Getting Down to Business: Grammatical Issues to Focus on

I’m trying not to sound cocky, but I really don’t think that I need to focus on any particular grammatical and mechanical issues as a writer this semester. Of course, one can always improve his or her writing, I just don’t think that I have one very specific area that needs work.

However, from writing this blog, particularly my first post, I realize that I use some rather long sentences with a lot of commas. For the most part, I think that my writing is technically still grammatically correct, but it might be better if I figured out a way to shorten things up or employ a different sentence structure. For example, my previous blog post included this sentence:

     “You had to cram it in your mouth slowly, and you tried to hold it in there without

     swallowing, but then you realized that there was no possible way to spit it out, so you

     proceeded to gulp it down as quickly as possible.”

In this sentence, I used three conjunctions and many commas. Is it grammatically correct? I think so, but I really don’t know. It could be shortened a bit or maybe broken up. This issue is something that I can definitely work on this semester.

Like I said before, I really can’t think of many grammatical or mechanical issues that I need to improve. Oh, Microsoft Word Spellcheck says that I use the passive voice a lot. Of course, how accurate is Word’s Spellcheck? It annoys me because it says that “alright” is a word, something that I fail to believe. Maybe I just don’t like people informally saying “alright” compared with the more acceptable “all right.” Anyways, back to the passive voice. It is so hard to try to stop using it in English when they are teaching us how to use it in my Spanish class! Grrr. Here are some generic examples of the passive voice:

  

     “Mistakes were made.”

     “I was hit by the ball.”

While the second example seems fairly clear that it is in the passive voice, the first one can be harder to decipher. Obviously, by writing examples specifically meant to be in the passive voice, I have no problem telling that it is in the passive voice! It is when I am writing an essay or other academic writing that I have trouble deciphering if it is the passive voice or not. Funny…when I used Spellcheck on the two example sentences, it said that they are “0% Passive Sentences.” Hmmm…

I’m sure that there are way more ways that I can improve my writing, other than what I just mentioned here, and I am excited to see how this class will help me and what the semester holds!

Mmmm...Me Hungry...Me Hungry for Grammar!

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of all things grammar, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and my credentials for this blog (of which I have many.....obviously).

My name is Emily, and I am currently a junior attending Washington State University. I am double majoring in English and History—hoping to become a junior high or high school teacher—and am minoring in Spanish. I do consider myself to be a bit of a "grammar Nazi." (I hope nobody takes offense at that!) When peer-editing or proof-reading someone else's paper, I can't help but be distracted by the large quantities of grammatical errors, and my natural instinct is to correct them. One of my biggest pet peeves is comma placement. People just suck at using commas! Not that I'm the pro, of course, although I do tend to think that I know grammar better than most people my age.

I went to a parochial school, kindergarten through eighth grade, and we had grammar drilled into our brains. It is so refreshing to think that I got to have the experience of using and referring to an actual grammar textbook. We learned a lot, from sentence diagramming to memorizing all 40 prepositions. When I was in junior high, I didn't feel particularly knowledgeable. I knew the material well, and I enjoyed learning it, but I thought that everyone learned that same grammar at some point in time! Yet, when I entered into the public school system, I discovered that I was wrong.

Of course I am not trying to criticize our public school English teachers, especially because I wish to become one myself, I am merely saying that many students do not know their grammar! I can't even list how many kids complained when we had to correct "MUG" sentences in my freshman year of high school. The majority of them struggled with simple grammar that I had learned three years ago. I have even encountered this problem here at WSU. Hence, my blog....Digesting Grammar (or Grammar Cram if you prefer).

How does one digest grammar? Grammar can be digested two ways; the first way is if you're a grammar freak like me and actually enjoy it: One must gobble it down as if it is a giant bowl of ice cream, making sure to lick the bowl, always going back for seconds. The second way to digest grammar can be compared to when your parents forced you to eat spinach as a child. You had to cram it in your mouth slowly, and you tried to hold it in there without swallowing, but then you realized that there was no possible way to spit it out, so you proceeded to gulp it down as quickly as possible. But after a while of eating spinach, you began to realize that it's not so bad...

So my goal of this blog is to hopefully get you to realize that grammar itself isn't so bad. I will be making weekly posts in which I summarize what I learned that week as well as respond to other prompts. So sit back, grab a pretzel, and enjoy. But remember, it's okay if different parts of grammar take longer to digest than other parts! I'm cheering for you. :)