Though it bothers me to agree with Scottie's mititaristic metaphor, I
do. Using grammar well is indeed a fine "weapon" for writers.
Learning to use language though, like fighting, goes beyond simply
shooting a gun. I've listened to the grammar threads swearing I'd
stay out of them because I'm addressing these issues with 80 new
students in a variety of ways that are too pedagogical and boring for
this list to toss around. However, I need to say two things. I don't
like to use semi colons and rarely do. Maybe the rules for them suck,
but my guess is that if there's a punctuation mark that will lose
ground in our language, it's got to be the semi colon. Scottie is
dead right (pun intended as a laugh--yes I believe in non-violence
and peace more strongly than ever!) about finding fun in the ways we
use language. That's part of what this list is about. When all of
languages tools (or weapons...) are employed, the fun is usually
experienced at a higher level, but not always. will
-- Will Hochman Associate Professor of English Southern Connecticut State University 501 Crescent St, New Haven, CT 06515 203 392 5024 http://www.southernct.edu/~hochman/willz.html - * Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message * UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISHReceived on Tue Sep 10 08:50:45 2002
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