Bruce,
There are many ways to begin a response to your questions. A full
answer would take a book. But here's a quick reaction.
It doesn't make any sense at all to 'correct" or polish a sentence
that doesn't belong in the paper. So higher order questions need to be
resolved first. We cut something because it doesn't fit and add
what's missing. (We have to cut good sentences and keep awkward ones
if the purpose requires it.) We arrange and rearrange in relation to
our evolving sense of purpose. If we don't expect to change our
thinking, we are not acting like writers act. (Writers testify to
this. Writing is DISCOVERY, and writing is REVISION because a
deepening of understanding pushes us to make accomodations in the
text.) This includes a sense of audience, perhaps responses from
helpful readers. It may mean a deepening understanding of the subject.
It may mean a re-examination of our own motives and interests. Maybe
the main difference between good and not so good writers is that the
not so good tend to abandon a text much too quickly. A good writer
expects writing to change as it's pushed toward higher goals.
A terrible text can't be saved by corrections. It needs to be revised,
not "corrected."
If we understand grammatical choices to be deeply connected to nuances
of meaning, then a focus on meaning and a focus on grammar are not at
all at odds. >
In an effective text, sentences work in harmony with other sentences
in carrying out higher order purposes.
Sentences are not complete thoughts. They can't be treated as though
they don't belong to a text. They are moves in a series of related
moves. They are not ends in themselves.
Writing teachers have a problem with grammar precisely because the
grammar they are used to doesn't seem to have anything to do with
these higher order concerns. Our job is to convince them that it's not
grammar that's trivial, but their understanding of it.
Converesly, an overemphasis on correctness trivializes writing.
The book version would show how this works out in practice.
Craig
Did anyone notice the grammatical errors in the excerpt I sent yesterday?
> I think there was a message in it about how our mind also seems to
> overlook grammar in trying to get meaning out of language. The first
> phrase in the second sentence is dangling grammatically independent of the
> sentence to which it is attached. It should probably be taken out as
> another sentence something like this:
>
> The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid was rcneltey rleaved by smoe
> rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy.
>
> The rest of that sentence is also a bit awkward, so I'm sure this is not
> really the best solution. Like a lot of what we do it was probably not
> felt important enough for a rewrite from the first draft (writer was
> uncomforatble in the new medium?). Inadvertently this made a second very
> important point. Another message was in the message. For a teacher it is
> like peeling an onion. Fix the first layer stuff first (like
> orthography), then the next layer will be revealed for revision.
>
> My question: is the next layer to be corrected the syntax and then the
> morphological and phonological niceties after that. Does the syntax
> correct itself when we go directly to the semantics in making meaning? Do
> we experiment with different syntax until the correct meaning pops out, or
> does thinking of the meaning naturally let only that one (correct) way
> come to the surface? Maybe different authors can be allowed to find their
> own way.
>
> I'm sure some of you can articulate this better than I have.
>
> Bruce
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Bruce Despain
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 11:39 AM
> Subject: Re: Language Change
>
>
> We've talked about the formal constraints of grammar. Look what's been
> going around on the Internet. It demonstrates the kind of wiring built
> into the mind for processing the printed word:
>
> i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
> The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at
> Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
> wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
> in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed
> it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
> lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I
> awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
>
> Bruce
>
>
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