I don't know why, probably it's because my English knowledge is very bad,
but recently I have received some letters about English Grammar regulaments,
how to write English corretly. And guess what... I loved it! I really do,
once I am not American and love this language much more than myself, I love
it! Please send me any emails you want teaching me this most beautiful
language of the world! Thanks,
Shairanny.
-----Original Message-----
From: William J. McCleary <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, May 05, 2000 9:17 PM
Subject: Re: An article to read


>Another important point mentioned by Schuster is that those who write
>standards often require correct use of things like apostrophes for
>"possession" without understanding the difficulty of concept. It doesn't
>seem fair to require something that does not work as explained and
>therefore cannot reliably be taught. Sometimes it cannot be taught because
>we don't fully understand how the concept works. Other times, as Nigel has
>pointed out about the British requirement for correct use of periods, the
>concept cannot be taught to children of the appointed age.
>
>Perhaps the ATEG could gain a little fame, or notoriety, by hectoring the
>standards writers on this subject.
>
>Bill McCleary
>
>>The article is interesting indeed--about how frequently  possessive
>>apostrophes indicate something other than possession ("his mother's
>>request," "a good night's sleep," "today's society"), and about the drift
>>toward dropping the apostrophe in public names, such as Starbucks Coffee
and
>>Pikes Peak.
>>
>>The Comprehensive Grammar of English (Quirk, et al) suggests that the
>>inflected genitive noun usually denotes a close relationship or
association
>>between two nouns, including but not limited to possession.  Sounds to me
>>like a manageable, more accurate, though not flawless way to describe the
>>apostrophe, compared to the very limited notion of literal possession.
>>
>>The Comp. Grammar also suggests that the inflected noun, in contrast to
the
>>"of" phrase possessive, is semantically associated with words referring to
>>people, the human world, and human activity, because close relationship is
>>something that is experienced by people.  We would say "someone's shadow"
>>but probably not "something's shadow" (more likely, "the shadow of
>>something" or "the shadow from something").  Perhaps (my speculation) this
>>is part of the reason why commercial and organizational names that become
>>fixed as public labels and as a single unit lose their apostrophes. They
no
>>longer seem like two or more nouns connected in the sphere of human
>>activity.  "Pikes Peak" is the name of a place, not a reference to a place
>>that is actively associated with a person, as in "George's backyard."
>>
>>In the article by Schuster, the comment that I found a little chilling was
>>that Schuster's experience from a lifetime of textbook writing was that
what
>>is simple is what sells.  He meant in this case that the "possessive"
>>apostrophe, no matter how inadequate a label, is not likely to shift
because
>>those in the textbook market are accustomed to it. Other aspects of
>>conventional grammar are not so simple--think of all the classifications
of
>>verb tense, pronoun type, etc.  But they are no doubt bogged down as well
>>for reasons of familiarity and convention.  I think the more ATEG can
learn
>>about the marketing of grammar, the better prepared we can be to have an
>>impact. Grammar is embedded in a curriculum, in the language arts
textbooks
>>that make up the curriculum, and in the industry and state boards that
>>oversee the textbooks, as well as in the teachers.
>>
>>Brock Haussamen
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: William J. McCleary [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>Sent: Monday, April 24, 2000 3:17 PM
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: An article to read
>>
>>
>>This list seems quiet these days. Perhaps we can liven things up.
>>
>>I'd like to recommend an article: "Language Arts Standards and the
>>Possessive 'Apoxtrophe.'" It appears in the April 19 issue of Education
>>Week, p. 45. The article shows how few uses of the "possessive apostrophe"
>>truly have anything to do with possessing something.
>>
>>Bill
>>
>>William J. McCleary
>>3247 Bronson Hill Road
>>Livonia, NY 14487
>>716-346-6859
>
>
>William J. McCleary
>3247 Bronson Hill Road
>Livonia, NY 14487
>716-346-6859