middlemarch

Lesson #287: Adjectives, Adverbs, And Intensifier Adverbs in Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’

📗 But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, […]

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Lesson #230 (Part 2): ‘To say’ vs ‘to tell’: What you need to report Direct and Indirect speeches accurately

This Lesson post builds on what was covered in Part 1, so if you missed it why not quickly review our basic outline of ✏️ 1) what direct and indirect speeches are, ✏️ 2) the main differences between them, and ✏️ 3) how to correctly use the verbs ‘to say’ and ‘to tell’ in those

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Lesson #230 (Part 1): ‘To say’ vs ‘to tell’: What you need to report Direct and Indirect speeches accurately

For the last couple of years, I have been reading George Eliot’s Middlemarch throughout May and June. It has 8 books (or sections) and so I read one book per week, finishing one of the longest books in just 8 weeks! 📆 It is a marvellous work, and has in fact been described as ‘one

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Lesson #141 (Part 2): American Vs British Punctuation: How To Use British English Quotation Marks

📘 ‘Why do you say “poor Rosamond”?’ said Mrs Plymdale, a round-eyed sharp little woman, like a tame falcon. – George Eliot, Middlemarch (1871) As observed in our last lesson post (Part 1 of this lesson, ‘American vs British Quotation Mark Punctuation’), there are 4 main rules on how to punctuate quotations in English. Today we will

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Lesson #126: Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 2): Using Influential Adjectives in Written Texts

Having read through George Eliot’s Middlemarch passage in the last post, I will share some insights into how she (George Eliot was Mary Ann Evans’ pseudonym) used ADJECTIVES to achieve her purpose. A little bit of background: This passage describes Dorothea Brooke, a young woman who is newly married to a middle-aged scholar. In this passage, she has

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Lesson #126: Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 1): Using Influential Adjectives in Written Texts

Mini-Lesson Monday (Part 1): While admiring these white cyclamens in the pale autumn sunshine, I was reminded of the power of ADJECTIVES in description. Especially when they are suitably chosen! Adjectives are so important for several reasons.  # 1 They are valuable in DISTINCTLY DESCRIBING a person, object or event’s ASPECTS. # 2 They can

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Lesson #122: Different Usages of the Subjunctive in George Eliot’s ‘Middlemarch’

Perhaps the English grammar tense that learners (and even native speakers) struggle most with is the SUBJUNCTIVE. ✍️ It has various forms that can be used in different situations, as long as those expressions refer to either a demand, a wish, a suggestion or a hypothetical situation (a situation that could happen but hasn’t yet happened). ✍️

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