At 11:23 AM 2/16/01 -0600, Jeff Glauner wrote:
I don't doubt that many famous
writers have done "quite well without
having studied grammar." I am wondering though if you have
some
documented instances in mind. I think that it would be instructive
to
contemplate some specific examples. (I already know about Homer and
the
other Greeks pre-Aristotle.)
I don't believe that English grammar was studied--or even deemed worthy
of study--until the eighteenth century. Volume I of the Norton
Anthology of English LIt will provide a lengthy list of great writers
who never studied English grammar, including whatsizname who wrote
Hamlet. True, many of them studied Latin grammar, but the grammar
of that Romance language is very different from that of our own Germanic
offshoot. I'd also bet that half the writers on the NY Times best
seller list (or any other random group of modern eminent writers you
might name) would tell you they couldn't identify an absolute or an
appositive, even though they use both beautifully.
By the way, I support grammar instruction for a host of reasons. That it
is essential in order to be a good writer happens not to be one of
them.
Dick Veit
UNCW English Dept.