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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2008Who can help me polish may language?
I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. William Somerset Maugham (1874--1965), born in Paris, is one of the most popular writers in British literature. He has created about 20 novels, more than 100 short stories, 32 plays as well as lots of memoirs, travel essays, comments etc., all his life. Maugham has shown his versatility in all the literary fields except poem. what's more, a number of his novels have been adapted to movies. The income from these successful movie adaptations and his writings allow Maugham to live a very comfortable life. Maugham's creation period spans as long as 65 years and his works are very popular around the world. However, despite his popularity among ordinary readers all over the world, he has not received the due recognition from the literary critics or his peers for many of them hold that he is just a writer in"the very first row of the second raters". (maugham The Summing Up, 1938)Maugham's main works include Of Human Bondage, which is considered as his representative work, The Moon and Sixpence, The Razor's Edege, Cakes and Ale and so on. It can be said safely that Maugham's works have the strongest exotic flavor among British writers. Due to his hobby, Maugham all his life has visited lots of countries and regions such as Russia, South America, the South Pacific islands and so on. Maugham is also very interested in the Oriental culture especially Chinese culture and he visited China in 1999 with his life-long companion Gerald Haxton. Based on his travel around China, he has created the travel essays collection On a Chinese Sreen, the novel The Painted Veil , the short story The Letter which is latter adapted to the play The Letter, and the play East of Suez. Other works related to China or Chinese people include Of Human Bondage, short stories Ah King, The Narrow Corner, A Casual Affair, The Door of Opportunity and so on. By adopting Imagology of comparative literature, this thesis will research the images of China in Maugham works. Meanwhile, Said's Orientalism theory is also adopted as an auxiliary theory in this thesis. Since the images of China are mainly depicted and reflected in On a Chinese Sreen, this thesis will focus on this work. >I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's >thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. You should check for spelling, capitalization and punctuation errors, and that you haven't made up any of the words. This submission has so many careless errors that it isn't ready to be "polished".  SignatureJohn >> I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's >> thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. > > You should check for spelling, capitalization and punctuation errors, > and that you haven't made up any of the words. This submission has so > many careless errors that it isn't ready to be "polished". And there may be factual and critical errors to deal with, too: I don't think Maugham can any longer be described as "one of the most popular writers", at least in his own country. He may still be very popular overseas, though. It would be best to discuss this with your supervisor before committing yourself too deeply to particular points of view. SignatureMike. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com On Jan 9, 9:13 pm, "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote: > >> I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's > >> thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com Thank you so much Mike. > >> I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my > master's >> thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > supervisor before committing yourself too deeply to particular points > of view. 'Popular' is a very common mischoice word among Chinese speakers for 'widespread' or 'well-known'. I regularly read scripts that say things like 'HIV/AIDS is becoming increasingly popular in sub-saharan Africa'. DC -- > On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 20:51:51 -0800 (PST), dreaminggirl > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > -- > John I appriciate your proofreading > I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's > thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. > > William Somerset Maugham (1874--1965), born in Paris, is one of the 1. The usual form of the name is W. Somerset Maugham. W=William should appear somewhere, but not in an abstract like this; so also should the point that he was born in Paris. 2. Maugham seems little read in Britain nowadays. So you should write either that he was popular, not that he is popular, or else specify that his readers are now largely outside Britain. (Sales of newly printed works are a better indicator of popularity.) > most popular writers in British literature. He has created about 20 3. When a person has already died, we usually write about him in the simple past tense e.g. "he created," not "he has created." 4. We expect a dissertation to give the exact number, e.g. 28 novels. If you do not know, write "about 30," but you are expected to know the exact number. > novels, more than 100 short stories, 32 plays as well as lots of 5. "Lots of" is disallowed in scholarly writing. > memoirs, travel essays, comments etc., all his life. Maugham has shown Item 3. > his versatility in all the literary fields except poem. what's more, a 6a. "What is more" is disallowed in scholarly writing. If you desire to make this rhetorical point you must rephrase to do so within the conventions. 6b. Colloquial contractions (what's for what is) are disallowed in scholarly writing. > number of his novels have been adapted to movies. The income from > these successful movie adaptations and his writings allow Maugham to > live a very comfortable life. Maugham's creation period spans as long 7. Wrong tense. We do not say a dead man lives a comfortable life. 8. Facts: Maugham made more money from literature than any contemporary. (Biographies may tell you how much, cf. his will at death.) Where these facts are known, we expect scholarly writing to provide these facts. > as 65 years and his works are very popular around the world. However, > despite his popularity among ordinary readers all over the world, he > has not received the due recognition from the literary critics or his > peers for many of them hold that he is just a writer in"the very first > row of the second raters". (maugham The Summing Up, 1938)Maugham's 9. Wrong tense. When we cite the critics of the 1930s, as documented by Maugham 70 years ago, we should use the past tense. The practical point is that all these critics are now dead but Maugham's readers today are alive today. > main works include Of Human Bondage, which is considered as his > representative work, The Moon and Sixpence, The Razor's Edege, Cakes > and Ale and so on. It can be said safely that Maugham's works have the > strongest exotic flavor among British writers. Due to his hobby, > Maugham all his life has visited lots of countries and regions such as Item 5. NB also repetition (this error twice in the same paragraph.) > Russia, South America, the South Pacific islands and so on. Maugham is > also very interested in the Oriental culture especially Chinese > culture and he visited China in 1999 with his life-long companion > Gerald Haxton. Based on his travel around China, he has created the 10. "Travel round China" is wrong so far as it can be mistaken for the colloquial "round" rather than the literary "following a circuitous route." > travel essays collection On a Chinese Sreen, the novel The Painted > Veil , the short story The Letter which is latter adapted to the play [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > thesis. Since the images of China are mainly depicted and reflected in > On a Chinese Sreen, this thesis will focus on this work. 11. "Imagology" is not a standard English word. If you must use it you should also explain why. This should not be done in an abstract. 12. You seem to miss the main point (as documented by Maugham himself) that he deliberately traveled many thousands of miles to and from SE Asia in order to collect stories to write: as often stories about life in England (from other English travelers) as about life in Asia. The books may thus provide evidence for the hypothesis that he was more interested in China or Chinese people than in other places or people, but you have not suggested this is your thesis.) Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs, Canada > > I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's > > thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. [quoted text clipped - 100 lines] > ey925.vcf > 1KDownload Thank you so much for correcting my thesis. Though I have studied English for 13 years, my English level is not very high. It is too difficult to study English. >> 5. "Lots of" is disallowed in scholarly writing. Among the items delivered to the Smithsonian were lots of Celtic artifacts. Other lots were from various Norwegian sites. > Thank you so much for correcting my thesis. Though I have studied > English for 13 years, my English level is not very high. It is too > difficult to study English. It is not *too* difficult -- it is *very* difficult. SignatureSkitt (AmE) No NESsie, but oh, so close ... > > > Thank you so much for correcting my thesis. Though I have studied > > English for 13 years, my English level is not very high. It is too > > difficult to study English. > > It is not *too* difficult -- it is *very* difficult. Au contraire, mon brave, it is of exactly the appropriate level of difficulty. SignatureDavid ===== > skitt99@comcast.net had it: >>> Thank you so much for correcting my thesis. Though I have studied >>> English for 13 years, my English level is not very high. It is too [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Au contraire, mon brave, it is of exactly the appropriate level of > difficulty. That's what I was saying -- not *too* difficult. SignatureSkitt (AmE) > > skitt99@comcast.net had it: > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > That's what I was saying -- not *too* difficult. Of course. I wasn't reading what I was reading. Stupid David. SignatureDavid ===== > > Thank you so much for correcting my thesis. Though I have studied > > English for 13 years, my English level is not very high. It is too > > difficult to study English. > > It is not too difficult -- it is very difficult. Another old friend. -- [...] > Maugham has shown his versatility in all the literary fields > except poem. A "poem" is not a literary field. Use "poetry" instead. Comments? ~~~ Reinhold (Rey) Aman ~~~ Dites-moi: Pourquoi la vie est merde? > [...] > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > ~~~ Reinhold (Rey) Aman ~~~ > Dites-moi: Pourquoi la vie est merde? thank you so much. > I am a Chinese graduate student. The following is part of my master's > thesis. Who can help me polish my language. Thank you very much. [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > thesis. Since the images of China are mainly depicted and reflected in > On a Chinese Sreen, this thesis will focus on this work. How did Maugham visit China in 1999 if he died in 1965? John Kane filted: >> Maugham is >> also very interested in the Oriental culture especially Chinese >> culture and he visited China in 1999 with his life-long companion >> Gerald Haxton. > >How did Maugham visit China in 1999 if he died in 1965? He had help....r SignatureWhat good is being an executive if you never get to execute anyone? > John Kane filted: > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > -- > What good is being an executive if you never get to execute anyone? thank you so much |
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