Writing has been on my mind lately. Between writing this blog, reading other blogs, and writing papers for school, I have been immersed in the world of writing. I like writing. Obviously I wouldn't have started this blog if I didn't like writing. And obviously I wouldn't have initially majored in journalism as an undergrad if I didn't like writing. But a recent comment from a teacher on a paper got me questioning my writing abilities.
Normally, I can take criticism pretty well. I take most writing "suggestions" made by teachers with a grain of salt, thinking that most comments are fairly subjective. Everyone has their own style of writing, right? Well, this teacher didn't seem to think so. At least judging from her comments. I'll give you a couple as an example:
I wrote:
"To work on fluency, we read from the books..."
She crossed out "work on" and wrote "improve". If you're going to get technical, I guess improve would be a better choice, but is it that much of a difference?
Another one:
"In listening to the student read, her fluency..."
She added "orally" after read. (Of course she's reading orally. Didn't I say I was listening to her? Would I be listening to her read silently?)
Sorry for the sarcasm. But I just wanted to point out some examples of what I'm dealing with. I could also go on and on about the fact that I handed in a draft of a paper which came back clean, yet the final draft, which was basically the same paper, came back hacked up in red ink. (I could also go on about the use of red ink, but I won't).
Here's the comment that really pushed me over the edge. It was at the bottom of the first page of the paper:
"Note: Grammatically, you should try to avoid beginning sentences with a preposition."
Hmmm, I thought. Really? Is that a rule that my 5th grade teacher neglected to teach me? (By the way, my 5th grade teacher does get blamed with many things, especially when it comes to grammar. I'll write in another post about that teacher and how I learned what NOT to do as a teacher someday.) I really didn't know the answer, but realized that I start a lot of my sentences with prepositions. I've been doing that for a long time, throughout my time as an undergrad, and all the time I've been back in school. Now, during the last class that I have to take in the program, she's telling me that my writing has been wrong all this time?
So what did I do? What I do every time I have a writing or grammar question. I called Rick. (I used to call Rick from Marquette when I needed "help" on Philosophy papers. I mean, why do research when you can call a Philosophy grad student to just give you the info.?!) Anyway, Rick said that it wasn't a rule. Whew. Okay, then why do you think she said that? Rick didn't know for sure, but he speculated that like a lot of things in recent years, the teacher is "dumbing it down" for the students. Meaning, cut out the creativity, cut out the variety, make it mainstream so every person in this country can achieve the same things as his/her peers. Hmmm.
"In the beginning,..." "Around the turn of the century...." "At the time she was born,...." "With that in mind...." "Upon examining the evidence...."
Well, I think I'll keep doing what I'm doing, without worrying about it. I've come this far without too much criticism, so I must be doing something right. Correct?
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7 comments:
OK, here's my 2 cents, as a degree-holder in journalism from the "best j-school in the country" (Mizzou) and as someone who used to be nicknamed "The Grammar Nazi."
1. Adding "orally" is stupid. It's unnecessary, and any third grader is going to assume that if you can hear someone reading, they are reading out loud. If you can hear someone reading to themselves, then you should get psychiatric help to deal with the voices in your head.
2. Teachers should NEVER use red ink to grade papers. It's too harsh, and yes, it DOES look like your paper is bleeding. A good writing teacher would know this.
3. As your former teacher, I can say with authority that you are an excellent writer. If you have problems, then we're all going down in flames.
Keep writing, Kelly. You're doing fine!
I'm with Amy.
Creative writing is just that. Creative. You write to express what you are feeling and thinking. You are trying to share experiences through words and that is hard and limiting. Go with what works for you here, Kelly. We're reading and enjoying.
Thanks Amy, on all points. It's reassuring to hear that from you, especially with your background.
And yours was my first class back after 12 years of being out of school! If that's not saying anything, I don't know what is.
I am once again taking everything she said with a grain of salt. It's my last class on Monday anyway (hooray!) so it won't mean a thing starting Tuesday...
And thanks, Karen. I know. I will keep doing what I'm doing. And you do the same!
As a professor who cares a lot about writing and who's married to "The Grammar Nazi," here's my two pesos.
1) Your prof is clearly a Strunk & White fan, which would explain changing "work on" to "improve." (The rule there is that one word is better than two.)
2) As far as starting sentences with prepositional phrases, there's nothing wrong with that per se (and I double checked that in the Turabian style book). But if you really are doing it a lot, I'd agree with the prof. You don't have to completely avoid them, but it is a rhetorical gesture that can (and does) get overused. Since you're clearly a good writer, as you're editing think about flow and rhythm. If a given prepositional phrase breaks the flow, then it should be moved.
Even think about the examples you gave, all of those are pretty powerful phrases that begin things (books, chapters, paragraphs) and emphasize the fact that we are entering a new section. If the author is using beginning-of-sentence prepositional phrases sparingly, these will actually disrupt the flow of the text in a way that strengthens the period preceding them! But if the author overuses the device, they'll lose a lot of their punch.
3) "Orally" is a stupid suggestion, and really not very pleasant to say or listen to. The prof's instinct is correct, however. Reading is a silent activity; reading out loud--or even better reading aloud--is something that you can actually listen to.
4) And, last but not least, remember that your writing must be your voice. Even as you refine your writing technique (that eternal quest), remember that technically perfect language is incredibly boring to read, unless the author spices it up with well-placed breaking of the "rules"!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to your next blog entry!
Thanks Colin! And thanks for looking it up, too. I tried to look it up in my writer's reference, but couldn't find anything.
Maybe I should just tell my prof. that my writing is "powerful" and not to mess with the power! I can cite the quotes I mentioned in the post.
I like it! "Don't mess with the power." Brilliant.
And oh-my-gawd, my husband is such a nerd. Sorry, Kelly!!
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