Not Being Able to Write . . .
I cannot imagine this concept. It's as foreign to me as not being able to read.
I am certainly not saying that everything I write is perfect prose. Readers of this blog know, all too well, that isn't true. But at least I can put words into logical sounding sentences and sentences into paragraphs that can be linked together by a common idea.
Is that what we've stopped teaching in our schools - how to link ideas together logically?
Am I the only one who enjoyed (such a geek I am) diagramming sentences? By picking apart the sentence's structure, I learned how to build a coherent one. Does that just make too much sense to today's educators?
We did the same thing with paragraphs. An opening sentence that set the idea or tone for what was coming was followed by sentences that built upon the theme. The paragraph would then end with a closing or wrap-up sentence.
I learned to write term papers in the same manner.
But, of course, I'm 57 and my high school days are long behind me. My daughter who went to high school in the 1980s writes clearly and with a strong voice: www.bomberella.com.
What happened since then? Or are we both aberrations of our generations?
I recently posted an article about the specter of the future - a large class of the undereducated being ruled by a small class of the educated. It looks as if neither class will be able to write a logical, clear sentence - let alone an entire paragraph.
From the New York Times - May 31, 2005:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/opinion/31fish.html?th&emc=th
I am certainly not saying that everything I write is perfect prose. Readers of this blog know, all too well, that isn't true. But at least I can put words into logical sounding sentences and sentences into paragraphs that can be linked together by a common idea.
Is that what we've stopped teaching in our schools - how to link ideas together logically?
Am I the only one who enjoyed (such a geek I am) diagramming sentences? By picking apart the sentence's structure, I learned how to build a coherent one. Does that just make too much sense to today's educators?
We did the same thing with paragraphs. An opening sentence that set the idea or tone for what was coming was followed by sentences that built upon the theme. The paragraph would then end with a closing or wrap-up sentence.
I learned to write term papers in the same manner.
But, of course, I'm 57 and my high school days are long behind me. My daughter who went to high school in the 1980s writes clearly and with a strong voice: www.bomberella.com.
What happened since then? Or are we both aberrations of our generations?
I recently posted an article about the specter of the future - a large class of the undereducated being ruled by a small class of the educated. It looks as if neither class will be able to write a logical, clear sentence - let alone an entire paragraph.
From the New York Times - May 31, 2005:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/31/opinion/31fish.html?th&emc=th
posted by Mitzi at Tuesday, May 31, 2005
1 Comments:
"I recently posted an article about the specter of the future - a large class of the undereducated being ruled by a small class of the educated."
Isn't that already what's happening? Aren't the privileged few ruling over the unlucky masses (bourgeoisie over the proletariat)? Although here in the United States, we take education for granted, your specter of the future is very much a specter of the present.
And yes, you are probably the only person that enjoyed diagramming sentences :)
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