[Essay] ...apply yourself to...

[rodgers white]

Hi there. Would you please proofread the following text? Any help would be appreciated.

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Every morning when he woke up, Yang, picked up the jade carving and said good morning to Moogh, He did this for many years without fail.

One morning a few weeks later, Weifeng asked Laohu, “Have you thought about what we might name our children?”

Laohu had been told by, Jiang, his stepfather, about such conversations. “When one day, your wife asks”; “Have you ever thought about the names you would like to call your children”? “There’s a 50-50 chance that she’s more than curious”. So, Laohu decided to ask her a question instead of answering hers. “Are you with child”?

Originally, Gan and Jingying had thought that Lanhua would be a healer like Jiang, but now they had to consider jade carving. They decided to ask Lanhua how she felt. Lanhua looked up as though the answer was on the ceiling. “Can I do both? Laohu did both. I like carving jade, but I want to help people too”.

Jingying knew of only one way to answer her request. “Yes, you can do both, but if it becomes too hard for you to apply yourself to both crafts, then you will have to choose which one to give up”.

Lanhua thought a moment about her mother’s words and decided they were wise. “OK”. She said, agreeing.

 

[tedmc]

Hi there. Would you please proofread the following text? Any help would be appreciated.

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Every morning when he woke up, Yang, picked up the jade carving and said good morning to Moogh, He did this for many years without fail.

One morning, a few weeks later, Weifeng asked Laohu, “Have you thought about what we might name our children?”

Laohu had been told by (no comma) Jiang, his stepfather, about such conversations. “When one day, your wife asks”; “Have you ever thought about the names you would like to call your children”? “There’s a 50-50 chance that she’s more than curious”. So, Laohu decided to ask her a question instead of answering hers. “Are you [STRIKE]with child[/STRIKE] pregnant”?

[STRIKE]Originally[/STRIKE] In the past/previously, Gan and Jingying had thought that Lanhua would be a healer like Jiang, but now they had to consider jade-carving. They decided to ask Lanhua how she felt. Lanhua looked up as though the answer was on the ceiling. “Can I do both? Laohu did both. I like carving jade, but I want to help people too”.

Jingying knew of only one way to answer her request. “Yes, you can do both, but if it becomes too hard for you to apply yourself to both crafts, then you will have to choose which one to give up”.

Lanhua thought a moment about her mother’s words and [STRIKE]decided[/STRIKE] thought they were wise. “OK”. She said, agreeing.

.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi there. Would you please proofread the following text? Any help would be appreciated.

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Every morning when he woke up, Yang [no comma] picked up the jade carving and said good morning to Moogh. He did this for many years without fail.

One morning a few weeks later, Weifeng asked Laohu, “Have you thought about what we might name our children?”

A few weeks later than what? A few weeks after what? I don't get it.

Laohu had been told by [no comma] Jiang, his stepfather, about such conversations. “When one day [no comma] your wife asks, 'Have you ever thought about the names you would like to give your children?' there’s a fifty-fifty chance that she’s more than curious”. So, Laohu decided to ask her a question instead of answering hers. “Are you with child?"

Quotes have these around them: "

Quotes inside quotes have these around them: '

Originally, Gan and Jingying had thought that Lanhua would be a healer like Jiang, but now they had to consider jade carving. They decided to ask Lanhua how she felt. Lanhua looked up as though the answer was on the ceiling. “Can I do both? Laohu did both. I like carving jade, but I want to help people, too”.

What does that have to to with pregnancy?

Jingying knew of only one way to answer her request. “Yes, you can do both, but if it becomes too hard for you to apply yourself to both crafts, then you will have to choose which one to give up”.

Lanhua thought a moment about her mother’s words and decided they were wise. “OK”. She said, agreeing.

You have a lot of characters who don't seem to have anything to do with each other.

(Cross-post.)

 

[Tarheel]

A person can be a healer as a career and carve jade as a hobby. There is no conflict.

 

[rodgers white]

Yes, you are right. It is just one part of the whole story.

 

[emsr2d2]

“When, one day, your wife asks no quotation marks here no semi-colon here 'Have you ever thought about [STRIKE]the names[/STRIKE] what you would like to call your children?', no quotation marks here there’s a [STRIKE]50-50[/STRIKE] fifty-fifty chance that she’s more than curious”.

Quoting within quotes is challenging as far as punctuation goes. The main dialogue line (starting with "When" and ending with "curious") should be inside double quotation marks. The other quoted sentence (starting "Have you" and ending "children") should be inside single quotation marks. That's how the reader differentiates between the two quotes.

Edit: For some reason, Charlie Bernstein's response giving the same information wasn't visible when I wrote this post.