peer response paper 1 elyse

8/3/2019 Peer Response Paper 1 Elyse

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Grammar, Punctuation, and Error All-In-OneElyse Kuntz

Many people in the world would agree that grammar and punctuation is something

that is, in many ways, a very significant part of the English language. I, on the contrary,

believe that grammar and punctuation cannot only cause confusion but also cramp a

writers style. There are many scenarios that can be given to prove this to be untrue but lets

take a look at it from a point of view that can be understood by all ages.

This sentence is written in perfect punctuation, right?

As young as the age of six, around first grade, we are thrown into a class called

English. This is a classroom where you learn all about spelling, grammar, punctuation and

a bunch of other information that you will remember for your entire life. Now, that is simplynot true. Most high school students when asked to punctuate a sentence properly- dont.

And then there are some students who know the English grammar and punctuation

perfectly yet still fail to communicate with others. Take an English as a Second Language

student (ESL).

Communication between ESL students and other students happen more frequently

than expected, even though these students know all there is to learn about English. Slang,

which is defined by dictionary.com as, very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is

characteristically more metaphorically, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than

ordinary language, such as hit the road, is a common miscommunication between ESLs and

other children. Working from the example that dictionary.com brings up, hit the road; ESLstudents may take that as a statement and very literally ago start hitting the road that they

stand on. So English is not only about being free of grammatical error, but things such as

slang needs to be taught in English class. Along with miscommunication, grammar and

punctuation can interrupt flow that comes naturally to most writers.

It.Needs.To.Sound.Choppy -- See!

Writing is all about you and your reader communicating and having a conversation,

so when it comes to punctuation it does not need to go by the typical handbook guidelines.

You need for what you are saying to be read as how you are saying it. If that means making a

comma splice or putting a period where is doesnt belong then so be it . For me as a creative

writer I need for the emphasis I have on the subject to show through my writing whichmeans my punctuation is not always correct. I have poetry where I have used the phonetic

spelling of daughter, which is: [daw-ter], instead of writing the word because not only does


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it make the piece unique to me, but it tells you how I want the word pronounced. There arespecific ways I punctuate and I know that John Dawkins would agree with me based on his

writing, Teaching Punctuation as a RhetoricalTool.

There are many scenarios of grammar and punctuation that the typical handbook

does not even discuss. So when it comes down to it, how do you know what to do? And the

simple solution is: do whatever you, the author, wants to do. For example John Dawkins

states, And when we produce a sequence of three or more independent clauses,

punctuation questions often cross sentence (or independent clause) boundaries, and hand

books do notoffer help for such interdependent problems (Wardle and Downs, 2011, p.

141). So really all you can do is what you think sounds right. Let others read it out loud to

hear if they keep the rhythm that you wanted, if so, then there is no grammatical error. Itgot your point across and was comprehended by the reader.

There is also many times where you want to emphasize or play down the

importance of what is being said. That is something creative writers and persuasive writers

need to know how to do, and they do it through punctuation. Dawkins also discusses this

topic, which he calls Raising and Lowering (Wardle and Downs, 2011, p. 144). He believes

there is a hierarchy of punctuation and depending on the amount of emphasis you want

depends on the punctuation you choose to use. This is something that is clearly up to you,

and it does not matter if it is error free. So, clearly punctuation is something that is very

individual and depends on how you write. A very common argument is text messaging and

text talk as my parents call it.Omg! I no rite? Well gtg luv u hmu l8r


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The first one is my cousin who is a teacher at a school district in Clayton, Ohio. I also found a

status from one of my very own teachers from high school where not only does he use text

talk, but he also has incorrect usage of punctuation. Now I am not pulling out these screen

shots to rag on teachers or call them on not practicing what they preach, but I am sure that

all of you readers were able to read those with no problem, and complete comprehension of

what was being said.

Text talk is in no way ruining how students write; it is just making it unique to the

individual. I have received a text message where someone says k. and I know immediately

that the person who sent that is angry. Along with all those weird phrases and emoticons,

they express what the person is feeling. It is not wrong it is just a new way of

communicating that professors and high school teachers are not use to. Many people would

agree that even when the person they are texting uses text talk and they use perfect

punctuation and grammar there is usually no miscommunication unless autocorrect steps

in. I am an Integrated Language Arts Major and the boy that I have been madly in love with

for the past six months talks in text talk and it has never phased me once, and

miscommunication is rare.

Punctuation and grammar are not the main focus of the English language, and they

often do more bad than they do good. It can create confusion and it limits creativity, and we

should be focusing on encouraging students to write period not making their papers bleed

by correcting errors. I want to be an English teacher, and I am sitting here saying that

punctuation and grammar means very little when it comes to good writing.


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Full Reference

Slang. (2011). In Dictionary online. Retrieved from

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/slang

Wardle, E. & Downs, D. (2011). Writing about writing: A college reader. Boston, MA:

Bedford/St. Martins

Tiffany Minton. (2012). In Facebook[profile]. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=678885935

Nathan Tengowski (2011). In Facebook[profile]. Retrieved January 18, 2012 from

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1325457775

peer response paper 1 elyse

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