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My own anecdote; 12 years of Catholic School, graduated HS in early 90s. In my Freshman year of High School, the English teacher gave us a grammar test on the

My own anecdote; 12 years of Catholic School, graduated HS in early 90s. In my Freshman year of High School, the English teacher gave us a grammar test on the first day to see where we were. Two people passed [including me--I got one question wrong], but the bulk of the students failed. I remember being surprised that so many of my long-time classmates could fail the test. Consequently the teacher spent the first half of the year on grammar issues instead of other literary pursuits.

icantdrive55 9y ago
A little off topic, but so many English Grammar classes ruined good, budding writers, or at least in my neck of America. I don't know how they treat grammar today, but in my day; they were so stringent, it hampered student writing. Some of the better papers read orally were just riddled with red markings. The boring papers got better marks. Even different teachers had their own pet peeves. In all honestly, I wish they just had us memorize Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style. (Yes I should have italicized.) I belive that book is sufficient for most writing. I do not know the best way to communicate using words, but some of our best authors seemed to miss the grammer classes I suffered through. I still remember one grammar rule that I was dinged for, and I don't care if it's even correct, but I use it. I was dinged for not spelling out numbers between 0-10. The Teacher was adamant over this rule. A side note, the guy hated me, or loved me? He had me in his office way too much. I went to a school counselor once during college, and it was basically over this PhD. Before I mentioned the teacher's name, he said, "Are you here about Dr. B-------------?". It was a short visit. He said this doctor tried to get physical with him a few months ago. Yea--I was schooled in tenure, and crazy teachers on that day. He said take the course at a community college. It's the easiest route. Years later I heard the school was sued over bad behavior on his part. Sorry about going on about personal memories. It's been a weird holiday season for myself. (And no I didn't proof read--just too tired.)

icantdrive55 9y ago

A little off topic, but so many English Grammar classes ruined good, budding writers, or at least in my neck of America. I don't know how they treat grammar today, but in my day; they were so stringent, it hampered student writing. Some of the better papers read orally were just riddled with red markings. The boring papers got better marks. Even different teachers had their own pet peeves. In all honestly, I wish they just had us memorize Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style. (Yes I should have italicized.) I belive that book is sufficient for most writing. I do not know the best way to communicate using words, but some of our best authors seemed to miss the grammer classes I suffered through. I still remember one grammar rule that I was dinged for, and I don't care if it's even correct, but I use it. I was dinged for not spelling out numbers between 0-10. The Teacher was adamant over this rule. A side note, the guy hated me, or loved me? He had me in his office way too much. I went to a school counselor once during college, and it was basically over this PhD. Before I mentioned the teacher's name, he said, "Are you here about Dr. B-------------?". It was a short visit. He said this doctor tried to get physical with him a few months ago. Yea--I was schooled in tenure, and crazy teachers on that day. He said take the course at a community college. It's the easiest route. Years later I heard the school was sued over bad behavior on his part. Sorry about going on about personal memories. It's been a weird holiday season for myself. (And no I didn't proof read--just too tired.)