Nobody ever taught me to capitalize the first letter in a sentence. They
taught me what a sentence was and said, by the way, it is consdiered good
form to capitalize the first letter. It seems to me that that is a
critical difference.
On Fri, 16 Feb 2001, Nancy Patterson wrote:
> But what on earth makes you think k-12 students haven't been taught to
> capitalize the first letter of a sentence? This is a basic convention of
> writing. K-12 teachers get practically anal about this kind of thing, which
> may be why some students seem so bent on not using such conventions as
> capitalization. Ask a first or second grade teacher if he or she doesn't
> cover this extensively. We cannot assume that just because students don't
> capitalize means they can't.
>
> And besides, these conventions aren't really issues of grammar. Grammar
> deals with structure, doesn't it? Not minding your manners on paper?
>
> Nancy
>
>
> At 02:10 PM 2/15/01 -0600, you wrote:
> >The problem is not so much with spoken English, but with written English,
> >and it seems to me there is a big difference between mastering speaking and
> >mastering writing. High school students often have not even mastered the
> >art of beginning sentences with capital letters and ending them with periods
> >(the conventions of English), much less the finer points of the language.
> >You DO have to be taught how to write in your own and in second languages.
> >It does not come naturally.
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Richard Veit, UNCW English Department [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> >Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 3:10 PM
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Deep thoughts
> >
> >
> >At 01:29 PM 02/15/2001 -0600, David D Mulroy wrote:
> >>...Is there any other field where you can supposedly excel while referring
> >>to the tools of your trade as whatchamacallits?
> >
> >Professional athletes do pretty well without knowing the names of the
> >muscles they use, nor without a conscious understanding of how they
> >coordinate various muscles to do what they do. Language is one of many
> >skills that rely on unconscious knowledge, like running or jumping. An
> >athlete may gain some advantage by studying physiology, and a speaker may
> >gain some advantage by studying grammar, but many others do just fine
> >without that conscious knowledge.
> >
> >Dick Veit
> >
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> >
> >
> Nancy G. Patterson
> Portland Middle School, English Dept. Chair
> Portland, MI 48875
>
> "The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumberable centers of
> culture."
> --Roland Barthes
>
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.msu.edu/user/patter90/opening.htm
> http://www.npatterson.net/mid.html
>
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