“Revising” In Joseph Harris’s article, “Revising”, Harris emphasizes the differences between drafting, revising, and editing, and the impact that each of these elements has on drafting a well-written paper. Harris dubbs the first step “drafting”, or formulating the content of the paper. Drafting involves the development of ideas into a larger body of text that can be easily followed. The next step in this process is “revising”, or further developing and adjusting the current body of text. Harris reaffirms that revising is not simply editing for spelling in grammar, but rather revising focuses on building upon the text that is already developed.…
In the article “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why”, two people have different perspectives on the issue. Lynne Truss- author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, has a “zero tolerance approach”. She believes if you cannot use your words or commas the right way you shouldn’t be hired.…
After reading the article by Kyle Wiens, I actually felt quite troubled, unproportionally so for its harmless subject matter. Based on the article, Wiens almost seems to have a haughty air about him, in my opinion. I cannot exactly pinpoint at which particluar section of the article leads me to have this impression, but I believe just the general idea of the article that is not hiring qualified people based on their grammar skills), and the fact that Wiens is a self-proclaimed "grammar stickler" is what I find irksome. While I know that good grammar is extremely important, I also know that grammar, in any language, is arbitrary. So when I read about people placing quite a lot of value into grammar, I frankly find it annoying and find said people to be overly condescending.…
“Tuning, Tying, and Training Texts” by Barbara Tomlinson emphasizes on metaphors being a key idea in revising and composing writing. “Patterns of figurative expressions are an important part of our socially shared knowledge of composing and that, as such, they influence our conceptions of composing—and may we influence our composing behavior” (Tomlinson, 58). Basically saying, that metaphors are commonly used to explain feelings and ideas towards the pathway for revising. Just like Lakoff and Johnson say, “we have found that most of our ordinary conceptual system is metaphorical in nature”…
Good writers are aware of the diverse grammar rules used…
If anything, some of the most creative and interesting writers broke the rules, establishing new ways of seeing their worlds. Writers should first be clear, the goal being understandable, not flashy or verbose. The real rules of grammar further this goal. The social rules of grammar exist only to demonstrate one’s social class or level of education. If Huck Finn had followed the social rules of grammar, the story would lose its heart.…
Conflating the desire to help other people communicate clearly by advising them on how to improve their clarity by using correct English with the hideous, world-changing crimes of Hitler and his ilk has got to be the worst – and sadly, most common – application of Godwin’s law on the internet. Offer one grammar suggestion in the course of an internet conversation and suddenly highly intelligent people, who were just moments before bemoaning the dumbing down of society, are ready to compare you to the perpetrators of some of the most heinous war crimes in recent history. Needless to say (but I’m going to say it anyway), equating the desire to see good grammar with genocidal mania is a bit of a false equivalency. In fact, as an English teacher, I would venture so far as to…
The problem with this is that “… some teachers worry, they may lose ability to do so in writing” (souce). Although these complains are logical, there teachers failed to research different variables. The automatically assumed that the students were struggling with grammar because of texting. It could be that they do not have a full understanding of where commas should be placed. In a more broad range, the teachers made the assumption that all the students use text messaging.…
In Shellenbarger’s article, she mentions how some businesses are concerned with how the younger generations of employee’s use their language skills. She writes, “Managers are fighting an epidemic of grammar gaffes in the workplace. Many of them attribute slipping skills to the informality of email, texting and Twitter where slang and shortcuts are common,” so some companies offer classes to improve writing skills needed for the work force. Notice, the concern of a negative impact that Shellenbarger talks about. She uses words like “fighting,” and “epidemic,” to send readers a negative message.…
In addition, Kyle Wiens also has zero tolerance for grammar errors as he states “Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing — like stocking shelves or labeling parts” (103). This proves that people who know proper grammar will make fewer mistakes while doing ordinary tasks than people who are not proficient in grammar. Delivering a grammatically accurate correct message can save time that is wasted on translation or explaining, which leads to higher efficiency. Therefore, knowing proper grammar…
The author also presents a possible argument to his point of view that will be addressed later in the article: “Isn’t grammar really a thing of the past, and isn’t the new idea to communicate in any way as long as you can make yourself understood” (Simon 334)? This is an idea that some members of his intended audience might agree with, which encourages them to read on to find out what makes that idea so wrong. The goal of Simon’s use of the rhetorical question is to really open the mind of the reader in order to more effectively promote his ideas later in the article. This way, the reader is slightly groomed before being exposed to evidence that supports John Simon’s…
Grammarians should only “aim to describe rather then prescribe linguistic forms and their uses. ” We use language to express ourselves and that is a good thing, but language can also create separations between people by creating prejudices. On a different note, the fourth section of website is a lot more positive. Just the title makes me think of language having a brighter…
Im referring to all the technology that now exists to help us correct our mistakes. This is the good part about technology because it's a faster and easier way to improve grammar. Its very important to graduate with good grammar because you will need it sooner or…
Different styles of writing can be created but you cannot change the grammar. In his essay “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words”, Paul Roberts shows us we can correctly use the English language in our writings. He believes “the principles of good writing should remain constant”. (Roberts). In most colleges, most students do not possess the level of writing and reading skill that is necessary to be successful in their courses.…
Error correction is a well-established aspect of second language learning that many, if not all, learners experience. It has, for many years, been believed to benefit the learners; some methodologies for second language acquisition and learning are built on error correction (behaviourism, for instance, as it follows that language learning is simply forming habits; bad habits – ie. errors – must not be permitted). However, in recent years the benefits of error correction have come under severe scrutiny, and a fierce debate rages regarding whether or not correcting learner errors truly help, or if they hinder. This essay will attempt to deal with the conflicting evidence.…