There are many things that wreak havoc on my daily studies, but none so much as what I'm actually doing. I was talking with a friend the other day and we started debating the real necessity of college. Let's be honest, other than writing a few papers and studying a few literary techniques I feel as if I've learned hardly anything practical. If I want to teach students one day how is conceptualizing semiotic analysis going to help me anywhere but the college level? Much more realistically I'll probably end up teaching kids simple grammar, even if I wind up at the community college level. So why aren't I taking any classes on grammar?! Why am I spending hours upon hours in pursuit of mastering gender analysis? The other day my English professor told me that if he, as head of the English department, receives an application or resume with a single error, he trashes it immediately. So, once again, I'm asking why we aren't spending the majority of our time on form and function?
Realistically, an assessment of my mastery of the English language is going to be based on my conventions, not on my ideas. That's the beauty of English though, right? I can say whatever I want and, so long as there's evidence in the text to support my claim, I'm technically correct. So why do college professors spend all this time teaching analysis? If I'm going to be marked down for comma usage on my papers then teach me comma usage, not analysis.
Of course you find yourself making the argument that a college student should know how to use a comma by the time he's reached that level of scholarship. I agree wholeheartedly. You're right, but to assume that very point is to make the assertion that public education in the United States is at a higher level than it is. To expect a college student to know how to write like a college student is ultimately an unrealistic expectation because, by assuming that level of writing in a student you assume they've learned how to do it elsewhere. For the college freshman that means that high school successfully educated students on comma usage. A fair hope, but not a realistic one. Think about the way high school classes are structured.
The primary goal of a high school English class is to improve reading levels of students to something above the sixth grade average. The AP (Advanced Placement) classes then focus on strength of writing. Aha! So the students should learn comma usage in AP classes, you say. Wrong. The AP classes are, in theory, classes taught at the college level and they often are. The issue lies in the AP test and the way that our system has forced educators to teach to the test. The AP testing rubric states that it will grade writers based on the merit of their thoughts and ideas in accordance with their reading of the test. The least amount of points lost on an AP exam, if I'm not mistaken, is in minor spelling and grammatical errors. This system encourages creative individuals to write their hearts out in the time allotted and to not worry too much about grammar. And write I did! The highest grade achievable on an AP exam is a 5, I received a 4 on my exam. This was enough to get my stringent college to accept it as a credit replacement for a lower level English course.
But wait, where in that process of earning COLLEGE CREDIT did this kid ever focus on grammar? Simple answer - I never did. Not once since my time in elementary and middle school did I ever focus on grammar, punctuation, or even spelling in my classes. The entirety of my knowledge comes from before I ever turned 14 and the books I have read. This poses a significant problem at the college level when, reading different authors with different styles, I use commas as if they were Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs. Admittedly I've gotten better, but even in my English 340 class I was marked down to an 80 on a paper solely for poor comma usage.
So what's the point here? I guess it's just upsetting to hear a professor tell you that he'll reject a job application with a grammatical error when he's part of a system that doesn't teach grammar. To be fair, that applicant should have proof read. Conclusion: proof read when you have millions of dollars riding your application!
Disclaimer: Written spur of the moment and not proof read. There are not millions to be made by this post.
That was cool, Andy. You made some great points, and used humor effectively. I will give you an 87%. JUST KIDDING!!
ReplyDeleteI am currently working with a seventh-grader-who-shall-remain-nameless who brings home worksheet after worksheet on "form and function." Ugh. This represents the other end of the spectrum. She has had shockingly few assignments that would require her to incorporate what she has learned into real-life usage, let alone any type of analysis.
What I love is the English educational model of writing, writing, writing, with even more editing, editing, editing. Of course, this model does not apply easily to test preparation and is even more out of sync with upwards of 30 students per class...
One thing I want to add in here is that your education is serving you well (among other ways) in fostering a strength of composition and though-process. THAT comes in handy no matter what type of job one applies for.
Keep this blog going. I'm excited to see what you'll write about if this is day one.
ReplyDeleteIn ZAX,
One of your brothers
I would not say they are pointless but the grading system is. Assignments are also pointless. English teachers need to stop having such a negative attitude toward assignments and stop asking students to submit any more of them. We have millions of students working 24 hours a day in front of a computer which is very, very unhealthy. The teachers make up their minds about these failed assignments before the course begins. Something is preventing the students from being able to complete each assignment successfully, leading some students to speculate that divine intervention does not want these assignments to succeed. Other students have more secular explanations. The third opposition comes strictly, very, VERY strictly from the parents of the students. The parents want to be in charge over what the student writes. That fails. The teacher wants to be in charge over what the student is writing. That fails too. The student misses everything and becomes a nihilistic sociopath. A´s are made to work for B´s, C´s and F´s. Students feel stuck in Brave New World. This must stop. Forcing students to answer questions or submit assignments for grading ought to be punishable. English classes are not pointless, but their assignments are and also the homework.
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