The following paragraphs are what I feel about the subject of grammar at this time, based on past experiences, and the overall issue as I understand it.
Grammar is essential, so I am told, because it is imperative for the structure of sentences. By extension, these sentences make up what should be a logical, well-thought whole. My experiences with it have not been the best. Coming from California to Oklahoma in the fifth grade, to a brand-new method, is something that has plagued me for over a decade. I still do not fully understand what a preposition is.
When I speak to people, or write my own imaginative thoughts down, nobody outside of the educational field seems to point out any mistakes in my sentence structure. Is this because they are dumb? Far from it, I should think. Do I simply have the preternatural ability to make my thoughts known in a logical way? I don't know. What I do know is this: English and writing have always been a fascinating thing to me. The total understanding of these concepts may always continue to elude me, but I feel that as long as I keep my resolve firm, I will endure and do well for myself.
The question still remains: why is grammar essential? Based on previous experience, I see no inherent value to knowing what passive or active voice, prepositions, et al. are, aside from fully utilizing a Mad-Lib.
Grammar has never been a fun or easy subject, and when I moved to a new place and method, I was treated completely without respect to my abilities and mental faculties, simply because the method was unfamiliar. Everyone else knew the songs and all associated materials, and do please excuse me for not being in the state when some uptight bitch decides that her 'widdle boy' needs some help, bless him. So, since I was made to feel like a mentally deficient reject, I did the truly idiotic thing, and turned off my brain when the material was presented to me, robbing myself of actually learning it.
All told, I would love to be able to recognize a participle, infinitive, or other things. As a person who enjoys writing, and wants to be taken seriously as a writer, knowing such things could be nothing besides beneficial. My self-imposed ignorance has allowed me to coast my way to victory so far, but the path is slowly turning uphill, and I am losing steam as I forge ahead in my academic career. Ironically, several people who knew the method that made me feel like a lesser human still relied on my help to get them through the annals of High School.
So, is grammar important? I am told so, and I hope that it is, because I want to be able to communicate and write to the best of my ability.
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2 comments:
It's so true that even if you don't know the names and the methods of grammar, you can still be a good writer. I think a lot of grammar IS inherent. From linguistics class (one of the few things I learned in there last semester) I remember that there is such a thing as generative grammar. Which means basically that there are no written grammar rules anywhere, and a linguist comes, studies and learns the language, and writes down the rules. The reason I bring this up is to underline my previous statement of grammar being inherent. We never really have to be taught a lot of it. If we are surrounded by proper grammatical speech, or read it, we soak it in like rays of sun. I think that's why some of us just know how to change a sentence to make it sound "right."
I hope that you and everyone else in this grammar class take advantage of the Kolln and Funk textbook, Understanding English Grammar. We won't be able to get through it all as a class, but it may be able to answer lots of your questions (about prepositions, for example).
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