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"But, I consistently see horrific misspellings, run-on sentences, lack of paragraph structuring, incoherent themes, etc.. What makes me cringe the most is when somebody presents themself as being educated and their post looks like it was written by a third grader."
I find it ironic to preach against the use of improper grammar, when you didn't use it properly. I don't know about you, but I learned that conjunctions cannot start sentences. Starting a sentence with a conjunction is wrong, because using a conjunction makes the clause dependent. Sentences must be an independent clause or have a independent clause in them.You may say, "Well, there are many authors that start sentences for emphasis." It's still wrong.They should stop doing that, because before we realize it the rule will be forgotten. What I think that using a conjunction in an improper place emphasises is the indifference to proper grammar. I apologize for any spelling or grammatical mistakes I made.Though it's not an excuse I do have dyslexia.
"But, I consistently see horrific misspellings, run-on sentences, lack of paragraph structuring, incoherent themes, etc.. What makes me cringe the most is when somebody presents themself as being educated and their post looks like it was written by a third grader."
I find it ironic to preach against the use of improper grammar, when you didn't use it properly. I don't know about you, but I learned that conjunctions cannot start sentences. Starting a sentence with a conjunction is wrong, because using a conjunction makes the clause dependent. Sentences must be an independent clause or have a independent clause in them.You may say, "Well, there are many authors that start sentences for emphasis." It's still wrong.They should stop doing that, because before we realize it the rule will be forgotten. What I think that using a conjunction in an improper place emphasises is the indifference to proper grammar. I apologize for any spelling or grammatical mistakes I made.Though it's not an excuse I do have dyslexia.
I would have used "however." => However, it's not an excuse. I do have dyslexia.
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They should stop doing that, because before we realize it the rule will be forgotten..
Good Lord, what could be worse than a rule that gets forgotten and simply passes into oblivion, disappearing through attrition. The rules of grammar were all simply made up by people who were self-declared grammarians. Of course, there had to be rules, to bring order from chaos, but that by itself is no argument that every rule is sacrosanct and language should never evolve.
There are all kinds of things that, according to the rules, can be done in English provided an element is understood, such as the rule that the imperative requires no object. Grammarians could simply state that if the antecedent is understood, the speaker can proceed with the And or the But as though it had been expressed. How hard can that be?
Before I comment, I just want to say that I am currently a high school senior and I'm in the best position to judge the quality of education that students are now provided.
First off, I don't think there is a general decline in the quality of writing among our current generation. The internet and the evolution of mass media have simply exposed writer's mistakes that have been occurring for generations upon generations. Furthermore, I was taught the basic rules of grammar during my years in elementary school. A student only goes as far as the effort he or she puts in to applying the material that he or she learns. Personally, I felt (and still feel) the more I read, the better writer I became. The problem is that many individuals find the act of reading to be an unbearable and boring experience. Once again, I don't believe this is just an ailment of our current generation.
Finally, judging from my high school, there is a marginal educational gap between the top kids in the class and those ranked in the middle to bottom range. The top students are provided with top-notch teachers who succeed in getting us to perform exceptionally well on the AP exams in US History, Language and Composition, and Literature and Composition. Despite this, the bottom of my high school class produces papers that are middle school level at best. I don't know why such a divide exists in my school, but it's very interesting to see such a drastic difference within one building (and for clarification, I go to a public high school which is not ranked anywhere near the top of any schools in NJ). Just as some adults have developed an uncanny mastery of the English language, some students are able to formulate excellent essays in a short period of time, while other students struggle to write a cohesive and organized paper.
I find it laughable (I'm sometimes cruel) when a person posts in one of the state forums, wanting information on which city to move to. Sometimes their grammar is so bad that they get no answer at all. Stay where you are! We don't want you here!
The one thing that really irks me is people on the media not pronouncing "t's", as in 'innerstate' and 'innernet'. Part of spelling well is the habit of pronouncing words properly.
I knew a kid whose mom had been an English teacher. She taught him to pronounce - silently - a word phonetically to remember the correct spelling, such as 'serge.ant'. I always thought that was an interesting thing to do.
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