uses her powers of destruction (in a figurative sense) for good instead of evil when she finds out she's a grim reaper. Lex learns quickly and finds new friends and a new sense of place in Croak, the grim reaper town. Of course, when she enters the town, many conflicts occur. There is a series of unknown deaths that even the Grims can't explain. One thing leads to another and the thing she loves most is hurt in an attempt to stop the killer.

It's not all sad, though. When Lex isn't reaping souls, she's out having fun with her new friends and watching dead presidents fight in the afterlife. (Grims can visit the afterlife whenever they want, as a perk of the job.)

This book was fun to read, but the fun didn't take away from the plot. I almost cried at the end. I really enjoyed reading this, and I'm pretty sure there's a second and third book in this series. If there's not, I might just die.

Grammar Thursday: Nauseous vs. Nauseated

Hi there! I've decided that Thursday sounds the most grammar-like of all the days of the week and therefore deserves to be the day for my short grammar lessons. This Thursday I'm going over one of the simplest (but most easily confused) things: nauseous vs. nauseated.

Nauseous means "causing nausea."
Nauseated means "affected with nausea."

So when you say, "I'm nauseous," you are really saying, "I make other people nauseated," or "I make other people sick."

If you're feeling sick, say "I'm nauseated."

Image from: mightymarkup.com

If you have any questions, put them in the comments. I'd also love to hear if you have suggestions for books I should review, or other grammar concepts you have questions about.

Hi!

Hi everyone! I'm Sydney. I love to read and write, so I wanted to have a blog dedicated to book reviews and helpful grammar tips that all writers should know. I happen to also love chocolate and all things sugary and baked and delicious. I'm going to post any recipes I try, and the results of my experiments in the kitchen. I'm not a great baker, so this will be interesting. See you soon.