A recent assignment in our open english class was about punctuation. A pretty standard topic to be discussing in a sophomore english, but it was different because we, the students, were teaching the lesson; we split up into four groups of three or four people, and each group was assigned one of four more atypical punctuation marks--colon, semicolon, dash,and hyphen. My group chose to do the dash. To teach our classmates, we had to design a lesson plan that contained the following elements: correct and incorrect examples of the punctuation mark, practice exercises for the class, and an in our words definition of how to use the punctuation mark. This project really helped with our self-advocacy, I think because it was the perfect test of being really independent with our own learning. This assignment really focused two of the four tenets that our program is focused on--independence and collaboration. Independence was enforced mainly through the fact this project was done entirely on our own. No class time was given to complete this project; we had to be responsible for the quality of our own education for once. Since we worked in groups, that strengthened our collaboration skills because we had to use teamwork to complete the project. Also we had to split the work up evenly or we wouldn't be successful in our presentations. In my past
Question of the day: On what terms do you consider yourself with grammar and punctuation?
Let me know down in the comments!
I see that you've used all the four punctuation marks correctly in your blog post. Aha! Very good! The dash happens to be my favorite. It's a good friend of mine. Too good, I think, because I might overuse it when I write. I like how it can take the place of already-existing marks. For instance, when you were using it in your blog, it stood in (twice, I think) for a colon. How would the blog post have been different if you had a colon instead of a dash? Is there a different "flavor" to punctuation? Like a dash is the kinder, happier mark and the colon is the heavy-browed uncle? I'm not sure. But as you read in the future, especially in non-fiction, see if you can associate tone and grammar -- how some writers seem more fluid, more easy-going, because of their punctuation choices. Let me know what you find.
ReplyDeleteI really like your goal. Grammar was a huge enemy of mine for a long time because I didn't understand it. I just "did what felt right" when I wrote, and the truth is, I was right most of the time. But I still didn't understand why, and it drove me crazy. I can't wait to see how you come to grips with it this year!
Why do you think some grammatical errors stand out more so than others? I find that most people believe when a colon or, more importantly, a semi-colon (I think people have to earn the right to use them) are used incorrectly, they stand out more than an incorrect usage of say a comma. Most people overuse commas because of uncertainty. "What punctuation mark should I use? Aha! A comma!" This often leads to comma diarrhea, which I find more alarming and distracting than the incorrect usage of the colon or dash. It is important to understand the usage of uncommon punctuation marks, but overuse of any punctuation -- in particular the ones most commonly used -- is the real issue. Punctuation rules, unlike other aspects of English grammar like syntax and sentence structure, are not fluid. There is little "interpretation" of comma usage, but do you think there should be. Is it better to not use them at all, use them incorrectly, or overuse them? How can we have an authentic dialogue about punctuation without it turning into a boring diatribe on the difference between a semicolon and a comma? Does it even matter anymore with things like auto-correct and grammar check on phones and computers?
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