This thread raises an interesting issue. In my college courses, I've
started dealing with the situation by adding what amounts to a mini-unit
on it. Part of what students frequently don't know about "grammar" is
that prescriptive rules vary; bringing in different style manuals for
side-by-side comparison is a nice way to get them thinking about it.
Inevitably, some of the students react by wanting to know which one is
"right," and sometimes are rather upset to find that the variance is
allowed to continue -- it's all tied in with the public perception of
grammar as a kind of immutable objective object, like basic math. In the
grammar course for future English teachers, I have the students write a
short comparison-contrast paper based on a selection of style guides,
reference grammars, and school texts (they pick a limited topic, like
"comma rules" or "fragments").
AP style's approach to serial commas, I suspect, may be a holdover from
the earlier twentieth-century notion that commas that aren't mandatory
should be forbidden -- or may just be based on the notion that if you
cut out those commas, you end up saving ink. I hadn't even noticed they
used that approach until I started getting journalism majors in my
classes.
--- Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nancy Tuten
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 8:41 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Style book
One of the most frustrating issues for me in teaching mechanics and
usage
(and I see these as quite different from teaching grammar, syntax) is
that
style books don't agree.
In general, though, the Associated Press Style Manual, which is the
bible
for most in journalism, differs from the majority of other very
reputable
style books (Chicago, MLA, APA) on several key issues-- the use of the
additional "s" after the apostrophe with singular possessive nouns
ending in
"s," the omission of the serial comma, and the use of quotation marks
around
titles of stand-alone works (movies, books, plays), just to name three.
I am not familiar with the NYT style manual, but I imagine it would be
similar to the AP style guide since it is published by a newspaper.
At the college where I am the writing-across-the-curriculum director, I
encourage faculty across the disciplines to be sure the students in
their
majors understand which style will be expected of them once they become
professionals. But even before they get into their majors, it seems
important to teach students in high school and in first-year college
composition classes that different style books exist, that they don't
all
agree, and that it is their responsibility to find out which style a
particular assignment is supposed to reflect.
Faculty at all levels need to reinforce this thinking by requiring
students
to adhere to a particular style manual for writing in their classes. The
"just be consistent" requirement doesn't serve students well either in
college or after. Neither is it helpful to let students believe that one
style book is universally accepted. Many faculty members themselves do
not
adhere to a single style guide but simply assume that the "way they
learned"
a particular usage "rule" is the only "right" way. Their students then
adopt
the same attitude.
That was a rambling answer to your question, but I guess the bottom line
is
that if I were to use a single style book to teach mechanics and usage,
it
wouldn't be one in journalism because the rules there seem often to fly
in
the face of the wisdom espoused by other prominent style guides. I wish
I
understood why
This is a topic of much interest to me, so if anyone responds off list,
please include me. Thanks!
Nancy
Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
Professor of English
Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
Columbia College
Columbia, South Carolina
[log in to unmask]
803-786-3706
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DD Farms
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 10:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Style book
DD: Has any one tried using the New York Times Style Book in the
teaching of writing or grammar? Or any other style books? This is the
way it is done by the professionals, sort of thing. Out there in the
real world.
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