Tony, Wasn't around 30 years ago, at least not in the classroom. Agree with you that the current situation is probably enhanced by teachers who insist on free-writing-journal-type-first-folio-multicultural-dialect-portfolio approaches to writing. But that doesn't help matters much. Just voicing a current, irritating concern of mine. Maybe it's a rerun that needs to be rerun again. Jim [log in to unmask]