Dr. Wordweilder Wonders

Dr. Wordwielder here with our weekly word and grammar exercises, an evening late, of course, because last evening I was tied up with grading papers at the university. I do hope you will forgive me and that everyone has been studying their dictionaries and thesauruses in my absence.

It has come to my attention that very few are actually answering the examination questions on this web log and so, I would like to ask a few simple questions to determine if I am gearing my tests to the general audience age and ability levels or whether I shall need to adjust the questions accordingly. What is it that Ms. JoJo Tabares says on her show? Oh, yes! "Know your audience." I affirm the veracity of that principle.

So, today before I post our usual questions, let me post the following questions. Perhaps this will provoke some new or returning readers to take a chance on answering for the first time.

You may feel free to either answer via the comment box at the end of this post or email Ms. BeckyJoie at rjeremiah2911@embarqmail.com . Mark the subject line "Dr. William Wordwielder's Survey," please. Another way you can contact me is to write to: RATHER BE WRITING, P.O. Box 1183, Tavares, FL 32778-1183. Address the letter inside to Dr. William Wordwielder c/o BeckyJoie. Thank you.

Answer the following questions either in a comment or a three by five card.

1. What age category are you in?

a. elementary school b. secondary school (6-12th grades) c. college and career age

d. retired e. parent or educator


2. Which part of my weekly posts do you enjoy the most?

a. the story b. the examination questions c. just reading both d. reading both and answering

3. What types of writing do you wish to hear more instruction about?

a. magazine or non-fiction b. poetry c. fiction d. other genre (name it)

4. In what state or country are you located?

a. U.S. if so, tell the specific state b. Canada c. Another country.

5. What do you find the most challenging about writing and language?

6. What do you find the most interesting about writing and language?

Since I have asked you so many extra questions, I shall only ask two of our usual exam questions in the event that I might have some participants who wish to answer both sets of questions.

Here they are:

1.Hectic or Helpful Homonyms. Select the correct homonym. They are hectic when used improperly and helpful when fitly used.
THIS WEEK'S HOMONYM: The library aide climbed the ___________ a. ladder or b. latter (choose one) to retrieve Webster's Collegiate Dictionary from the top shelf in the resource room.

2. Ideal or Idiotic Idioms. One feels like an idiot unless he or she uses these idioms correctly.
THIS WEEK'S IDIOM QUESTION: Because Wilbur wanted to be popular, he competed to prove he could do as well as anybody else in everything he did. Unfortunately, his_____________________ a. one track mind or b. one-upmanship (choose one) backfired on him and he lost all of his friends.

Answer the second set of questions in the comment box at the end of this post AND please answer the first set of questions via comment, email or regular mail. I shall return later to tell you who answered the most correctly. Don't forget, there is a prize in a few weeks for the reader who answers the most questions and for those who participate. Thank you.