American Culture Workshop 18/9

Today we worked on our English-language travel guide, which is now up (culturetins.blogspot.com) and will be added to in the weeks to come. We have groups writing on different aspects of Tocantins culture, such as food, arts and crafts, indigenous peoples, natural wonders, and cities.

First, we reviewed some cardinal rules for writing so that students can write the best blog entries possible. Here they are:

**Rules for Writing**
1. Every paragraph should have an introduction and conclusion sentence

• Words for beginning a sentence: First, to Start
• Words for adding information: For example, For instance, Similarly, Likewise, Also, In the same way, On the other hand, In contrast, Consequently, However, Although, Despite  
• Words to conclude a sentence: Fianlly, In conclusion, To sum up, In summary

2. NEW idea = NEW sentence (commas are only for adding information to a sentence)
3. Subject-verb agreement, Parallelism (plural, maintain verb tense)
4. NEVER use "I" in academic writing
5. NEVER use the passive voice (I made a mistake vs. Mistakes were made)

Next week we will learn about American music. See you there!